Akron 6, Binghamton 3

T.J. McFarland carried a shutout into the seventh inning to lead Akron past Binghamton 6-3 at Canal Park Sunday afternoon to avoid a three-game sweep. B-Mets starter Collin McHugh struggled and took his first Double-A loss. He allowed four runs on nine hits and walked three over 4 1/3 innings.



Akron (27-31) broke through for the lead in the fourth inning. McHugh allowed the first two men to reach on a walk and a single. Kyle Bellows attempted to bunt the runners into scoring position, but failed as McHugh fielded his bunt and forced the lead runner at third for the first out. Karexon Sanchez took matters into his own hands and swiped third base to move within 90 feet of scoring. Crisot Arnal drove him in with a fielder’s choice to short, which gave the Aeros the lead permanently.



McHugh would not make it out of the fifth. Tim Fedroff led the inning off with a single. Two batters later, Beau Mills singled to center. Chun Chen made it a full house on the bases when McHugh walked him. Nick Weglarz came through with the big hit, a one-out single to right that scored Fedroff and Mills. Sanchez put the finishing touches on the frame with an RBI single to left, which upped the Aeros advantage to 4-0. Rhiner Cruz entered for McHugh after Sanchez’s single and got the B-Mets out of trouble.



Binghamton (18-36) made a game of it in the seventh inning. McFarland issued a leadoff walk to Reese Havens and was joined aboard by Bubba Bell, who singled to follow. Brahiam Maldonado got the B-Mets on the board with a ringing double to left over the head of Fedroff, which chased home Havens to break up the shutout and send McFarland out of the game.

Chen-Chang Lee replaced the southpaw with runners at second and third and no one out. Josh Satin was first to face the reliever and drove in a run with a hot shot that caromed off the leg of Lee into the glove of first baseman Matt McBride, who beat Satin to the bag for the putout. Allan Dykstra stepped in next and plated Maldonado with an RBI single to center, bringing Binghamton within a run.



However, Cruz struggled with his command in the seventh and allowed the Aeros to respond. He allowed a single and two walks in the frame and Akron swiped three bases to answer with two runs to put the game on ice.



Lee worked a scoreless eighth and passed the ball to Cory Burns, who retired the side in the ninth for his 14th save of the season.



Salomon Manriquez was the lone B-Mets’ hitter with a multi-hit showing. He went 2-for-3 with a double.