Jose Fermin’s grand slam leads Columbus to victory, Milan Tolentino has his dad do play-by-play on his double

Columbus Clippers 5, Omaha Storm Chasers 4

Box Score · Clippers improve to 18-8

Batting ninth in the order hasn’t stopped Jose Fermin from getting off to a monster start to the 2022 season in his Triple-A debut. Fermin handled almost all of the offense on Wednesday for the Clippers, going 1-4 with a grand slam.

The only other player to reach base twice safely was journeyman Anthony Alford, who walked twice.

Starting pitcher Tanner Tully was terrific, allowing one run on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 6.0 innings.

Reliever Nick Mikolajchak earned the save by tossing 2.0 perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts.

Akron RubberDucks 3, Richmond Flying Squirrels 7

Box Score · RubberDucks float to 11-12

Akron outhit Richmond Wednesday, but errors and walks punished the RubberDucks.

Will Brennan carried the load for the RubberDucks offense, going 3-4 with a double and a stolen base while George Valera went 1-3 with a double and a walk. Julian Escobedo also went 2-4.

Starting pitcher Xzavion Curry was sensational, allowing just one run on two hits with eight strikeouts and a walk in 5.0 innings.

Also of note, former top pitching prospect Luis Oviedo, who Cleveland recently claimed back from Pittsburgh, made his return to the organization with a scoreless inning of relief after Curry’s start, notching a pair of strikeouts.

Unfortunately, the bullpen allowed six runs in the seventh inning in a complete meltdown.

Lake County Captains 7, Dayton Dragons 8 (G1)
Lake County Captains 1, Dayton Dragons 5 (G2)

Game 1 Box Score · Game 2 Box Score · Captains fall to 10-13

Game one was a heartbreaker as Lake County held a commanding 6-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning before allowing three runs to tie it. Lake County took the lead in the top of the eighth, but then allowed two more in the bottom of the inning as Dayton walked it off.

Angel Martinez had a huge game one, going 3-3 with a double and a walk while Jhonkensy Noel doubled and was hit by a pitch, Petey Halpin walked twice, Gabriel Rodriguez doubled and Christian Cairo went 1-3 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Tanner Bibee, who allowed two runs in 5.0 innings with eight strikeouts, two walks and three hits, had his excellent start wasted by the bullpen.

In game two, Aaron Davenport struggled a bit as the starter, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks, but only lasting three innings after a fight broke out and several players were ejected mid-game.

The offense in game two could not get rolling, although Cairo reached base twice with a walk and a hit by pitch, Noel doubled again and Joe Naranjo accounted for 100% of the offense with a solo shot.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Fredericksburg Nationals 2

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 12-10

Isaiah Greene tripled, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored a pair of runs to lead the Lynchburg offense on Wednesday.

Will Bartlett doubled, as did Milan Tolentino, who went 2-4 with a double and experienced an incredible moment as his father, who is the Angels Spanish play-by-play broadcaster, had the opportunity to call his double.

Luis Durango went 3-3 with a stolen base from the nine-hole.

Starting pitcher Rodney Boone was terrific, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits in 6.0 innings with five strikeouts and no walks.

The bullpen kept the Nationals scoreless the rest of the way with Elvis Jerez picking up his third save.