Indians starters give up zero earned runs in 16 innings on minor league Opening Day

Akron RubberDucks 5, Altoona Curve 6

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 0-1

Two runs in the ninth inning weren’t quite enough for Akron to pick up a late victory in a game the bullpen blew in the eighth.

Starting pitcher Shane Bieber was downright brilliant, giving up zero runs on two hits, no walks (duh) and nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. He left the game with a 3-0 lead but Dominic DeMasi and Argenis Angulo couldn’t hold it, giving up a combined six runs in the eighth.

The RubberDucks were paced by Sam Haggerty, who went 2-4 with a double, three runs batted in and two stolen bases from the top of the order. Ka’ai Tom also had a huge game, going 3-4 with a double and two stolen bases.

Lynchburg Hillcats 1, Down East Wood Ducks 0

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 1-0

Left-handed prospect Sam Hentges tossed four shutout innings in his debut for the Hillcats and a combination of Anderson Polanco, Ben Krauth and Henry Martinez finished off the 3-hit shutout for Lynchburg in a game where there was no margin for error.

The lone run of the game came from Luke Wakamatsu, who scored from second on a wild pitch that ricocheted up the first base line.

Li-Jen Chu was the only player to have a multi-hit game for Lynchburg, although Gavin Collins reached base safely twice with a walk and a single.

Lake County Captains 3, Fort Wayne TinCaps 2

Box Score · Captains improve to 1-0

For the longest time, it looked like a gem from Eli Morgan was going to be wasted. Morgan gave up one unearned run in 6.0 innings while giving up four hits, walking none and striking out eight batters, but he left the game down 1-0 as the Captains were no-hit through the first 5 ²⁄₃ innings.

Austen Wade broke up the no-hitter, but Lake County trailed 2-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth, and that’s where things went a bit crazy. Nolan Jones led off the inning with his second walk of the game. After Oscar Gonzalez flied out, Will Benson also walked, and so did catcher Michael Rivera.

Ulysses Cantu proceeded to walk with the bases loaded to bring the score to 2-1, and Fort Wayne made a pitching change. The new pitcher threw a wild pitch to the first batter he faced, allowing Benson to score from third to tie the game. After an intentional walk to Jose Medina, Jorma Rodriguez finished things off with only Lake County’s second hit of the game: