Aaron Civale and company throw one-hit shutout for Akron, Lynchburg wins fifth straight game

Columbus Clippers 5, Toledo Mud Hens 4

Box Score · Clippers improve to 44-40

Francisco Mejia’s is still hitting. He went 1-4 with an RBI double yesterday to open up the scoring in the first inning.

Brandon Barnes went 2-4 with a double, a home run and three runs batted in and Drew Maggi went 1-2 with two walks and three runs scored as Columbus scored one run in the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and win the game.

Ryan Merritt didn’t have his best stuff in a rehab outing, giving up all four runs on 11 hits while striking out five and walking none in 5.0 innings.

Thankfully a combination of Jon Edwards, Robert Zarate, Ben Taylor and a rehabbing Tyler Olson threw four shutout innings to give the Clippers a chance to win late.

Akron RubberDucks 8, Richmond Flying Squirrels 0

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 49-36

The story of this game was all Aaron Civale.

Civale was downright brilliant, tossing seven shutout one-hit innings while striking out four and walking one in one of the best starts of his young career. Rob Kaminsky and Mitch Brown both walked at least one, but didn’t allow a hit to preserve the one-hit shutout victory.

Offensively, Sicnarf Loopstock led the way by going 3-4 with a double and two runs batted in in his return from the disabled list. Willi Castro went 3-5 with a three-run home run and Ka’ai Tom, Connor Marabell and Tyler Krieger all had two hits for the RubberDucks.

Lynchburg Hillcats 6, Wilmington Blue Rocks 4

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 39-42

Lynchburg jumped out to a big lead then held on to win its fifth straight game on Wednesday.

Jodd Carter reached base safely four times, going 2-3 with a double and two walks, Conner Capel and Emmanuel Tapia both went 2-4 with a double and Mitch Longo and Li-Jen Chu both went 2-5 for the Hillcats.

Justin Garza pitched well, giving up just two runs on six hits in 6.0 innings while striking out four and walking one.

Leandro Linares continues to struggle, giving up two runs without getting an out. Linares once looked like a promising bullpen option, but he was demoted from Akron this season and now sports an ERA of 12.27 with Lynchburg.

Thankfully Ben Krauth and James Karinchak slammed the door with three innings of scoreless relief to save the game.

Lake County Captains 2, Dayton Dragons 3

Box Score · Captains fall to 34-50

Gregori Vasquez had a tremendous start for Lake County, giving up one run (zero earned) in 5.0 innings on three hits while walking three and striking out none.

Unfortunately, Lake County’s offense couldn’t get out of first gear.

Oscar Gonzalez went 2-4 with a run batted in and Todd Isaacs went 1-3 with a double to pace the Captains, but relievers Nick Gallagher and Luis Jimenez both gave up one run to allow Dayton to squeak out a win.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 3, Batavia Muckdogs 4

Box Score · Scrappers fall to 12-5

Gabriel Mejia went 2-4 with a triple and Jose Fermin also went 2-4 with both men having a run batted in to pace the Scrappers on Wednesday, but the offense couldn’t muster enough runs to pull out a victory.

Cameron Mingo gave up three runs (one earned) in 4.0 innings while striking out two and walking none to take the loss.

DSL Indians1 7, DSL Cubs1 8

Box Score · Indians fall to 12-16

Cesar Idrogo went 2-4 with a triple, a walk, a run scored and an RBI while Jhonkeisy Noel went 2-3 with two walks and two runs batted in and Daniel Aguilar went 2-4 to lead the DSL Indians offensively.

Noel also stole three bases.

Roberto Hernandez gave up two runs while striking out five in 4.0 innings, but the bullpen gave up five runs the rest of the way, at least one run in each of the last four innings to allow the DSL Cubs1 to walk off.