Lynchburg finally loses, Lake County bats heat up in lone Cleveland affiliate win

Cleveland minor league affiliates are off to a tremendous start for the 2021 season, but Akron and Lynchburg were off to historic starts, as both teams entered Wednesday undefeated.

Only one team left undefeated, however.

Columbus Clippers 6, Omaha Storm Chasers 8

Box Score · Clippers fall to 5-3

Logan Allen was dealing for the first four innings Thursday, but then everything fell apart. After four shutout, no-hit innings, Allen was chased from the game in the fifth inning following four hits and one walk while getting just one out. His final line was 4.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, and 3 K.

Unfortunately, Allen’s fifth inning blow-up gave back a 4-0 lead he’d been given thanks to strong offense from Owen Miller and Gabriel Arias, who both had three-hit games. Miller went 3-for-5 while Arias went 3-for-4 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.

Bobby Bradley and Nolan Jones also reached base safely twice, walking and both getting hit by a pitch. Bradley Zimmer and Conner Marabell also both went 1-for-4 with a walk.

Ernie Clement went 1-for-1 with a triple and a run but left the game after coming up lame on his triple.

The game stayed knotted up at four until the top of the ninth inning when the Columbus bullpen imploded for four runs.

Dalbert Siri and DJ Johnson were both tagged for two runs in the blowup. Columbus scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the rally fell short.

Akron RubberDucks 4, Erie SeaWolves 6

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 6-2

Akron outhit Erie, 11 to 9, but the RubberDucks couldn’t string their hits together Thursday as they got almost all of their runs on one swing, a three-run home run by Trenton Brooks.

Several players had good games for Akron. Oscar Gonzalez led the way, going 3-for-4. Alex Call went 2-for-5 with a double and Tyler Freeman also went 2-for-5.

Starting pitcher Tanner Tully was tattooed for all six runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings while striking out one and walking two.

Francisco Perez was sensational out of the bullpen, tossing 3.1 no-hit, shutout innings with five strikeouts and two walks. He may be taking Tully’s spot in the rotation sooner rather than later.

Dakody Clemmer also was a revelation out of the bullpen, whiffing four batters in 1.1 innings of work.

Lake County Captains 8, Fort Wayne TinCaps 2

Box Score · Captains improve to 6-3

All but one Lake County player reached base safely twice as the Captains tattooed Fort Wayne on Thursday. The Captains totaled 17 hits overall.

Leading the way was Victor Nova, who went 3-for-4 with his first home run in the Cleveland organization and a stolen base.

Brayan Rocchio went 2-for-5 with a triple, Will Brennan went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base, Aaron Bracho went 2-for-5 with a double, Joe Naranjo went 2-for-5, Raynel Delgado went 2-for-5 with a double and his fifth stolen base and Jonathan Engelmann went 2-for-3 with a double and a sacrifice fly. Daniel Schneemann also reached base twice, going 1-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Starting pitcher Raymond Burgos, returning to the mound for the first time since a season-ending injury in May 2019, was terrific. Burgos tossed three shutout innings on two hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

Kevin Coulter was sensational out of the bullpen, tossing four no-hit shutout innings with five strikeouts and a walk. Jared Janczak closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, including a strikeout.

Lynchburg Hillcats 2, Salem Red Sox 10

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 8-1

The Hillcats are no longer undefeated.

It’s tough to win when you aren’t even given a fighting chance, and that’s what happened Thursday. Salem jumped all over Lynchburg starting pitcher Jordan Jones, who allowed six runs on four hits and three walks, failing to get out of the first inning.

Micah Pries continued his strong start to his professional career, going 3-for-5 with a double. Will Bartlett also reached base safely three times, going 1-2 with a pair of walks.

Cody Farhat went 1-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch and Christian Cairo also went 1-for-3 with a hit by pitch.

Miguel Vinicio pitched decently out of the bullpen, allowing two runs (one earned) in 4.0 innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Andrew Misiaszek was spectacular with an additional 2.1 one-hit shutout innings with three strikeouts and no walks.