Juan Hillman pitches eight shutout innings in longest-career start for Lake County

Columbus Clippers 4, Syracuse Chiefs 2 (Game 1)
Columbus Clippers 10, Syracuse Chiefs 2 (Game 2)

Game 1 Box Score · Game 2 Box Score · Clippers improve to 53-44

In game one, Julian Merryweather pitched very well despite being on a pitch count, throwing 4.1 innings while giving up one run on four hits. He struck out six and walked just one.

Tyler Naquin was the hero of game one (literally) as he went 3-4 at the plate including a walk-off solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.

Game two was a complete blowout as Columbus exploded for 10 runs in the first four innings. Michael Martinez went 3-4 while Yandy Diaz, Eric Stamets and Jordan Smith all had multi-hit games. Richie Shaffer also blasted off for his 22nd home run of the season.

Veteran pitcher Chris Narveson was superb, tossing six innings while giving up just two runs on one hit. He walked three and struck out five to earn his fourth win with the Clippers.

Akron RubberDucks 4, Richmond Flying Squirrels 3

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 47-47

Akron only had six hits, but they made them all count. The RubberDucks didn’t receive offense from their usual suspects as Francisco Mejia, Bobby Bradley and Yu-Cheng Chang combined to go 0-11 at the plate, but Mike Papi had a multi-hit game with a double and Tyler Kriger bounced back with a 2-4 game that included a huge two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning which gave them the lead.

For the second time this season, Tanner Tully jumped from Single-A Lake County to Akron for a spot start and this time, he was more hittable but still pitched well, missing a quality start by just one out as he went 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits. The 22-year old walked one and struck out two.

Lynchburg Hillcats 10, Potomac Nationals 4

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 56-40

The story of this game was entirely Sam Haggerty.

The Hillcats leadoff man collecting a career high five hits on the night, going 5-6 from the plate and coming a home run shy of the cycle. Haggerty’s triple was his 12th of the season, which leads all of professional baseball.

Jodd Carter also went 3-5 with a home run while Andrew Calica had a multi-hit game and a double.

Starting pitcher Aaron Civale didn’t have his best stuff, giving up three runs in juts four innings on eight hits while striking out four and walking none, but it was more than enough as Lynchburg’s offense scored 10 runs of support.

Lake County Captains 1, Kane County Cougars 3

Box Score · Captains fall to 39-56

This game was an absolute heartbreaker.

Juan Hillman pitched his best game since turning pro, throwing a career high eight innings of shutout baseball while giving up just four hits, walking none and striking out four. Hillman’s season ERA dropped to 4.70, which is significantly better than the 9.00 he was sporting 10 starts ago.

The Captains entered the ninth inning with a 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI double from Mitch Longo, but the normally dependable closer Ryder Ryan promptly loaded the bases and then gave up a three-run double in the top of the ninth to blow the lead and the game as Lake County failed to rally in the bottom of the inning.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 3, Batavia Muckdogs 1

Box Score · Scrappers improve to 18-12

Some great pitching and timely hitting helped Mahoning Valley pull out the victory yesterday.

A pair of college bats taken in the 2017 draft, Austen Wade and Dillon Persinger both went 2-4 with a double for the Scrappers.

Starting pitcher Gregori Vasquez was rock solid, giving up just one run over 5.1 innings while striking out four and walking one. Jonathan Teaney and Cesar Ventura slammed the door with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief to preserve the victory.

AZL Indians 9, AZL Dodgers 10

Box Score · Indians fall to 6-15

The AZL Indians couldn’t quite rally despite the AZL Dodgers’ best efforts to give the game away with four errors.

A rehabbing Gabriel Mejia went 2-3 in his first start in the outfield while stealing a base. Michael Cooper, Joshua Rolette and Wilbis Santiago all had multi-hit games for the Indians but the pitching gave this one away early.

In his second rehab start, Sam Hentges was pounded, giving up four runs on five hits in just two innings. Luis Oviedo fared much worse in relief, giving up another six runs while failing to get out of the third inning.

The rest of the bullpen held down the fort, but the deficit was one run too much to recover from.

DSL Indians 10, DSL Cubs1 9

Box Score · Indians improve to 15-24

Jonathan Lopez went 3-5 while Christopher Cespedes, freshly transferred from the DSL Indians/Brewers, had a monster game, going 3-5 with two doubles, a triple and four runs batted in.

Starting pitcher Ignatio Feliz was excellent, giving up one run in just five innings, but the bullpen nearly blew it, giving up eight runs the rest of the way. Thankfully, the Indians scored two runs in the top of the ninth to win it.