Aeros one win from title

Double by Van Every in seventh drives in both runs in victory over Sea
Dogs. Akron takes 2-1 series lead

By Stephanie Storm

Beacon Journal sports writer

Portland's batters outhit the Aeros'. The stingy Sea Dogs pitchers
held the Aeros' sluggers to just two hits.

The visitors even had a major-leaguer on the mound for five innings
Friday night at Canal Park. But all that meant little in the end.

What mattered most was that Jon Van Every's seventh-inning, two-run
bloop double dropped near the left-field line between three Portland
defenders to score a pair of runs.

The clutch hit ultimately netted the Aeros a 2-0 victory in Game 3 of
the Eastern League Championship series and gave Akron a 2-1 lead in
the best-of-five series.

The shutout was the sixth in the Aeros' playoff history. With a win
tonight, the Aeros would clinch their second league championship in
three years.

``At this point, all of us guys who played in Kinston last year and
won it, are starting to get that feeling again,'' said Pat Osborn,
whose single in the second inning accounted for Akron's only other hit.

Van Every's clutch hit wiped out a solid start by right-hander Wade
Miller, who was making his second rehab appearance for the Sea Dogs.
Over five innings, Miller allowed just one hit and struck out six.

``He wasn't very overpowering, he just didn't make many mistakes,''
Van Every said.

Miller, on loan from the Boston Red Sox, wasn't supposed to make much
of a difference in the pivotal game. At least that's what the folks
from Portland insisted.

But the large contingent of Sea Dogs fans visiting town were thrilled
with Miller's five shutout innings. Aeros starter Brian Slocum shut
out Portland for 6 1/3 innings.

The general feeling by then was that the first team to score would
likely be the winner -- even if it came on a play that included a
little luck.

``I was just asking for it to get down before it went foul,'' Aeros
manager Torey Lovullo said about Van Every's hit. ``There's an old
adage that this is a game of inches, and the game certainly went that
way tonight.''

Ryan Mulhern's walk and a pair of fielder's-choice plays set the stage
for Van Every, who admitted upon contact he thought the ball would go
foul.

``I thought it was out, I really did,'' he said, shrugging his shoulders.

But it stayed fair. Mulhern crossed home first, followed by a fired-up
Shaun Larkin, who clapped his hands loudly and skipped into the
dugout, mobbed by at least a dozen waiting high-fives.

Slocum didn't have anything to show for his sterling effort -- Aeros
reliever Travis Foley earned the win. Foley, Chris Cooper and closer
Ed Mujica kept the Sea Dogs in check for the final 2 2/3 innings, with
Mujica earning his fourth save with a hitless ninth.