Owen Miller homers, reaches base five times and Tristin McKenzie dodges disaster in Columbus win

Columbus Clippers 8, Toledo Mud Hens 2

Box Score · Clippers improve to 17-21

Led by Owen Miller, Columbus smoked Toledo on Thursday. Miller reached base safely five times, going 2-2 with a double, a home run an three walks.

Not typically known for his power, Andres Gimenez homered for his fourth straight game.

Also contributing offensive were Oscar Mercado, who went 2-4 with a double, a hit by pitch and a stolen base. Nolan Jones went 1-4 with a hit by pitch and Daniel Johnson and Gavin Collins both walked twice.

Tristin McKenzie started terribly, allowing a lead-off home run then walking the next three batters, but he settled down nicely to strike out the side in the first inning and avoided any further damage. All in all, his line was 3.0 innings, with one run allowed on one hit while striking out four and walking four. Hopefully he can build on what he was able to accomplish after the ugly start.

Danny Young and DJ Johnson closed the game out with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out seven batters.

Akron RubberDucks 3, Bowie BaySox 4

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 21-16

Juan Hillman pitched well, but was not rewarded for it with a win. Hillman allowed one earned run on three hits in 5.0 innings while striking out five and walking one to take a no decision.

Kyle Marman also was solid, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Offensively, Will Benson was the lone standout, going 2-4 with a double and a triple. Andruw Monasterio also reached base twice, going 1-3 with a walk.

Zach Draper took the loss, allowing three runs in 1.2 innings of work.

Lake County Captains 6, West Michigan WhiteCaps 3

Box Score · Captains improve to 21-18

Logan T. Allen continues to pitch well. Allen dominated the first four innings before running out of steam late. His final line was two runs allowed on two hits while striking out six and walking two in 5.1 innings.

Offensively, Brayan Rocchio was terrific, going 3-4 with two doubles. Raynel Delgado went 2-4 with two doubles and Aaron Bracho had a perfect day at the plate, going 2-2 with a pair of walks.

Austen Wade and Jose Tena both reached base safely twice, going 1-3 with a walk.

The bullpen also was terrific. Jared Janczak pitched a scoreless eighth inning to earn the win and Nic Enright struck out two in a scoreless ninth to rack up his third save.

A 20th round pick in 2019, Enright has been one of the best bullpen arms in the Cleveland system this season, striking out 29 batters in 17.0 innings compared to just two walks with a 1.59 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP. Don’t be shocked to see him in Akron very soon.

Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Fredericksburg Nationals 3

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 20-17

Alexfri Planez is officially on fire, and he blasted off for his fifth home run of the season, absolutely destroying a 2-0 pitch for his second homer in as many days.

Cody Farhat had a great game, going 3-4 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored. Yainer Diaz also had a multi-hit game, going 2-4 while Eric Rodriguez went 1-3 with a double and a walk.

Yordys Valdez went 1-4, but stole two bases successfully.

Starting pitcher Juan Zapata was excellent, allowing one unearned run on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Jerson Ramirez slammed the door with a perfect ninth inning, including two strikeouts, to earn his fifth save.