Logan T. Allen nearly perfect in professional debut

Who’d have thought that on the same night that Shane Bieber, Jean Carlos Mejia, and Daniel Espino pitched, it would be Cleveland 2020 second-round draft pick Logan T. Allen, not to be confused with fellow left-handed starting pitcher Logan Allen, who would steal the show? Allen made his organizational debut Wednesday for High-A Lake County — and boy it was a beauty.

Columbus Clippers 2, Louisville Bats 1

Box Score · Clippers improve to 2-0

Tied 1-1 in the top of the ninth inning, Cleveland’s No. 1 prospect Nolan Jones picked the perfect time to collect his first hit of 2021, roping a double to score Owen Miller, who had led off the inning with a double.

Miller had a strong night, going 3-for-4 at the plate, and scored both runs. Gabriel Arias also reached base twice, going 1-for-3 with a walk. Oscar Mercado also walked and stole a base.

Jean Carlos Mejia kept Louisville in check with four shutout innings on two hits, although he was a bit wild, walking four and striking out four. Robert Broom, Dalbert Siri, and D.J. Johnson closed the game out with three shutout innings of relief.

Akron RubberDucks 4, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 1

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 2-0

Akron only collected six hits, but that was twice as many as Binghamton.

Richard Palacios went 2-for-4 and Will Benson went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base. The key hit was a two-run double from leadoff hitter Steven Kwan in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Juan Hillman was terrific, tossing four shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out two. Francisco Perez was just as good, if not better, as his piggyback partner, tossing three no-hit innings.

Starter Eli Lingos allowed one run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts in three innings. Justin Garza and Jake Miednik combined for three innings of scoreless relief.

Lake County Captains 3, Lansing Lugnuts 1

Box Score · Captains improve to 1-1

The story of this game was Logan T. Allen.

In his professional baseball debut at High-A, Allen was perfect through the first 4.1 innings of his career. He allowed a walk and a single in the fifth inning, but his final line was five innings, one hit, one walk, and eight strikeouts. He looks like a keeper.

A night after both going 0-for-4, George Valera and Raynel Delgado went 2-for-4 with a double and a triple, with both also stealing a base. Joe Naranjo also reached base twice, going 1-for-3 with a walk. Aaron Bracho went 1-for-4 in his 2021 debut.

Nick Gallagher followed Allen’s near perfection with a solid three innings of long relief, allowing one run on one hit while striking out four and walking none. Kevin Kelly tossed a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the save.

Lynchburg Hillcats 19, Fredericksburg Nationals 3

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 2-0

I’m guessing people didn’t expect Lynchburg to top itself after it scored 16 runs in its season opener Tuesday, but that’s exactly what the Hillcats did on Wednesday, plating a whopping 19 runs in another blowout victory.

Korey Holland and Angel Martinez both had ridiculous games. Holland went 4-for-6 with a triple and four runs batted in. Martinez went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a stolen base, and also had four runs batted in.

Jhonkensy Noel also had a monster game, going 3-for-6 with two doubles, two runs scored and two runs batted in, but he actually lowered his batting average to .545 with that performance.

Johnathan Rodriguez and Will Bartlett both reached base three times. Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with a double and a walk, while Bartlett went 2-4 with a home run, double, and a walk. Gabriel Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

In his 2021 debut, Daniel Espino had an up and down game. He allowed two runs in the first inning on a walk and a pair of singles, then allowed one more run in the fourth inning, which caused him to be pulled. Besides that, he pitched pretty well, striking out six batters in his 3.2 innings of work. Here’s a video of his strikeouts.

Eric Mock and Zach Hart were stellar in relief, combining for 5.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball with six strikeouts.