Rodriguez extends his on-base streak to 16 games, Cairo and Watson hit a pair of homers for Akron
Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Friday, April 19, 2024
Columbus Clippers 7, Buffalo Bisons 8
Box Score · Clippers fall to 7-10
Johnathan Rodriguez went 2-4 with a walk and a double. He has gotten on base at least once in every game he’s played in so far this season.
Other two-hit performances came from center fielder Myles Straw and left fielder Micah Pries. Every Clipper besides first baseman Kyle Manzardo was able to reach base safely.
Though the Clippers put on an offensive clinic today, the pitching staff let the win slip through their fingers. Left hander Will Dion threw five innings even of three-run baseball, K’ing five while giving up five hits and issuing two walks. The bullpen had some troubles of their own, giving up five runs. Peter Strzelecki gave up two of them while striking two out, while blown saves were charged to Jaime Barria in the 8th and Anthony Gose in the 9th.
Both blown saves are their season-firsts.
Akron RubberDucks 3, Erie Seawolves 9
Box Score · RubberDucks sink to 6-6
A pair of blasts were hit by Christian Cairo and Kahlil Watson — both being their first of the season.
The top half of the lineup provided most of the heavy lifting today, with Chase DeLauter starting to heat up by going 2-4 on the day. Three out of the bottom four batters in the order didn’t hit safely, with only Cairo providing the aforementioned home run.
Tommy Mace was making good pace until he wasn’t. Only allowing two baserunners in the first four innings while striking out four, it seemed like he might’ve been in for a quality start. But Mace began to lose command after he took the mound for the 5th and allowed five baserunners (one being the result of an error by shortstop Milan Tolentino). He was charged for the insuing five runs, both on his accord and on Lenny Torres Jr.’s. Erik Sabrowski and Tyler Thornton fanned five while giving up four additional runs during their turns on the mound.
Lake County Captains 6, Lansing Lugnuts 5
Box Score · Captains improve to 5-6
Nate Furman went deep in grand fashion for his first long ball of this young season. In the bottom of the third, he sent a grand slam into the right-center field lawn at Classic Park, netting him four ribbies on the day. That was his second hit of the day, and Jorge Burgos and Tommy Tincher provided the other two runs for the Captains.
Austin Peterson earned himself the W; he threw five innings, striking out three and giving up three runs on six hits. He improves to 2-1 on the season. The bullpen handled business from there. Aside from a comeback scare in the 7th with Juan Zapata (Hold-1) on the mound, no other noise was made on the Lugnuts’ side. The last 6 batters of the game for them were all fanned by Zach Jacobs (Hold-1) and Zane Morehouse (Save-1) as the Captains held onto the one run lead.
Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Salem Red Sox 5
Box Score · Hillcats skid to 5-7
Angel Genao hit a 2-run bomb while the rest of the Lynchburg lineup wasn’t able to execute with runners on base. Christian Knapczyk and Jose Pestrano drove in the other two runs, but the Hillcats as a whole went 2-9 with runners in scoring position. Though they had 12 baserunners, they left 7 stranding.
Alex Clemmey was charged with his second loss of the season as he gave up four runs in the third, prominently ushering him off the mound. Struggling with his command, he issued a lot of walks during his start. His final line: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K.
Abel Brito and Matt Jahchec, on the other hand, gave up only one run in 5.1 IP, striking out six and allowing nine baserunners.