This afternoon the Harrisburg Senators fell to the Akron RubberDucks 8-7 Tuesday afternoon at Canal Park. The Senators homered three times, including a grand slam by Andrew Young in the fifth inning to give the Sens a 7-2 lead. But the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead, giving up runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to give the RubberDucks the win.
Tim Cate started and went the first five innings. He allowed hits to the first three batters of the game and two to score but settled down after that. He retired 15 of the final 18 batters he faced. Malvin Pena came on to start the sixth inning and walked the first batter he faced on four pitches. He allowed two runs, including one on a wild pitch. Danny Dopico pitched the seventh and was tagged for three runs on four hits. Brian Gonzalez took the loss, allowing a triple and single in the ninth inning.
Along with the grand slam by Andrew Young, Gilbert Lara hit a solo shot and Israel Pineda a two-run home run. Jack Dunn scored a run with three hits, including a double. Darren Baker had two hits and scored a run. Harrisburg went 2-for-2 with runners in scoring position.
The grand slam by Young was the Senators' fifth on the season and their second at Canal Park. After winning their first two games out of the break, they’ve dropped two straight, with both losses coming against the bullpen late in the game. In the five games of the break, the Senators' starters had a 2.38 ERA and allowed just six earned runs.