Alex Call walks it off for Columbus again, Rodney Boone is nearly perfect for Lynchburg

Columbus Clippers 6, St. Paul Saints 5 (F/12)

Box Score · Clippers improve to 20-12

What an absolutely wild ride this game was.

Columbus was held scoreless for the first eight innings of the game. Trailing 1-0, the Clippers bullpen allowed three additional runs in the top of the ninth, then the offense erupted for four runs in the bottom of the ninth and St. Paul’s defense fell apart to tie the game and send it to extra innings.

With the bases loaded and one out, Richie Palacios had a two-RBI single, then advanced on a fielding error. Tyler Freeman than had an infield single and another error helped another run score to tie the game.

Both teams scored once in the 10th, both were held off the board in the 11th and then after holding St. Paul scoreless in the top of the 12th, Alex Call played hero in the bottom of the inning, leading off with a a walk-off single to score ghost runner Bryan Lavastida.

Starting pitcher Peyton Battenfield had his best outing of the season, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks in 7.0 solid innings. Zach Draper earned the win by preventing the ghost runner from scoring in both the 11th and 12th innings while striking out four.

Akron RubberDucks 8, Erie SeaWolves 11

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 15-14

It’s tough to win a game when you allow nine runs in one inning. That’s what happened to Akron on Wednesday.

Starting pitcher Jamie Arias-Bautista struggled mightily, allowing two runs in the first inning, then after settling down in innings two through four, failing to get an out in the fifth inning. He finished with seven runs allowed on eight hits in 4.0 innings of work.

Reliever Nick Gallagher gave up another four runs in the fifth inning, making the game 11-1, but Akron showed some fight. It wasn’t able to fully overcome the deficit, but the RubberDucks score three runs in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh inning to make the game closer than Erie would have liked.

Will Brennan had a monster game, going 2-4 with a home run and four RBIs.

George Valera also went 2-4 and Julian Escobedo went 2-5 with a triple. Micah Pries and Jose Tena both blasted solo home runs for the RubberDucks.

Lake County Captains 2, Great Lakes Loons 5

Box Score · Captains fall to 12-16

Lake County didn’t get much offense on Wednesday, although Jhonkensy Noel managed to give the team a lead briefly with a fourth-inning blast.

Noel had the lone extra base hit for Lake County and reached base safely three times, going 2-4 with a walk.

Connor Kokx also was perfect at the plate, going 3-3 with a stolen base. Michael Ramirez went 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Starting pitcher Aaron Davenport had an up and down game, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks in 4.1 innings. The game stayed tied 2-2 until the bullpen allowed a three-spot in the top of the eighth inning and Lake County’s offense was unable to recover.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Down East Wood Ducks 1

Box Score · Hillcats climb to 14-14

This game was all about the incredible pitching performance from Rodney Boone. Boone took a perfect game into the sixth inning before allowing a one-out single. His final line was an incredible 6.0 scoreless innings with one hit, zero walks and eight strikeouts. Not bad for an eighth round pick in last year’s draft.

Offensively, Lynchburg had no extra base hits, but Isaiah Greene went 2-4 with two stolen bases. Yordys Valdez also went 2-4, Jorge Burgos went 1-3 with a walk, and both Will Bartlett and Luis Durango both walked twice.