Although the Lynchburg Hillcats once again lost to the weather, the rest of the Cleveland Indians farm team was undefeated yesterday. Two teams, the Columbus Clippers and the Akron RubberDucks, did it with as few hits as possible while the Lake County Captains raked up enough hits to stumbled into a few runs.
Bradley Zimmer is finally heating up while Clint Frazier cools off, and down in Class-A ball, Tyler Krieger continues to dominate.
Columbus Clippers 8, Charlotte Knights 3
Box Score · Clippers improve to 17-8
What do you do one night after a horrible blowout loss? You give it right back, obviously. The Columbus Clippers did just that, scoring eight runs in two innings to knock the Charlotte Knights down quickly.
The Columbus offense did all this with just eight hits on the day, thanks to their 4-for-6 mark with runners in scoring position, and the fact that they left just three runners on base.
Collin Cowgill opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the fifth, but the biggest offense once again came from Giovanny Urshela, who went 2-for-4 on the day -- his third straight multi-hit game.
Starting pitcher Ryan Merritt did not need a flawless day to get his second win of the season, but he just about did it anyway. Over seven innings, Merritt allowed just two runs on four hits while striking out six batters. The only real mistake he made was in the seventh when he allowed a solo home run to the Knights, who were already way out of the game at that point.
Felipe Paulino made his first appearance since his short stint on the disabled list and was perfect in his 1.0 inning.
Akron RubberDucks 4, Trenton Thunder 2
Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 17-8
The Akron RubberDucks offense was silent for all but one inning, but that's all it took for the team to record their fifth-straight win.
The RubberDucks lineup was hitless through five innings but finally came alive in the sixth. Things did not start off well in the inning, mind you, with Clint Frazier hitting into a double play, effectively erasing Eric Stamets leadoff hit. However, Yandy Diaz walked in the next at-bat, then Bradley Zimmer brought him home with a triple. After another walk, this time by Nellie Rodriguez, Bryson Myles hit his third home run of the season to put the 'Ducks up 4-1.
Trenton added another run late in the eighth, but it was not enough.
Only four RubberDucks batters registered hits yesterday, including Zimmer's triple. Clint Frazier's poor outing also snapped his consecutive on-base streak; the first time all season he has failed to get a hit or a walk in a game.
RubberDucks starting pitcher D.J. Brown lasted four innings in his first start since replacing the injured Dace Kime (68 pitches), striking out three and walking two. Relievers Perci Garner and Louis Head were near flawless, recording two strikeouts apiece.
Lake County Captains 6, Kane County Cougars 3
Box Score · Captains improve to 18-8
In a complete 180 from the other two teams that played on Tuesday, the Lake County Captains managed a whopping 16 hits, but "only" six runs. Seven Lake County batters recorded multi-hit games, and only Martin Cervenka failed to get on base.
The leader on the day was Tyler Krieger, who went 3-for-4 with a run batted in. Krieger is now in the midst of a 13-game hit streak, which also includes five multi-hit games. He leads the Midwest League in hits (35), he is third in on-base percentage (.476), and he is fourth in batting average (.393).
Starting pitcher Shao-Ching Chiang only struck out one batter in his 6.0 innings of work, but he scattered five hits and allowed just two runs.
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The Lynchburg Hillcats were once again rained out yesterday. They will play a tripleheader against the Potomac Nationals today.