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AKRON – The Akron Aeros had trouble with the Altoona Curve during the second match-up of a three-game series on Tuesday night as they fell 14-6.

The return of baseball means the return of everyone's favorite Akron Aeros notebook, Launching Off With The Aeros. The Aeros got off to a rough start but rounded into form as the week rolled along. To see who led the way for Akron (spoiler alert: it was and always will be Jose Ramirez) and everything you need to know about the Aeros, check out Launching Off With The Aeros... after the jump.

The Akron Aeros finally got their first win of the 2013 season Sunday afternoon, avoiding a four-game sweep with a 13-3 blowout of the Binghamton Mets at Canal Park. Akron's bats finally woke up after only scoring seven runs in their first three games, erupting for 13 runs on 15 hits. Manager Edwin Rodriguez was happy to see the offense appear while avoiding a sweep to start the season.

The Akron Aeros and the Binghamton Mets both broke out of their offensive slumps Saturday afternoon, but unfortunately for the home team, the Mets broke out a little bit more. The Aeros suffered their first 0-3 start to a season since 1997 as Akron fell to Binghamton 7-5 at Canal Park. The B-Mets hit the ball hard all day and busted out for 14 hits and seven runs after starting the year with consecutive 2-1 wins.

The first edition of Minor Happenings each year typically does not post until the first Thursday after the season opens, but there is a lot to talk about and get everyone caught up on. In today’s special edition of the Happenings, I give an update on Tony Wolters’ move to catcher, introduce Robert Whitenack, break down Tyler Naquin’s great opening night showing, and have all kinds of quotes from the front office on the catchers in the system and where some of the missing players are to start the season.

The minor league season is now in full swing as all 120 full-season affiliates are now underway. The last six teams, including Indians High-A affiliate Carolina Mudcats, opened their season Friday. Join the IBI's Arthur Kinney as he takes a look back at the best and worst performances of the first night of full-bore, four-team Tribe minor league action...

The Akron Aeros experienced déjà vu Thursday, falling to the Binghamton Mets 2-1 for the second consecutive night at Canal Park. Once again, Akron's bats were quiet, combining to go 6-for-31 with four walks and 11 strikeouts. The team is now 11-for-63 with 21 strikeouts on the year, but manager Edwin Rodriguez is not worried just yet with the slow start.

The Akron Aeros dropped their season opener at Canal Park 2-1 to the Binghamton Mets. Highly-touted right-handed starter Danny Salazar went five innings, striking out five, walking two, and allowing two hits, and second baseman Jose Ramirez had two hits in the loss.

Opening night is here for the minor leagues. The Minor League Baseball season kicks off tonight as all of Triple-A Columbus, Double-A Akron and Low-A Lake County open their seasons. High-A Carolina has to wait a day as they open their season on Friday. We polled several of the site writers to get their take on things as the season gets ready to begin. Which affiliate and prospects are the most exciting? Who is due for a breakout? All of that and more are shared in the annual IBI roundtable...

The Akron Aeros will take the field at Canal Park Thursday night at 6:35 looking to repeat as Eastern League champions with a new owner in tow, a new state-of-the-art scoreboard and a new team loaded with young top prospects. Jim Piascik walks you through the team's very exciting outlook with quotes from Manager Edwin Rodriguez, as well as the players themselves.

Spring training wrapped up for the Indians on Saturday. Not only has the big league team broken camp and are on their way to Toronto for their opening day series which gets started on Tuesday, but about 100 minor leaguers are also in transit to Columbus, Akron, Zebulon and Eastlake to begin their minor league seasons which kick off on Thursday next week. Here are the rosters!

Finishing his series of looking at the Cleveland minor league system with varying adjectives, Jim Piascik lists the most intriguing prospects as we head into the 2013 season. Sometimes a pitcher lacks raw stuff but always seems to get results anyway. Sometimes prospects have ridiculous tools that simply have not translated into game action yet. Sometimes it's something else entirely. Find out who Jim thinks the most intriguing prospects are after the jump.

Continuing his series of looking at the Cleveland minor league system with varying adjectives, Jim Piascik lists the most impressive prospects as we head into the 2013 season. Some players are impressive with one or two standout tools, while others impress with their all-around game. What is most important is that these players can make you leave the park thinking about their performance more so than the rest of the team. Find out who Jim thinks these players are after the jump.

Continuing with the series he started last week, Jim Piascik lists the most exciting prospects in the organization headed into 2013. There are many ways to define exciting, but Jim looked all around the minor league system for players that simply jump off the field at you. Find out who made the list (along with the obvious, Jim's favorite minor leaguer, Dorssys Paulino) after the jump.

Minor league spring training is in full swing, and over the next few weeks players will work their way to make a full season roster. With the new season on the horizon, Tony takes a look at the upcoming decisions with players and how several players will be handled this season. From that you can really get a good feel for their prospect value and who may stick around in the organization this season.

Life in the pros consists of day-to-day opportunity. Each day a player treads across the dirt of the diamond, new opportunities surface. For Cleveland Indians’ right-hander Shawn Armstrong, opportunities lie in overlooked places. He had a banner season last year across three levels, and going into this season he is well on the Major League radar. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recently sat down and talked with him and shares what he said in here latest.