After Bowie slugger Luis Jimenez mashed multiple-run home runs in each of the first three games of the series against Bowie this week - compiling 10 RBI along the way - Aeros pitchers continued to pitch to the Baysox first baseman Thursday.

Furthermore, they continued to do so with manager Tim Bogar’s blessing - with the playoffs on the line in needing a win to clinch a wildcard playoff spot.

“To me, Jimenez is a great hitter but he’s pitchable,” Bogar said. “But if you pitch him right, he’s pitchable. I mean, there’s a reason why he’s still in Double-A. The man can hit. I like how he swings the bat and he gives you a quality at-bat every time. But I think our pitchers, when they do what they’re supposed to do, can get him out.”

Well guess what? They didn’t the first three nights of this important series home stand and they didn’t again in Jimenez’s at-bats in the fifth and seventh innings Thursday.

After hitting a three-run home run against Aeros starter Eric DuBose in the series opener Monday, Jimenez smacked another three-run bomb against reliever Michael Finocchi Tuesday. He settled for a two-run homer against starter Bobby Brownlie Wednesday and continued to beat up Akron pitchers when he doubled home two runs to give the Baysox a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning Thursday against starter Shawn Nottingham.

The 6-foot-4 205-pounder from Venezuela managed to leg out a single against reliever Rich Rundles in the seventh, who was the unsung hero of the night for the Aeros in earning the win.

But give the Aeros pitchers some credit. When the game was on the line with two on and two out in the ninth, closer Jim Ed Warden got Jimenez to ground out to short to end the game and vault the Aeros into the playoffs.

Asked what he was thinking when Jimenez strode to the plate in the final at-bat, Bogar admitted: “My first thought was ‘get him out.’ Then I thought, ‘Please don’t make a a mistake and let’s get this guy out for once!’ ”

Warden did just that, his fastball down and away bouncing into the glove of waiting shortstop Brandon Pinckney, who fired to Michael Aubrey at first base for the huge out.

Moments later, the Aeros lockeroom reeked of cheap champagne, as the players celebrated by soaking each other - and Bogar - from head to toe with glee.

Across the hall, Jimenez and his teammates quietly got dressed and then headed outside to the team bus for what promised to be a long seven hour ride home, their season over save for four meaningless games at home against Connecticut.

Being forced to use a position player to pitch in a game that’s way out of hand in order to save a team’s bullpen happens now and again. Not so much at the Double-A level as it does in Triple-A, yet that was the situation the Aeros faced Monday night in a blowout loss to Bowie.

With Aeros pitchers combining to give up a season-high 20 hits (starter Eric DuBose was guilty for 12), Aeros outfielder Nathan Panther came on to pitch the eighth and ninth innings.

Usually, the results aren’t pretty when a position player takes the mound. But Panther wasn’t only servicable, he was pertty darn good. Really, he was.

Panther allowed just a harmless single and walk in the two innings, and looked like a pitcher while doing it.

“He’s the only pitcher we had to go two straight innings without giving up a run,” Aeros manager Tim Bogar correctly pointed out.

Bogar was as impressed as anyone after Panther’s pitching debut in Akron (he owns a save from his time with Class-A Kinston earlier in the season), figuring he couldn’t go wrong with a guy who could throw a curveball, changeup and fastball for strikes - even if he is listed as an outfielder.

Turns out Panther was a pitcher at Muscatine Community College before being drafted by the Indians in the 15th round of the of the 2002 draft. So, what’s to keep Panther stuck on the bench as a fourth outfielder when right now he’s probably more needed in the Aeros starting rotation?

“I guess I could call (Indians minor league pitching coordinator) Dave (Miller) and ask if (Panther) could stay,” Bogar said.

Given the current state of the team, It was hard to tell if Bogar was joking or not.

The Areos wrapped up their important three-game set in Erie Wednesday night, limping out of town after going just 1-2. New closer Jim Ed Warden blew a save Tuesday that cost the game and then usually steady Reid Santos was unable to locate the strike zone in his second inning of work Wednesday to cost the team a win that would have given them a much-need series victory.

Instead, the Aeros open play in Reading tonight having won just 2 of their last 9 games - and now no longer needs to worry about first-place Erie.

As Aeros back up play-by-play man Joe Jastremski keeps telling me while traveling with the team on this key road trip, “The Sea Wolves are playing like a team that will hold on to first place and claim the Southern Division title.”

Meanwhile, the Aeros now need to focus instead on charging third-place team Bowie (5 games back), who becomes the real threat to knock the Aeros (2.5 games back) out of the wild-card spot and the playoffs all together.

I’ve recently stated my opinions on this blog as to why the Aeros are stumbling down the stretch so badly (no real help from Class-A Kinston after the Aeros top players are promoted to Triple-A Buffalo, which has been the norm for years).

But it doesn’t sound like Michael Aubrey’s activation from the disabled list yesterday is going to help matters much. Not only does it push productive player/coach Shaun Larkin back to the bench, but because Aubrey has rarely played this season even close to 100 % healthy, he’s a major liability on the bases.

Jastremski reports that in Wednesday’s game with Aubrey on first base, Rodney Choy Foo hit a sure double behind him, but had to retreat back to first base when Aubrey could make it no farther than second base on the hit. Plays like that cost the team crucial runs - and could prove disasterous under the microscope of the post season if the Aeros are to hold on to second place and make the playoffs.

Some good news: The foul ball of the right hand of cather Wyatt Toregas in Tuesday’s game that forced him to leave in the bottom of the second inning did not break any bones. In fact, though his hand is heavily wrapped, Toregas was catching in the bullpen Wednesday night.

Aeros manager Tim Bogar told Jastremski he hopes to have Toregas back in the lineup in time for Friday’s double header at Reading.

I get the sense the Aeros are driving a lot of fans crazy these days. At least they’ve been driving me crazy for a while now.

Granted, ups and downs are a part of every season. I used to have a manager in Triple-A Columbus named Trey Hillman who used say to me all the time, “Stephanie, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Relax.”

I do try to be patient. But my patience has run thin lately. Aside from a recent 10-game stretch in which the Aeros went 8-2, the team has not looked very good for a nearly two months now.

A part of the reasdon is that Akron keeps losing its best players to Triple-A (SS Asdrubal Cabrera, OF Brian Barton, P Aaron Laffey) like it does every year.

But instead of getting Class-A Kinston’s top players in return (1B Matt Whitney, 3B Wes Hodges, P’s Kevin Dixon, Ryan Edell and James Deters), the Aeros have been given subs and forced to play the remainder of the season with several players playing out of position.

It’s not exactly the formula for success, and it’s very frustrating.

And when I’m really moody, I think maybe the Indians just want Kinston to win this season and just don’t care much about Akron. But a good scout friend of mine insists the lack of movement doesn’t have as much to do with wanting one team to win over another as it does setting up the entire system (majors to minors) for proper movement in the next year or two.

But why wait till next year?

The answer was complicated. But his premise that there’s much more thought put into this than we like to think at times is no doubt true. The Indians know what they’re doing, even if it drives us all crazy at different levels in the minors in the meantime.

However, if the Aeros aren’t careful, they could easily find themselves out of the race within a week with Erie playing well and the Aeros headed there for a pivotal three-game matchup Monday through Wednesday.

With the current state of the team, I don’t know how far the team would make it in a playoff run. But it would at least be nice to get a chance to find out.

News out of Canal Park despite the team being on the road has brought yet another handful of changes to the team’s roster.

This time, they are moves that could strengthen the team’s chance to make a post season run, with the exception of the latest Michael Aubrey injury - but more on that in a minute.

First, and perhaps most important, the Aeros received outfielder Brian Barton from Triple-A Buffalo after a two-week stint with the Bisons. Not only will Barton once again bolster the team’s offense, but it will keep the Areos from having to use second baseman Argenis Reyes in left field - where he played Sunday.

The Aeros also received pitchers Rich Rundles and Eric Dubose from Buffalo, while sending reliever T.J. Burton to Class-A Kinston. Rundles, a reliever, has shuttled back and forth between Akron and Buffalo all season. Dubose (4-3, 4.24 ERA in 11 games including eight starts) will join the starting rotation in place of right-hander Jake Dittler, who was placed on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation retroactive to Aug. 6th.

That leaves us with Aubrey. Yes, once again, the Tribe’s often-injured No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft is sidelined - this time with an abdomin strain. At some point, you just figure he’s going to have to run out of body parts to hurt. It just figures, too. After struggling since joining the team from Kinston, Aubrey was just starting to hit last week.

During a season that has featured more players than I can count changing roles - including several position players - perhaps it should have come as no surprise Sunday to find the Aeros outfield consist of only one true outfielder.

Sandwiched around usual center fielder Trevor Crowe were second baseman Argenis Reyes in left field and first baseman Stephen Head in right field.

While Head had at least spent the last month at Class-A Kinston playing the outfield in preparation for the role change once he was promoted to Akron last week, Reyes had only filled in once in left this season - and that for a just a few innings in emergency when right fielder Brian Barton was ejected from a game and left the team scrambling to fill in.

To Reyes’ credit, after missing a laser fly ball to the left of him that resulted in him banaging hard into the wall in the second inning, he made a nice diving catch in shallow left for the final out of the third inning.

Reyes took an odd route to another ball hit to him to start the seventh, but recovered in time to make the play.

In the end, both he and Head did servicable jobs in the afternoon game with visiting New Britain.

But honestly, all this moving guys around to play several positions drives me crazy.

I understand that some players can make themselves more valaubale in the big leagues by being able to play several positions. It’s just that I don’t think EVERY player can do it, nor should they be asked to.

The Aeros have spent more time this season with guys moving around in different positions than in any other I’ve seen in my five years.

Just a few minutes ago, I finished writring my story for Monday’s Beacon about Jim Ed Warden taking over the Aeros closer’s role. Not because there was anything wrong with the job Randy Newsom did - he had 17 saves in 19 opportunities and was a mid-season All-Star - but…well, just because.

Granted, the Newsom/Warden move is one that in theory ought to stregthen the team through the end of the season and (hopefully) into the playoffs. However, most moves this season that have left players lining up out of position have come at the team’s expense.

Of course, that gets us back into the concept of development over winning - another thing that while I understand it, tends to drive me crazy most days.

Sometimes, wouldn’t it just be nice to watch a game with the Tribe’s best minor league players playing their true positions and see how good they can really be?

A lot of baseball folks might not consider losing their No. 2 and No. 3 hitters a way to “jump start” a struggling team.

Yet that’s exactly what Aeros manager Tim Bogar believes happened to the Aeros when they lost shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera and right fielder Brian Barton recently in a week’s span.

Say what?

“This change is exactly what this team needs,” Bogar said confidently. “We were kind of mumbling and bumbling along, just kind of getting through it. Then all of a sudden Cabrera leaves, a week later Barton leaves, and these guys still here are like ‘Hey, what’s going on? Maybe I have a chance to move. Maybe I could do some things and get out of here. Now I’m the guy, so I better put some numbers up.”

First baseman/designated hitter Jordan Brown has been putting up numbers all season long, entering Wednesday game batting a team-best .331 (second in the league) and leading the Eastern League in hits with 128. This, despite battling a nagging knee injury that will require off-season surgery.

Center fielder Trevor Crowe has begun to pull his weight, turning his dismal season around the last month to enter Wednesday batting a much more respectable .248.

Now it’s time for veteran left fielder Ryan Goleski (.253) to do the same, as well as shortstop Brandon Pinckney (.220) - now that he has the advantage of playing every day with Cabrera gone.

“Right now we got what we got,” Bogar said. “We’ll figure it out. There’s plenty of hitters on this team.”

The Aeros’ pitching staff needs to share a portion of the burden during this final month as well, as the hitters have carried the team most of the season.

As decent as Wednesday’s starter Chuck Lofgren has been at 10-6 with a 4.28 ERA, the left-hander has yet to live up to his pre-season “ace” billing. And as a three-year Double-A veteran, right-hander Jake Dittler needs to do better than the 4.37 ERA he’s posted in 19 appearances.

Well, it took a few more days than I expected, but Aeros outfielder Brian Barton was finally promoted to Triple-A Buffalo after Sunday’s game.

Good move for him, as he certainly deserves it after batting .314 (122-for-389) with 18 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 59 RBI, 41 walks and of course, the Minor-League leading 28 hit-by-pitches in 106 games with the Aeros this season.

In fact, Barton’s numbers across the board were as consistent as one can get. He hit .303 agaianst left-handers and .317 against righties. He hit .315 in 50 home games and .313 in 56 road games.

The same day Barton said goodbye to his Akron teammates, the Aeros received infielder Chris De La Cruz from Class-A Kinston. Honestly, I’m not sure what that move is all about. I even wonder if he’ll be in town for more than a few days.

Then Monday, the team saw two more unexpected transactions as catcher/third baseman/outfielder Chris Gimenez (.221 in 30 games with six doubles and six home runs) was sent back to Kinston while first baseman Stephen Head is set to make his Akron debut Tuesday when the team kicks off a six-game home stand at Canal Park.

Head, the Tribe’s No. 2 pick in the 2005 draft out of the Univ. of Mississippi, was batting just .251 in 102 games with Kinston.

Honestly, I expected to see third baseman Wes Hodges (batting .300 in 80 games with Kinston) before Head this season. Obviously, the Tribe brass doesn’t bother to consult with me before making moves. Go figure.

Anyway, to me, Head’s promotion indicates that injured-but-still-playing Jordan Brown will spend more time in the outfield than at first base and always-injured Michael Aubrey still can’t handle every day first base duties.

The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?

Brian Barton has been anticipating a move to Triple-A Buffalo all season, and it finally looks like the Aeros uheralded outfielder could be on his way up any day now.

If it isn’t enough that Barton ranks sixth in the Eastern League with a .312 average in 103 games 17 doubles, 9 home runs, 41 walks, 56 RBI and a Minor-League leading 28 hit-by-pitches, the door was opened for Barton last week Bisons outfielder Brad Snyder broke his finger. Snyder is expected to be out for the remainder of the season.

It’s been (understandably) frustrating for Barton, a non-drafted free agent out of the Univ. of Miami, to once again be playing so well this season but remain stuck behind by more heralded (read top-dollar prospects).

As for the team as a whole, the struggling Aeros have managed to put their recent losing ways behind them for now in winning three straight entering Thursday’s game, regaining a tie with Erie for first place in the Southern Division.

This, without the team’s top two players in SS Asdrubal Cabrera (promoted Sunday to Buffalo) and IB Jordan Browen (sidelined with a knee injury that needs surgery at season’s end).

For the team to make waves in the playoffs, it’s going to need to see the stars of Wednesday’s win - left fielder Ryan Goleski and first baseman Michael Aubrey - continue to step up down the stretch.