Harrisburg Senators Weekly Recap: Akron RubberDucks Series Results and Highlights

Hope you’re having a great start to the week, Senators fans! Welcome to From the Beat, your inside look at the latest headlines, analysis, and storylines from around the Harrisburg Senators organization as the 2026 season rolls on. Let’s dive in.

This week, the Harrisburg Senators continued to battle for position in standings against the division foe Akron RubberDucks, who they have now played on three occasions as of yet. Despite some inclement weather delays, the series was finished with all the games being played in Harrisburg. Let’s dive into the outcomes.

The Senators have continued their trend of finishing series strong despite what happens before as it continues this week. They won the double-header on Sunday to tie the series 3-3 and rally together. At time it looked like this series would be going to the RubberDucks, but the resilience of Harrisburg continues to prove strong in divisional games.

Game 1 — vs. Akron RubberDucks — Guardians affiliate (May 19) — Senators 4-8

The Senators’ starting pitcher, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, pitched a strong game, allowing just two hits and three walks over six innings with six strikeouts. The team took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on Sam Petersen’s two-run homer, and that lead held until the eighth. In that inning, Akron’s offense exploded, sending 12 men to the plate and scoring seven runs on five hits and four walks, including a two-RBI double and a two-run homer. The Senators couldn’t recover, and despite Marcus Brown hitting his first Double-A home run and Petersen hitting his second in the ninth, the team fell 8-4.

Game 2 — vs. Akron RubberDucks — Guardians affiliate (May 20) — Senators 3-1

Connor Van Scoyoc pitched an excellent game, going 5.1 innings and allowing only one run on four hits with five strikeouts, facing the minimum through the first 16 batters. Four pitchers in total combined to hold the RubberDucks to just one run and struck out 11 batters. The Senators took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on Leandro Pineda’s double that drove in Sam Petersen, who drew three walks in the game. They added another run in the fifth when Jack Rogers scored on a wild pitch, making it 2-0. In the eighth, Max Romero Jr. hit an opposite-field home run to extend the lead to 3-1, which held up as the final score. The Senators did not issue a walk in the game, and the series is now tied at one game each.

Game 3 — vs. Akron RubberDucks — Guardians affiliate (May 21) — Senators 0-1

Alex Clemmey pitched a strong game, tying his season-high with six innings and allowing just one run on two hits and two walks, while striking out a career-high 11 batters. The Senators out-hit the Ducks 8-3 but went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base. Akron scored the only run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles, and despite Harrisburg’s efforts, including a walk in the ninth to bring the tying run to base, they couldn’t score. Jared Simpson and Valentin Linarez each pitched scoreless innings in relief. The Senators were shut out for the third time this season, all in the last ten games.

Game 4 — vs. Akron RubberDucks — Guardians affiliate (May 23) — Senators 3-7

The RubberDucks scored five early runs and won 7-3, tying the season series at eight games. Rain caused delays and messy conditions, leading to three errors and nine walks by Harrisburg. Akron scored in the first and third, then Harrisburg’s bullpen shut down the Ducks for several innings. The Senators scored twice, including on a balk, but couldn’t catch up. They scored a final run in the ninth, but fell short. The series wraps up with a doubleheader Sunday.

Game 5 — vs. Akron RubberDucks — Guardians affiliate (May 24) — Senators 5-1

In game one of the doubleheader, LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara (1-1) pitched the first complete game of the season, going all seven innings. He allowed only one run on six hits, with no walks and six strikeouts. Akron scored first with a run in the third, but Harrisburg responded with two runs in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth. Several players, including Marcus Brown, Kervin Pichardo, Johnathon Thomas, and Sam Petersen, each had two hits. Brown drove in three runs, and Pichardo added one. The Senators held Akron scoreless for the rest of the game to secure the win.

Game 6 — vs. Akron RubberDucks — Guardians affiliate (May 24) — Senators 3-0

In the Friday makeup game, great pitching continued, as five pitchers combined for the Senators’ fourth shutout of the season, allowing only three hits and two walks with nine strikeouts. Thomas Schultz started with two scoreless innings, followed by Jared Simpson with two more. Erick Mejia pitched a scoreless fifth, Robert Cranz added 1.2 shutout innings and struck out the side in the sixth, and Valentin Linarez earned the save by striking out Jose Devers for the final out. Harrisburg scored first in the fifth on a sac fly by Elijah Nunez, then Sam Petersen hit his third home run of the series in the sixth to make it 3-0. Overall, the Senators’ pitching allowed just one run on nine hits and two walks across both games Sunday.

Answering the question…. What do you think is the “right way” to play the game?-

Seaver King answered, “It’s not always about you. It’s about the team, more often than not. And it’s about winning. I think [Jeter] made that his main thing, and how he handled himself was to win.”

The newest member in Rochester, King sure has the traits to become a long-tenured star in the MLB and his path trajectory is heading the right way with all kinds of accolades along the way.

The Harrisburg Senators head to Reading, PA for their first out of division opponent of the year thus far. They will be playing the Fightin Phils everyday from Tuesday through Sunday.

Reading sits at 21-24 while Harrisburg sits at 24-21. Should be a fun inter-state series as the season creeps closer to June.

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