Jose Fermin continues to rake, Will Dion is perfect in Lynchburg start

Columbus Clippers 12, Indianapolis Indians 5

Box Score · Clippers improve to 11-4

A day after blasting two home runs, Jose Fermin went 4-5 with a double and two stolen bases to help lead Columbus to a thrashing of Indianapolis.

Other offensive standouts included Richard Palacios, who went 2-4 with a double, two walks and two stolen bases, Alex Call, who went 2-3 with a triple, a walk, a hit by pitch and a stolen base, and the rehabbing Luke Maile, who went 1-3 with two walks. Oscar Gonzalez also tripled and Will Benson blasted his first home run of the season.

Starting pitcher Jaime Arias-Bautista, making his Triple-A debut after three pitchers were snatched from Columbus to Cleveland due to COVID rules, held his own, allowing two runs on two hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks in 3.0 innings.

Eli Lingos and Jake Jewell each pitched 2.0 scoreless innings to hold down the fort and Robert Broom closed it out with a scoreless ninth inning.

Akron RubberDucks 2, Bowie BaySox 3 (F/10)

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 5-7

Akron’s offense wasted a quality start from the one true Logan Allen, who allowed two runs in 6.0 innings while striking out seven, walking one and giving up five hits.

Jerson Ramirez and Nic Enright were stellar in relief, keeping Bowie off the scoreboard with 1.0 and 2.0 shutout innings respectively. In the bottom of the 10th inning, a sacrifice bunt turned into a bunt single, and then the ghost runner came home on a sacrifice fly for a walk-off Bowie victory.

There wasn’t much to write home about Akron offensively. The RubberDucks struck out a whopping 14 times. Julian Escobedo was the lone Akron player to reach base safely twice, going 1-4 with a walk and a stolen base. Jose Tena also doubled.

Lake County Captains 3, Great Lakes Loons 9

Box Score · Captains fall to 5-7

It was a rough night for Lake County pitchers. Starting pitcher Mason Hickman allowed four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 3.0 innings. His piggyback partner Lenny Torres Jr. didn’t fare any better, allowing an additional five runs (although just one was earned) while walking four and striking out just one in 1.2 innings.

No one had a multi-hit game for Lake County, but Joe Naranjo continues to get on base at a high rate, going 1-2 with three walks. Jhonkensy Noel also showed a great eye at the plate, walking three times. Angel Martinez walked twice and Gabriel Rodriguez went 1-3 with a walk.

Johnathan Rodriguez hit a double and catching prospect Micael Ramirez hit his first home run of the 2022 campaign, and he really enjoyed the view. Hopefully there’s no retaliation.

Lynchburg Hillcats 8, Carolina Mudcats 1

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 4-8

Infield prospect Jake Fox had himself a game, going 2-3 with three walks and two stolen bases, eventually coming around to score three times.

Other offensive standouts included Milan Tolentino, who went 1-3 with a double and two walks, Dayan Frias, who went 1-3 with two walks, Will Bartlett, who went 1-4 with a double and a walk, and Luis Durango, who went 1-3 with a pair of walks. Yordys Valdez and Victor Planchart both had multi-hit games, going 2-5.

Starting pitcher Will Dion, who has recently garnered the nickname “Little Kershaw” due to his pitching style, was downright sensational, tossing 4.0 perfect innings with six strikeouts.

Dion was followed by 3.1 innings from Reny Artiles, who allowed one run and Trey Benton, who tossed 1.2 scoreless frames of relief.