Aeros lose 9-6; Santana's hitting streak halted

NEW BRITAIN 9, AKRON AEROS 6

KEY STATS: Aeros C Carlos Santana saw his career and Aeros season-high hitting streak snapped at 14 games with an 0-for-4 effort Friday. However, Santana walked, drove in a run and scored another.

"It looks like he's seeing the ball better," Aeros manager Mike Sarbaugh said. "He's being selective yet aggressive at the plate. And recently, when he has gotten his pitch, he's squared the ball up. He's also taking advantage of some mistakes."

KEY MOMENTS: The Rock Cats tagged Aeros starting pitcher Eric Berger for eight runs (five earned) on 13 hits in 5 2/3 innings to take an early lead...But the Aeros offense rallied back with a run in the third, two in the fourth and three in the seventh...Sarbaugh was ejected in the third inning after arguing a play at the plate that cost the Aeros a run and short-circuited a rally.

In-house replays showed CF Jose Constanza touched the plate safely ahead of the tag by Rock Cats C Danny Lehman safely. The Aeros and plan on sending a copy of the video to the league office for review.

STORM'S STARS: New Britain SS Steve Singleton and CF Brandon Roberts each collected four hits on the night. Singleton went 4-for-5 with two triples, two RBI and two runs scored. Roberts, the lead off man, had four singles and three RBI.

UP NEXT: The Aeros continue a this weekend series against visiting New Britain (Minnesota Twins) tonight at Canal Park at 7:05 p.m. Aeros right-hander Jeanmar Gomez (9-3, 3.27 ERA) and Rock Cats Deolis Guerra (4-1, 4.80 ERA) are the scheduled pitchers.

RADIO: WARF (1350 am).