Tugboat whiffs 8 in five scoreless innings, Kahlil Watson heating up in Akron with homer

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Sunday, July 7, 2024

Columbus Clippers 5, Toledo Mud Hens 6 (F/11)

Box Score · Clippers fall to 38-48

Johnathan Rodriguez did his thing on Saturday, going 2-for-4 with a walk and a massive 400+ foot home run with a ridiculous 116.8 mph exit velocity.

If he can start elevating the ball more at the MLB level, he could still help Cleveland out this year.

Jose Tena went 2-for-4 with a walk while Raynel Delgado went 2-for-5. Myles Straw went 1-for-3 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a stolen base. Kyle Manzardo went 1-for-4 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Will Dion had a rough day at the office, failing to make it to the second inning. His final line was one inning pitched, two runs allowed on four hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Conner Gillispie helped save the bullpen by tossing 3 ²⁄₃ scoreless frames of long relief.

Akron RubberDucks 8, Erie SeaWolves 2

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 46-35

Akron got some huge help from the middle of its lineup on Saturday. Kahlil Watson had a monster day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run and a double.

Milan Tolentino also had a three-hit game, going 3-for-5 with a home run and a stolen base.

Other standouts included Petey Halpin, who went 2-for-5 with a home run, Joe Lampe, who went 1-for-3 with a home run, two walks and a stolen base, and Kody Huff, who went 1-for-3 with walk. Yordys Valdes only had one hit, but it was a big one, his first home run of the season and first at the Double-A level.

Starting pitcher Aaron Davenport set a career high with eight strikeouts. He allowed two runs on five hits with one walk in five innings pitched.

The bullpen was outstanding as Hunter Stanley, Ross Carver and Bradley Hanner combined for four scoreless one-hit innings with a pair of strikeouts and no walks.

Lake County Captains 3, Dayton Dragons 0

Box Score · Captains improve to 49-31

Saturday was Tugboat bump day and Matt Wilkinson delivered with his best start since being promoted to High-A. Wilkinson tossed five shutout innings, allowing just one hit with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Juan Zapata, Adam Tulloch and Magnus Ellerts closed out the two-hit shutout with four impressive scoreless innings of relief, with Ellerts picking up his ninth save of the season.

Offensively, Angel Genao continues to hit since being promoted to High-A. Genao went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.

Jonah Advincula went 2-for-4 while Maick Collado homered for his first straight game.

Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Salem Red Sox 5

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 45-36

Jaison Chourio had the lone multi-hit game for Lynchburg on Saturday, going 2-for-3 with a walk.

Esteban Gonzalez singled and stole a pair of bases while Jose Pastrano went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Yorman Gomez allowed two runs on four hits in four innings with three strikeouts and a walk. Josh Harlow followed with a pair of scoreless innings.

ACL Guardians 3, ACL Reds 4

Box Score · Guardians fall to 19-29

David Leon had a big game, going 3-for-4. Jeffrey Mercedes went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in. Luis Merejo went 0-2 but walked twice and stole a pair of bases.

Starting pitcher Melkis Hernandez tossed four scoreless innings, allowing one hit while striking out five and walking one. Keegan Zinn had a rough outing in relief, allowing three runs in two innings on three walks and two hits to take the loss.

DSL CLE Mendoza 4, DSL LAD Bautista 12

Box Score · Mendoza fall to 11-11

DSL Mendoza got knocked out of this game right away when they allowed seven runs in the first inning.

Top prospect Robert Arias had himself a big game, going 3-for-5 with two doubles.

DSL CLE Goryl had its game postponed by rain.