Adam Plutko throws no-hitter in return to Triple-A Columbus

Columbus Clippers 6, Syracuse Chiefs 0

Box Score · Clippers improve to 25-28

It looks like somebody doesn’t want to lose his number five spot in the Cleveland Indians rotation.

Sent to Triple-A because the Indians won’t need to use a number five starter for a while, Adam Plutko was downright brilliant and nearly perfect on Saturday.

Plutko took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, walking the second batter he faced, but still finishing strong and striking out the the Syracuse lead-off hitter on three pitches to finish off the gem.

Plutko’s final line was 9.0 innings pitched, no hits, no runs, one walk and eight strikeouts. For the season in Triple-A, his ERA dropped to 1.87 in eight starts.

This is the third time Plutko has flirted with a no-no this season. On April 28th, he took a perfect game into the eighth inning for Columbus and got pulled due to pitch count. Then, in his second Major League start for the Indians this year, he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a double.

Something has definitely clicked for Plutko now that his hip is healthy and as long as he can keep throwing strikes, he looks like he’s going to be spending the majority of the rest of his career in the big leagues.

Offensively, the Clippers hammered 14 hits. Brandon Barnes went 3-5 with two runs batted in. Francisco Mejia, Nellie Rodriguez and Eric Haase all had multi-hit games with Mejia and Haase also hitting a double. Every Clipper had at least one hit in the victory.

Akron RubberDucks 5, Erie SeaWolves 4 (F/10)

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 32-24

This was a wild one, literally.

Akron was getting no-hit into the fifth inning before Sicnarf Loopstok connected for his eighth home run of the season. He went 1-3 on the game with this home run and an RBI sac fly.

Starting pitcher Jake Paulson danced around seven hits in 5.0 innings to give up two runs (one earned) while striking out two and walking none.

The game reached extra innings tied 3-3 and Erie was able to put a run on the board with the new rule allowing a runner to start on second base.

In the bottom of the 10th, with Loopstok starting on second base, he was sacrificed to third by Sam Haggerty, then a throwing error by by the shortstop allowed Loopstock to score and brought Andrew Calica to second base.

WIth Calica on second, the Erie outfielder dropped a routine pop fly for the walk-off win. Those two errors in the 10th were the only two errors Erie made all game.

Lake County Captains 0, South Bend Cubs 3

Box Score · Captains drop to 22-34

After finally ending their losing streak Friday, Lake County might be starting a new one with a poor offensive performance Saturday.

The Captains were shut out on five hits by South Bend, ruining one of Kirk McCarty’s best starts of the season.

McCarty tossed 6.2 innings, allowing just the one run in the seventh to take a brutal loss. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out four.

Reliever Dace Kime, a 2013 third round pick who was just activated after recovering from Tommy John surgery, allowed an additional two runs to score in 1.1 innings of work to remove all doubt.

Will Benson and Todd Isaacs both had doubles for Lake County, but no one walked or was hit by a pitch and no one had a multi-hit game.

DSL Indians 4, DSL Rays 9

Box Score · Indians fall to 0-1

The season debut of the DSL Indians did not go as planned as the opening day starter and his piggy-back partner were both knocked around by the DSL Rays.

Mike Garcia gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits in just 3.0 innings while striking out three and walking one.

His relief, Luis Peguero was tattooed for five runs on five hits in 2.1 innings while also striking out three and walking one. DSL Indians pitching allowed 15 hits in the game.

Offensively, Roger Marmol and Jeikol Contreras both had multi-hit games with a double and first baseman Jhonkinsey Noel went 1-2 with two walks in the losing effort.