Tanner Bibee whiffs 10 for Akron, George Valera has another multi-homer game for Columbus

Columbus Clippers 9, Buffalo Bisons 6

Box Score · Clippers improve to 69-49

George Valera had himself a day, blasting two home runs, his second multi-homer game at Triple-A in the past six days. Valera went 3-4 with a walk. His second homer of the day was a prodigeous blast to deep right center that got out of the park with plenty of room remaining.

David Fry also had a three-hit game, going 3-5 with a pair of doubles, and Brayan Rocchio rounded out the three-hit club with a successful 3-5 day at the dish.

Trenton Brooks and Nolan Jones homered and both Will Brennan and Gabriel Arias had a pair of hits, going 2-5 with Brennan doubling.

The offensive eruption made up for Logan Allen’s worst start of the season. Allen allowed five runs on four hits with a pair of walks in just 0.2 innings. He also failed to strike out a batter.

Thankfully, the Clippers bullpen was up for the challenge as they combined to allow just one run over the remaining 8.1 innings, with Cody Morris, Tim Herrin, Nic Enright and the recently-acquired Ian Hamilton all making scoreless appearances.

Akron RubberDucks 5, Richmond Flying Squirrels 2

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 67-50

It was Tanner Bibee day and the sensational first-year pro player did not disappoint. Bibee had one of his best outings of the season, whiffing 10 batters and allowing just one run on three hits with one walk over 6.0 innings. If he’s not challenging for a spot in the starting rotation for the Guardians next season, I’ll be stunned.

Jhonkensy Noel also had a monster day at the plate, going 2-4 with a three-run home run and a triple, accounting for four of Akron’s five runs.

Jose Tena also had an impressive day at the plate, going 3-4 with a double, while reliever Mason Hickman kept his scoreless inning streak alive. He’s now at 16.1 scoreless innings and hasn’t given up a run since he was converted from starting pitcher to the bullpen back on June 23.

Lake County Captains 8, Cedar Rapids Kernals 4

Box Score · Captains improve to 67-48

The strikeouts still haven’t materialized, but starting pitcher Tommy Mace had one of his best outings of the season on Thursday. Mace took a shutout into the seventh inning, where he gave up two runs on a home run. His final line was 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.

Mace had plenty of run support from the Captains offense, which put on an impressive hitting display.

Joe Naranjo led the way, going 3-5 while Aaron Bracho reached base three times, going 1-2 with a double and two walks. Korey Holland went 2-4 with a pair of doubles while Petey Halpin and Alexfri Planez both went 2-5. Milan Tolentino went 1-4 with a walk.

Lynchburg Hillcats 7, Delmarva Shorebirds 3 (F/10)

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 57-60

Returning from Tommy John surgery, Ryan Webb clearly still has some kinks to work out with his mechanics. Webb failed to get out of the second inning on Thursday, walking six batters in 1.2 innings, but he somehow managed to limit the damage to just two runs.

The bullpen was tremendous, allowing just one run over the next 8.1 frames with 2021 10th round draft pick Franco Aleman having a particularly impressive performance of 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and walking none while striking out three.

Offensively, the Hillcats were slow out of the gate, but they erupted for four runs in the 10th inning after rallying to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning.

Dayan Frias had a huge day, going 4-5 with a walk. Carson Tucker walked twice and stole a base while Yordys Valdez walked three times. Cesar Idrogo had a multi-hit game, going 2-5 while Jake Fox doubled and walked.