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Esparza throws seven scoreless vs. Senators, 3-0

Matt Esparza threw seven shutout innings, taking a no-hitter into the seventh, against the Senators, propelling the RubberDucks to a 3-0 win at Canal Park. (David Monseur)
June 13, 2017

RubberDucks Game RecapRubberDucks 3 Senators 0WP: Matt Esparza (3-0) LP: Jaron Long (5-6) Save: Mitch Brown (4)SummaryAkron's Matt Esparza tossed seven innings of shutout baseball, and Yu Chang clubbed his team-high, 12th home run, as the RubberDucks defeated the Harrisburg Senators, 3-0, on Tuesday night at Canal Park.

RubberDucks Game Recap
RubberDucks 3 Senators 0
WP: Matt Esparza (3-0) LP: Jaron Long (5-6) Save: Mitch Brown (4)
Summary
Akron's Matt Esparza tossed seven innings of shutout baseball, and Yu Chang clubbed his team-high, 12th home run, as the RubberDucks defeated the Harrisburg Senators, 3-0, on Tuesday night at Canal Park.

Turning Point
The Senators (25-37) broke up Esparza's no-hit bid in the seventh inning when José Marmolejos and Neftali Soto led off the inning with back-to-back singles. After the runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Corban Joseph, Esparza fanned Raudy Read and retired Yadiel Hernandez on a grounder to second to strand the potential tying runs on base.
Winging It
Esparza (3-0) has won his first three Double-A starts. On Tuesday, he walked two and struck out five. He retired the side in order three times. Of his 92 pitches, 59 were strikes. Mitch Brown worked the final two innings to complete the whitewash and earn his fourth save.
Duck Tales
The RubberDucks (29-30) scored in the first inning against Harrisburg starter Jaron Long (5-6) on a double by Jordan Smith and a sacrifice fly by Francisco Mejía. In the sixth, Chang blasted a long, solo homer to left-center, his team-best 12th of the year. Eric Haase added an insurance run in the seventh with a solo shot to center. It was Haase's 10th homer of the year, and made it 3-0.
Notebook
The shutout victory was Akron's fourth of the year…Long went the distance for the Senators, allowing only four hits, but absorbed the hard-luck loss…The RubberDucks have won three consecutive games…Akron ranks second in the EL with 63 home runs…Chang was 2-3, with a homer and a double, and tied Bobby Bradley for the team-lead in RBI with 35…Joe Sever was 0-3, snapping his 12-game hitting streak…Mejia was 0-2, officially, but is still hitting a league-best .364…Tyler Krieger turned in the defensive play of the night with a diving stop behind second to get a timely force-out in the ninth…Time of Game: 1:58… Attendance: 3,660. 
On Deck
The RubberDucks and the Senators will play the middle game of the series on Wednesday night at 7:05. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1350 AM, the WARF iHeart channel, and the TuneIn Radio App.