Guardians Baseball Insider

Scoreboard

Triple-A: Columbus Clippers 2 , Louisville Bats 1

Double-A: Akron RubberDucks 4, Binghamton Mets 1

High-A: Lansing Lugnuts 1, Lake County Captains 3

Low-A: Lynchburg Hillcats 19, Fredericksburg Nationals 3

HIGHLIGHTS

Logan T. Allen (Lake County, SP): After being the Indians second round pick in 2020, Allen has finally made his official professional debut and it was a special one. He started the game for the Captains and went five shut-out innings with eight strike outs and just two base runners allowed. Specifically, he struck out all three batters in the first and five of his first six batters faced. After two more strikeouts in the fourth, he allowed a single and walk in the fifth before being removed at 72 pitches.

Korey Holland (Lynchburg, CF): The Hillcats had quite the offensive performance last night and it all got started in the first with Korey Holland. He singled to start the game, moved up on a Jhonkensy Noel single, then again when Micah Pries reached on an error. John Rodriguez doubled home two, then Andres Melendez doubled home two more. Will Bartlett doubled to bring him home, then came home himself on an Angel Martinez double. This brought it back to Holland who tripled home the seventh run of the inning. Holland ended the game 4 for 6 with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored.

Angel Martinez (Lynchburg, 2B): In addition to his RBI double in the first, Martinez added singles in the sixth and seventh innings, then bookended it with another double in the eighth. He finished 4 for 5 with 4 RBI and 4 runs scored.

THE BEST OF THE REST

Will Bartlett (Lynchburg, 1B): The Hillcats were far from done after the first as they added eight more runs between the sixth and seventh. Both innings started with Bartlett as he homered in the sixth and walked before scoring in the seventh. In addition to Holland, Martinez and Barlett, it’s worth noting that all ten Hillcats hitters reached base at least once and only Micah Pries (who was pulled for Julian Escobedo in the sixth), Alexfri Planez and Gabriel Rodriguez didn’t have at least two RBI.

Jean Carlos Mejia (Columbus, SP): Mejia had an interesting start in his 2021 debut, but was ultimately successful with four shut out innings. He walked four, but one was caught stealing and the other three were stranded in the second. He gave up individual singles in the third and fourth, but didn’t allow another baserunner and struck out four.

Owen Miller (Columbus, 2B): The Clippers were able to eke out a win last night and it was almost exclusively due to Miller’s offense. In the second, he singled, went to third on a Gabriel Arias single and scored on an error. The Bats tied the game in the sixth with a single run of their own, but Miller came around again in the ninth with a lead off double. This time he had some extra help to score as Nolan Jones followed with the game winning RBI on a double of his own.

Clippers Back End Bullpen: Also deserving of credit for the Clippers win were Robert Broom, Dalbert Siri and DJ Johnson who wrapped up the final three innings without allowing a run. Siri earned the win by striking out the last batter of the eighth and Johnson the save for his perfect ninth.

Juan Hillman & Francisco Perez (Akron, SP & RP): It’s been a long layoff for everyone in minor league baseball, but Perez has most beat as injuries destroyed his 2019 season as well and he hadn’t pitched at low A or above since August 30th, 2018. He and Hillman had a bit of a piggy back start last night and both pitched well. Hillman started and went four with two strike outs, one walk and two hits allowed. While he allowed at least one runner each inning, he only allowed two in the fourth when he gave up a single and hit a batter before inducing a double play. Perez followed for three innings, struck out four, walked one and didn’t allow a hit. The combo performance allowed the Rubberducks to pull out the 4-1 win over the Rumble Ponies with the only run scoring thanks to a Tyler Freeman error and Dakody Clemmer balk.

George Valera (Lake County, RF): Arguably the Indians top offensive prospect got off to a solid start last night in Lansing as his fourth inning triple lead to the Captains first run, giving them a lead they would hold throughout the night. Valera added a single as well in the eighth, stole second and went to third on a passed ball, although he was stranded there.