Guardians Baseball Insider

Scoreboard

Triple-A – Toledo Mud Hens 5, Columbus Clippers 7
Double-A – Akron RubberDucks 5, Bowie Baysox 1
High-A – West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Lake County Captains 9
Low-A – Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Fredricksburg Nationals 3

Highlights

George Valera (Lake County, RF): 3/5, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR – The Captains didn’t score until the fourth, but when they did it was Valera leading the way. His two run homer that inning scored Bryan Lavastida and brought back Lake County to within one run. After scoring two runs in the fifth and sixth, Valera got things going again in the seventh with a single, after which he scored on a wild pitch leading to a fourth consecutive two run innings for the Captains. He then ruined the bit in the eighth as his double chased home Lavastida (after his own double) and the Captains only scored one run.

Francisco Perez (Akron, RP): 4 IP, 5 K, 1 BB, 1 H, 0 R, W – Jumping into the game in the ninth with things still tied, Perez struck out two hitters in his first perfect inning. He stayed on for the tenth and managed to keep the ghost runner on second thanks to a strike out, fly out and line out. He struck out two more in the 11th, but was really saved by Oscar Gonzalez who nabbed a runner going home after a walk and a single. Staying on for the win, he kept things more simple with an infield fly, ground out and K to finish off the game.

Kevin Coulter (Lake County, RP): 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K – Tanner Burns had a great first inning for the Captains, but fell apart quickly in the second and was replaced by Coulter in the third. Looking at a lengthy relief stint, things started off as poorly as Burns’ finish as Coulter gave up a solo home run, but he quickly turned things around. He struck out three in the fourth to work around a Jose Tena error, then one more in a scoreless fifth. The sixth would be his best and final inning as he again struck out the side. This great performance in relief allowed the Captains to come back from down 3-0 to a 6-3 lead by the time Coulter was pulled.

Best of the rest

Nolan Jones (Columbus, 3B): 2/4, HR, 3 RBI, SB – Jones had a rough start to the season, but has been picking things up in a major way of late, particularly the last ten days. Last night, he added his second homer over that span and third of the season in the first inning, scoring Owen Miller and Andres Gimenez. He added another single in the sixth and stole second after. In his last ten games, he has gone 11 for 43 with six doubles and two steals in addition to the two home runs.

Jordan Jones (Lynchburg, SP): 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W – With two outs in the first, Jones gave up his only two hits of the night leading to his only run allowed. This run tied the game early, but the Hillcats scored again in the second to give Jones a new lead. He struck out one in the second and used a double play to erase a runner who reached thanks to a Christian Cairo error, then struck out single batters in each of perfect third, fourth and fifth innings

Daniel Johnson (Columbus, CF): 2/3, HR, 2 RBI – Already up 3-0 thanks to Nolan Jones, Johnson added to the Clippers total in the third with an RBI single that scored Oscar Mercado. After Toledo tied the game in the fifth, Johnson took back the lead for Columbus with a sixth inning solo shot.

Tanner Tully (Akron, SP): 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K – Akron’s game was decided in extras, long after Tully was removed from the game, but it couldn’t have reached extras without Tully’s solid start. He allowed just one walk over the first two innings, then was tagged by back-to-back doubles for a run in the third. He allowed singles in the fourth and sixth and hit a batter in the seventh, but otherwise skirted around danger. He was aided by runners caught stealing by Bo Naylor in the third and seventh, but harmed by an error in the seventh that lead to his mid-inning removal.

Gabriel Rodriguez (Lynchburg, SS): 2/4, RBI, R – The Hillcats eked this one out despite a lot of offense, but Rodriguez did manage two hits including a big one in the sixth. His first was a single in the first, then he singled again in the sixth to score Cody Farhat following his double. Unfortunately, Rodriguez was out trying to take two bases on a wild pitch right before Micah Pries went deep.

Josh Rolette (Akron, 1B): 2/5, 3 RBI, HR – The RubberDucks went into the 13th with a 1-1 tie, but Rolette finally managed to break things up and take home the win for Akron. Bo Naylor started on second as is the way, then Marcos Gonzalez walked to put two on. Rolette then managed to take an 0-2 pitch deep to grab that three run lead

Richie Palacios (Akron, 2B): 2/4, BB, 2 R, 2B – Before and after Rolette, the Ducks offense was Palacios. He doubled in the sixth leading to the run that allowed for extra innings. He then singled in the 12th, moved up on a double by Alex Call and scored on a ground out.