Chance Kirby was a savior for the Erie bullpen in his second start in Double-A. The starting pitcher tossed six strong innings and allowed only one run. Kirby started the night with five scoreless frames, but was hit for a solo home run by Akron’s hard-hitting outfielder Oscar Gonzalez.
The ‘Wolves scored in the first inning for the third consecutive game. After Riley Greene reached first base on a fielding error by the first baseman, Dillon Dingler clubbed his first Double-A home run to right-center field to score the pair. Akron’s starter, Eric Mock, was able to reset and work through five innings, keeping Erie from increasing their lead.
Reliever Nic Enright picked apart the Erie offense for the next three innings. Making his Double-A debut, Enright retired all nine batters he faced, sending the game to the ninth inning. Manuel Alvarez held Erie to just a single, and struck out three batters in the ninth inning to keep the game within a run.
Erie went to Yaya Chentouf for the seventh inning, and got three scoreless innings out of the right hander. Chentouf nearly blew the save in the eighth inning when he gave up a double with only one out to Chris Roller, but he worked a pair of pop outs to strand the runner, eventually earning his first save of the year.
Erie and Akron continue their seven game set on Saturday at Canal Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Erie will return to UPMC Park on June 29 when they face Reading in a six game series.