Guardians Baseball Insider

Photo: Gary Streiffer/Courtesy Lynchburg Hillcats

Scoreboard

Double-A – Richmond Flying Squirrels 3, Akron RubberDucks 2
High-A – Lake County Captains 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 6
Single-A – Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Carolina Mudcats 2

NOTE: Triple-A Columbus was off as the Clippers opted to play on Memorial Day and move the usual Monday off day to Tuesday.

HIGHLIGHTS

Jack Leftwich (Lynchburg, SP): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R (earned), 10 K – Leftwich continues to punch out opposing batters, improving his K:BB ratio to 46:7 with his first double-digit strikeout game of the season.

Hunter Gaddis (Akron, SP): L (4-2), 4 H, 3 R (all earned), 2 BB, 10 K, 1 HBP – Even in a rough outing, Gaddis continues to be a strikeout machine.  He has punched out 64 batters in 42.1 innings this season, including 30 in 16.1 IP in his last three starts combined.

Christian Cairo (Lake County, SS): 3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB – Cairo remained hot on Tuesday, starting his summer with this three–hit performance that included driving in the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh.  Of his 19 total bases this season, 14 have come in the last eight days (five games).During this stretch, his slash line has improved from .074/.292/.074 to .141/.324/.224.

Damon Casetta-Stubbs (Lake County, RP): 2 IP, 2 BB – While starter Tanner Bibee only lasted three innings, Casetta-Stubbs followed with a pair of scoreless frames that continued his recent resurgence (seven scoreless innings in four outings since May 19).  His last two outings have been especially promising as they were muti-inning efforts in higher-leverage situations.

Victor Planchart (Lynchburg, 1B): 1-4, 1 R, 2 K – Planchart has made it abundantly clear that his early season success was not merely a product of the freshness that comes with a Single-A catcher’s limited schedule.  Even as adding first base to his defensive repertoire has seen him play far more regularly, Victor continues to mash:  His on-base streak now stands at twelve games and his batting average has stayed above .300 since he went over the mark in his fourth game of the season.

BEST OF THE REST

George Valera (Akron, DH): 1-5, 1 2B, 1 K – Valera returned from missing a few games with a sore ankle and extended his on-base streak to twelve games with a sixth-inning double.

Micah Pries (Akron, LF): 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K – Pries got the night started on the right foot for the RubberDucks offense by driving in his 19th and 20th runs of the season on a first-inning homer.  Unfortunately, that’s also where the Akron scoring stopped.

Jose Tena (Akron, 2B): 1-4, 1 3B, 2 K – Tena’s third triple of the season ties him for sixth in the Eastern League (Portland Sea Dogs 2B David Hamilton leads the EL with five).

Andrew Miiaszek (Akron. RP): 2 IP, 1 H, 3 K – Misiaszek’s ERA continues to shrink and now stands at 0.68 (two earned runs in 26.2 innings).

Joe Naranjo (Lake County, 1B): 1-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB – In his last four games of May, Naranjo walked eight times in 19 plate appearances.

Raynel Delgado (Lake County, 3B): 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K – Delgado’s two-run homer, which also drove in Cairo for his run scored, capped off a five-run first that amazingly didn’t grant the Captains anything but a tenuous lead.

Randy Labaut (Lake County, RP): W (5-1), 2.1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K – Whenever there’s a Captains individual victory there for a bullpen arm to take, Labaut will seemingly always be in a position to take it.  Labaut, who extended his shutout streak to 10.1 innings in five games last night, leads the Captains in wins and is tied for third in the Midwest League.

Zach Hart (Lake County, RP): S (2), 1.2 IP, 1 H, 2 K – Last Friday, Hart woke up having never converted a professional save, having blown all five opportunities in his first two professional seasons.  He has since converted his first two chances of the 2022 season.

Jake Fox (Lynchburg, SS): 1-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB – Fox had an all-around impressive night:  scoring half of the Hillcats runs, extending his on-base streak to seven games, and getting to double digits in the stolen base department.

Milan Tolentino (Lynchburg, 3B): 0-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SF – Even on a hitless night, Tolentino manages to remain productive with a sacrifice fly to lead off the evening’s scoring.

Dayan Frias (Lynchburg, 2B): 1-2, 1 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HBP, Picked Off 1 time – Frias’ first triple of the season drove in the Hillcats’ eventual winning run in the bottom of the eighth.

Richard Paz (Lynchburg, C): 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 HBP – Paz followed with an RBI single for an insurance run to extend his RBI streak to five games and give him eleven for the month, topping his 10 RBI from April.

Yeury Gervacio (Lynchburg, RP): W (4-0), 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K – Gervacio continues to be the Hillcats’ version of Randy Labaut.

Elvis Jerez (Lynchburg, RP): S (4), 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K – Jerez remains perfect in six career save opportunities (four of them this season), as he ends May without allowing an earned run (allowed one unearned run on May 10 at Down East).