Triple-A - Indianapolis Indians 10, Columbus Clippers 4
Double-A - Binghamton Rumble Ponies 7, Akron RubberDucks 5
High-A - Lake County Captains 6, Dayton Dragons 5
Low-A - Lynchburg Hillcats 9, Fredericksburg Nationals 3
Rehab
Sam Hentges (Columbus, RP): 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K - Hentges continues to dominate minor league hitters in his rehab outings (combined four hits and a walk while striking out three in as many shutout innings). Honestly, he looks ready to take the Progressive field mound right now.
Highlights
Zack Collins (Columbus, DH): 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI. 1 K - Collins took his domination of International League pitching to another level last night with this two-homer effort. He is now slashing .373/.464/.639 with 18 RBI in 22 games. If he can keep up anything close to these numbers over the course of the season, he’ll likely be looking at a shot at a big league roster next spring, be it with the Guardians or elsewhere.
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Jhonkensy Noel (Columbus, RF): 2-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 Outfield Assist - Noel has three hits in his last two games, all of them multi-hit (a double and two homers). Hopefully, a largely-forgettable home series vs. Toledo last week is behind him.
Tanner Burns (Akron, SP): ND, 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R (earned), 2 BB, 2 WP, 5 K - Normally, a multi-wild pitch performance is non-notable, but the rest of Burns’ day on the mound was so good he absolutely deserves inclusion in this column, especially because it backs up his stellar outing last Wednesday and gives significant hope that his three-run debut was merely an aberration that will fade further and further into the distance as the sample size for his season statline grows.
Juan Brito (Lake County, 3B): 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB - Brito reached three times, including the first of the Eastlake nine’s two doubles of the evening, to bring his on-base percentage to .433, the highest it has been since it was .600 after he walked twice and got by a pitch on Opening Day. Unsurprisingly, his OPS is at a season-high .880.
Will Bartlett (Lake County, 1B): 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K - While Brito’s seventh-inning double brought the Captains to within a run of tying the game, Bartlett’s two-base hit - his first at the High-A level - an inning later gave Lake County a lead they would not relinquish.
Tyler Thornton (Lake County, RP): S (3), 2 IP, 2 BB, 3 K - While the aforementioned doubles were crucial to the Captains victory, they wouldn’t have meant much without Thornton’s second career two-inning effort, which nearly doubled his season innings total (now at 4.2) and kept him perfect in three save opportunities this season and 5-for-6 for his pro career.
Jose Devers (Lynchburg, SS): 2-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 K - Devers broke out of a weekend mini-slump consisting of a pair of 0-for-4 days at the plate with this multi-hit start to the new series that was highlighted by his first career grand slam (sixth professional home run), which provided the bulk of the scoring in a seven-run third frame that put the game out of the Fred-Nats’ reach early.
Notable Performances
Tyler Freeman (Columbus, 2B): 1-5, 2 K - While he saw his six-game Triple-A run-scoring streak come to an end, Freeman has still reached base in all 17 regular season games he has played this year, including two for the Big Club.
Brayan Rocchio (Columbus, SS): 1-4, 1 SB - Rocchio stole his team-leading eighth base of the season on Tuesday night, good for a tie for sixth in the International League.
Touki Toussaint (Columbus, RP): 2 IP, 2 BB, 1 K - Toussaint continues to make his case for a return to the big leagues, having allowed only three runs in 14.1 innings (1.65 ERA, to go with a 0.86 WHIP, 15:6 K:BB ratio, and .160 opponents’ batting average), and even those runs are all from either one bad outing (2 ER in 2.2 IP at Worcester on April 12) or one bad pitch (a solo shot last Thursday against the Mud Hens).
Johnathan Rodriguez (Akron, LF): 1-2, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 E - J-Rod continues to recover from a rough start to the season as he extended his on-base streak to seven games (all six games vs. Harrisburg last week and yesterday’s contest) with a pair of walks and one of Akron’s two extra-base hits.
Julian Escobedo (Akron, DH): 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B - Escobedo rebounded from a hitless Sunday doubleheader with the other RubberDucks double.
Victor Planchart (Lake County, DH): 2-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB - Planchart, who batted eighth, extended his hitting streak to five games with one of the Captains’ two multi-hit performances.
Dayan Frias (Lake County, 2B): 2-3, 1 RBI, 1`BB - Frias had the other two-hit night while batting ninth. He also extended his hitting streak, in his case to six games, with his third straight multi-hit effort and fourth in his last five games and reached safely for the eighth straight contest.
Juan Benjamin (Lynchburg, DH): 1-5, 1 R, 3 K - Benjamin went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts on Opening day…and has since proceeded to go on an eleven-game hitting streak.
Maick Collado (Lynchburg, 1B): 2-4, 1 BB, 1 K - Collado, who has a productive plate appearance in each of his last 13 games (after matching Benjamin’s statline on Opening Day), extended his on-base streak to nine games with the third multi-hit game of his current six-game hitting streak.
Guy Lipscomb (Lynchburg, CF): 0-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 CS - Lipscomb, who is tied for the Carolina league lead with eleven stolen bases, was caught stealing for the first time this season on Tuesday night.
Juan Zapata (Lynchburg, SP): ND, 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R (earned), 1 BB, 1 BK, 3 K - Zapata proved to be human, allowing his first earned run of the season, but avoided further damage to end the night with a 0.79 ERA in 11,1 innings.
Magnus Ellerts (Lynchburg, RP): H (1), 2 IP, perfect, 2 K - Ellerts set down six Fred-Nats in a row, including all three in a nine-pitch seventh inning, to earn his first professional hold.
Samuel Vasquez (Lynchburg, RP): 1.1 IP, 2 BB, 2 K - While Wardquelin has, understandably, been getting the lion’s share of the attention, don’t overlook the other Vasquez (no relation) on the Hillcat staff. Outside of a three-run outing on April 15 vs. Myrtle Beach, he has allowed only two hits and last night’s pair of walks (0.71 WHIP) while striking out nine in 5.2 shutout innings.
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