Espino Shines as Aeros Win, 7-1, over Trenton

Akron, OH - Akron's Paolo Espino combined with two relievers on a one-hitter Tuesday night, as the Akron Aeros defeated the Trenton Thunder, 7-1, at Canal Park.

In one of the best outings of his career, Espino (1-0) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a one-out double to Kyle Roller.  He left after giving up a sacrifice fly two batters later.  He walked three and struck out four in the game.

It is Espino's 23rd career win for the Aeros, moving him into a tie with former pitcher Jamie Brown for the franchise record for wins.  Brown won 23 between 1998 and 2002.  Espino, who made his Double-A debut with Akron in 2010, is now 23-8 in an Aeros uniform.

The Aeros (7-12) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first against Trenton starter Matt Tracy (1-2).  They added two more in the third and two more after that in the sixth to take a 6-0 lead.  Chun Chen was the offensive hero, clubbing a pair of RBI singles for Akron.

The 26-year-old Espino, a native and resident of Panama City, Panama, started the game by retiring the first 13 batters he faced.  He issued back-to-back walks with one out in the fifth, but retired the next two hitters to keep the no-hitter intact.

After a perfect sixth, he walked Tyler Austin to lead off the seventh.  After a fly out to deep center by J.R. Murphy, Roller sent a ringing, opposite-field double to left field to wreck the no-hitter and move Austin to third.  After a rousing ovation for Espino, Slade Heathcott followed with a sacrifice fly to score Austin.  At that point, Espino was lifted in favor of righty Kyle Landis.

Espino threw 96 pitches in the game, 57 of which were strikes.

Landis worked the next 1 1/3 innings, and then handed the ball off to Bryan Price, who finished up with a perfect ninth. 

In each of his last two starts, Espino had handed leads to the bullpen only to see the opposition come back to tie and remove him from the decision.  On Tuesday, there was no such letdown. 

Espino was trying to become just the second Aeros pitcher to fire a no-hitter at Canal Park.  Giovanni Soto did it last year with a 2-1 gem over Altoona on July 15th.

The Aeros used a revamped lineup and it paid off with 14 hits.  Jose Ramirez hit leadoff and collected two hits, an RBI, a steal and two runs scored.  Tyler Holt moved from lead-off to the two-hole and went 2-4.  Catcher Chris Wallace hit cleanup, and went 1-3 with a sacrifice fly, to extend his hitting streak to five games.  Ramirez also played shortstop with Ronny Rodriguez moving to second base.

The Aeros and Thunder (11-8) will conclude the series and the homestand Wednesday night at 6:35.  RHP Caleb Cotham (1-1, 4.85) will get he starting assignment for the Thunder, and RHP Toru Murata (1-2, 2.60) will get nod for the Aeros. The game will be carried live on Fox Sports 1350 AM, and online at www.sportsradio1350.com.  For more information, please call the Aeros at 330-253-5151. Follow them on Twitter at @AkronAeros and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheAkronAeros.