Lake County wins Midwest championship, Columbus clinches playoff birth

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Thursday, September 19, 2024

Columbus Clippers 3, Toledo Mud Hens 0

Box Score · Clippers improve to 78-66

Backed by some sensational pitching, Columbus got all the runs it needed in the second inning of the game as Raynel Delgado smoked a two-run double. Delgado finished the day 2-for-3 with a hit by pitch.

Johnathan Rodriguez stayed scorching hot, smoking his org-leading 29th home run in the sixth inning. He was 1-for-4 with a walk.

Tyler Freeman and Micah Pries were the only other Clippers to reach base safely twice with Pries securing two walks and Freeman going 1-for-4 with a hit by pitch, although Gabriel Arias doubled and stole a base.

The pitching star of the game was Doug Nikhazy, who tossed six shutout innings on three hits. Nikhazy struck out three batters and walked two.

The bullpen also impressed as Franco Aleman, James Karinchak and Nic Enright all pitched scorelss innings. Karinchak was particularly impressive, striking out all three batters he faced.

The victory also clinched a playoff spot for the Clippers in the International League. Columbus had by far the best record in the second half of any Triple-A squad.

Lake County Captains 9, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4

Box Score · Captains win the Midwest championship series 2-1

Game three of the Midwest championship was on a razor’s edge until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Tied 1-1, Lake County teed off for five runs and never looked back.

Starting pitcher Dylan DeLucia was sensational, tossing 4 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings on three hits with five strikeouts and just one walk.

Offensively, Angel Genao was perfect at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double and three walks. He had a ridiculous 1.466 OPS in the three-game series.

Jake Fox also had a monster game, going 3-for-4 with a double and a home run.

Jonah Advincula also was terrific, going 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

Other offensive standouts included Travis Bazzana, who went 2-for-5 and Ralphy Velazquez, who blew the game wide open with a MONSTER home run that cleared one of the billboards in right field.

Steven Perez was left in the game a little long, struggling in his third inning of work out of the bullpen. Zach Jacobs and Sean Rapp closed out the victory with 1 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings of relief.