Indians affiliates go 0-4 on frustrating day offensively

If you thought the Cleveland Indians offense was having a rough time, you should check out the team’s minor league affiliates, who are really struggling to put runs on the board at the moment despite possessing some serious talent across the board.

Two teams were shutout yesterday as the farm system managed an 0-fer.

Columbus Clippers 4, Louisville Bats 11

Box Score · Clippers fall to 5-3

Starting pitcher Adam Plutko had his second straight rough outing to begin the season and the bullpen didn’t help matters in the later innings. Plutko lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up five runs on six hits while walking four and striking out just two.

Down 5-0, the Clippers offense woke up in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring four times thanks to a pair of two-run home runs from Bradley Zimmer and Richie Shaffer, but that would sadly be the end of Columbus’ offensive outburst.

Louisville would respond with three runs in the top of the seventh off of usually dependable reliever Jeff Johnson. Kyle Crockett and Josh Martin would also give up runs in the eighth and ninth innings respectively to put the game out of reach.

Akron RubberDucks 2, Altoona Curve 3

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 2-6

Despite possessing the most talented line-up in the Tribe system, the Akron offense just couldn’t get things rolling yesterday as the team continues to lose frustrating games.

This time around, the offense managed just five hits in total. Francisco Mejia had one, a double, and the other extra base hit was a two-run RBI triple from Yu-Cheng Chang which was pretty much the end of the Akron offense.

Pitching wise, Michael Peoples was solid, tossing six innings of two-run baseball while dancing around eight hits and a walk, striking out three. Reliever Cole Sulser took the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

Lynchburg Hillcats 0, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 2-6

This is another game I think the Hillcats would like to forget.

Lynchburg’s offense continues to struggle as the team was shut out for the second time this week, wasting a perfectly fine start from hotshot pitching prospect Triston McKenzie.

Jodd Carter was the only bright spot offensively, smacking a double and stealing a base.

McKenzie was solid, giving up two runs over five innings while striking out five and walking none. Dominic DeMasi relieved him and promptly gave up two more runs to more than put the game out of reach, at least with the way the Hillcats are hitting right now.

Lake County Captains 0, Lansing Lugnuts 5

Box Score · Captains improve to 3-5

Yep, another shutout.

Lake County was only outhit by Lansing 7-6, but it was the nine walks that did them in. Seven of those walks were issued by Brady Aiken, who somehow managed to only allow two runs to score over 4.2 innings of work, so at least it’s nice to know he can work out of jams. This was three more walks than his season high last year, so hopefully this outing was more of an outlier than a thing to come.

No players on the Captains managed a multi-hit game, although leadoff stud Gabriel Mejia did record a single, a walk, and a stolen base — which were all for naught on the scoreless day.