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By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 06:10 p.m. EDT, May 21, 2009
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
Moments after throwing his final pitch in the ninth inning and watching a fly ball settle into the glove of left fielder Matt McBride, Aeros pitcher Jeanmar Gomez braced himself. As he turned back around toward home plate, catcher Damaso Espino came hurtling toward him, tackling the right-hander at the conclusion of a 3-0 victory over the Trenton Thunder on Thursday afternoon at Waterfront Park in New Jersey. It didn't take long before the rest of the Aeros came sprinting out to the mound, everyone ending up in a pile on top of Gomez, who had just thrown the first perfect game in Aeros history. ''It was such an unbelievable thing,'' Espino said. ''Everyone was jumping on top of each other screaming, and [Gomez] is at the bottom of the pile with tears in his eyes, loving every minute of it.'' Gomez zipped through the Thunder lineup in each of the nine innings. He needed just 87 pitches to get the 27 outs. ''He had very good fastball command, throwing 75 percent of his fastballs for strikes,'' Aeros pitching coach Ruben Niebla said. ''He threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters, so he was ahead of everyone all afternoon. Then his slider got better as the game went on, so they couldn't just sit up there looking fastball.'' Although Gomez, through interpreter Espino, conceded that he was well aware of what was happening from the first inning on, he was taken aback by the enormity of accomplishing such a rare baseball feat. ''I just keep thanking God for this beautiful day,'' said the 21-year-old native of Venezuela who signed with the Indians as a nondrafted free agent in 2005. In addition to the perfect game, Gomez became the third Aeros pitcher to throw a no-hitter, but the first to accomplish the feat solo. The team's last no-hitter came July 7, 2003 — a combined effort by starter Chad Durbin and reliever Oscar Alvarez. ''Around the sixth inning or so, I started to notice guys gravitating away from him [as is customary in baseball superstition]. After the fifth, I even started leaving him alone, not saying a word and just giving him a fist bump after each inning,'' Espino said. Gomez retired eight Thunder batters via strikeout, 10 others flied out and nine grounded out. Only two plays came close to threatening to break up the perfect game — a rocket shot down the line right at third baseman Jared Goedert in the third inning and a fly ball to left field for the first out of the ninth that was caught by a diving Matt McBride. In 29 innings since joining the Aeros from high Class-A Kinston, Gomez has allowed just nine hits while striking out 27 batters, going a 4-0 in four starts with a 0.31 ERA. In his past six starts, Gomez has allowed just one run while striking out 36 batters in 42 innings.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians and Aeros blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters.
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
Moments after throwing his final pitch in the ninth inning and watching a fly ball settle into the glove of left fielder Matt McBride, Aeros pitcher Jeanmar Gomez braced himself. As he turned back around toward home plate, catcher Damaso Espino came hurtling toward him, tackling the right-hander at the conclusion of a 3-0 victory over the Trenton Thunder on Thursday afternoon at Waterfront Park in New Jersey. It didn't take long before the rest of the Aeros came sprinting out to the mound, everyone ending up in a pile on top of Gomez, who had just thrown the first perfect game in Aeros history. ''It was such an unbelievable thing,'' Espino said. ''Everyone was jumping on top of each other screaming, and [Gomez] is at the bottom of the pile with tears in his eyes, loving every minute of it.'' Gomez zipped through the Thunder lineup in each of the nine innings. He needed just 87 pitches to get the 27 outs. ''He had very good fastball command, throwing 75 percent of his fastballs for strikes,'' Aeros pitching coach Ruben Niebla said. ''He threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters, so he was ahead of everyone all afternoon. Then his slider got better as the game went on, so they couldn't just sit up there looking fastball.'' Although Gomez, through interpreter Espino, conceded that he was well aware of what was happening from the first inning on, he was taken aback by the enormity of accomplishing such a rare baseball feat. ''I just keep thanking God for this beautiful day,'' said the 21-year-old native of Venezuela who signed with the Indians as a nondrafted free agent in 2005. In addition to the perfect game, Gomez became the third Aeros pitcher to throw a no-hitter, but the first to accomplish the feat solo. The team's last no-hitter came July 7, 2003 — a combined effort by starter Chad Durbin and reliever Oscar Alvarez. ''Around the sixth inning or so, I started to notice guys gravitating away from him [as is customary in baseball superstition]. After the fifth, I even started leaving him alone, not saying a word and just giving him a fist bump after each inning,'' Espino said. Gomez retired eight Thunder batters via strikeout, 10 others flied out and nine grounded out. Only two plays came close to threatening to break up the perfect game — a rocket shot down the line right at third baseman Jared Goedert in the third inning and a fly ball to left field for the first out of the ninth that was caught by a diving Matt McBride. In 29 innings since joining the Aeros from high Class-A Kinston, Gomez has allowed just nine hits while striking out 27 batters, going a 4-0 in four starts with a 0.31 ERA. In his past six starts, Gomez has allowed just one run while striking out 36 batters in 42 innings.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Indians and Aeros blog at http://www.ohio.com/tribematters.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Kandi, SL
Posted 07:37 PM, 05/21/2009
Who loves ya Baby!
Akron, Oh
Posted 07:45 PM, 05/21/2009
Put him in the Tribe pen now!
Canton, OH
Posted 11:03 PM, 05/21/2009
SWEET. .Bring him up, Wedgie. . .
Naples, FL
Posted 06:52 AM, 05/22/2009
ramon57...ever hear the expression, "cut off your nose to spite your face"?
El Paso, Te
Posted 06:59 AM, 05/22/2009
that is one long paragraph.
Bethesda, MD
Posted 03:23 PM, 05/22/2009
Gets pretty bad when the AA team is more exciting than the major league team.
