ACL Guardians Play Their Last Game, Valera, Devers and Gonzalez Go Deep Thursday

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Friday, July 26, 2024

Columbus Clippers 5, Memphis Redbirds 6

Box Score · Clippers fall to 46-51

Doug Nikhazy finally got roughed up in AAA after his unbelievable start. He gave up 6 runs on 8 hits with just 2 strikeouts to 2 walks in 5 innings pitched. His AAA ERA is still at an awesome 2.77 despite the poor start today.

That being said, Randy Labaut and Tyler Beede filled in and gave 4 innings of scoreless baseball. They both limited baserunners and logged themselves each a K.

The whole C-Bus offense was able to do damage today. Jose Tena stays hot, going 3-4 with a triple and a walk. With how he’s been performing, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s gotten another stint up here with the big league club. George Valera went 1-5 with a HR, and Juan Brito got himself a hit with 2 walks. Kyle Manzardo did end up as the one hitless Clipper, but he provided some sort of length with a pair of walks. Unfortunately, the combined contributions of the Clippers’ offense couldn’t make up for Doug’s first rough start of his AAA career.

Akron RubberDucks 6, Bowie Baysox 3

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 53-40

Most of the firepower provided by the Ducks offense Thursday came from the bottom half of the lineup. Both Dayan Frias and Connor Kokx had 2-hit games, while driving in a run a piece. Kokx got on-base twice more through a couple free passes, while Frias got one of his own.

Austin Peterson threw a 7-inning gem last night. After giving up a first-inning 2-run bomb, Peterson locked in and didn’t allow a single run for the rest of his outing. He issued a few walks and hits here and there, but he was lock-down for the most part.

Jack Leftwich gave up the last Baysock run on a solo shot from highly-touted O’s catching prospect Samuel Basallo. Bowie continued to ensue a little chaos against Leftwich in the 9th, but that only prompted Ducks manager Greg DiCenzo to call in Magnus Ellerts to shut the door on the Baysox.

Lake County Captains 8, Great Lakes Loons 2

Box Score · Captains improve to 56-36

The Caps provided an all-out beating of the Loons last night. Jose Devers had himself a great night, securing 3 hits, one of them being a solo homer, and a walk. Esteban Gonzalez also went yard for the Captains, that time for 2 runs. Both Gonzalez and Devers had a pair of ribbies on the night.

Carter Spivey had himself a respectable outing. In 5.2 innings pitched, he gave up a pair of earned runs but K’ed 4 batters. overall, he gave up 3 hits and 3 walks.

Steve Hajjar and Adam Tulloch picked up where Spivey left off, finishing the remaining 3.1 innings. Only Tulloch would allow traffic on the base paths, walking two Great Lakes batters.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Columbia Fireflies 1

Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Columbia Fireflies 4

Game 1 Box Score · Game 2 Box Score · Hillcats move to 49-44

Somehow, the Hillcats scored 4 runs on 2 hits. With a bit of situational hitting (and a whole lotta luck), Lynchburg rallied for all 4 in the 3rd inning. A notable contribution during this inning would be a Jaison Chourio RBI triple. Chourio would take that triple into the second game of the doubleheader, as he went 2-4 for the Hillcats with a ribbie. In that second game, Wuilfredo Antunez had himself a pair of RBIs on a 2-run single in the 5th.

Jackson Humphries was magnificent in his outing for the first game of the day. He fanned 3 batters, and only gave up 3 baserunners. Didn’t give up a single run either in his 5 innings of work.

Jacob Breshanan then took up the baton in his start of the second game. Though he wasn’t as sharp as Humphries, he still looked decent. The only two runs he gave up in 4 innings came from a 2 run homer in the 4th. He finished the day allowing 4 hits, 2 walks, and K’ing 3 batters.

The bullpen effort as a whole Thursday was solid, outside of Deretd Parra’s blown save in the nightcap. Jack Jasiak logged two innings with an earned run but held on for the most part. Josh Harlow, on the other hand, was really good in his outing. In the nightcap, Harlow went two innings, giving up only 2 hits, while fanning 4 batters.

ACL Guardians 3, ACL Rangers 2

Box Score · ACL Guardians finish the season 27-33

Thursday marked the last day of the 2024 Arizona Complex League season for the Guardians’ affiliate. Knowing that, Christopher Espinola wanted the team to go out with a bang. His 3-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd gave the ACL Guards just enough to edge the Rangers. Chase DeLauter also continued his rehab, although going 0-3 on the day.

Zak Kent logged two innings of 0-run baseball, K’ing 2 batters. Keegan Zinn got the dub, but did give up a couple runs in his 2 innings of work. Then, Melkis Hernandez pitched 3 innings and fanned 3 on the way to finish off the season for the ACL Guardians.

DSL CLE Mendoza 2, DSL Padres Gold 3

Box Score · DSL Mendoza Guardians fall to 16-17

Although Carlos Garces logged a multi-hit game with an RBI, that wouldn’t be enough to overcome the DSL Padres. Angel Perez had himself a very solid start, giving up 5 total baserunners and K’ing 4. He didn’t give up a single run. Diovel Mariano also had 2 innings of scoreless work, but that wouldn’t be the same story for Rey Feliz, who couldn’t record a single out in the 7th before the bases were loaded. Jonaikel Meza took over, but he gave up the Padres’ 3 runs that won them the game. Because Meza had inherited runners, all 3 earned runs were pinned to Feliz (who was given the loss), but Jonaikel was still charged with a blown save. Al Garcia would provide an inning more of scoreless baseball before the game ended.

DSL CLE Goryl 3, DSL Brewers 2

Box Score · DSL Goryl Guardians improve to 23-12

Estivel Morillo had 2 hits on the day with an RBI, while Dauri Fernandez followed up one of them with an RBI single of his own. The last Guardians run came from a solo dinger from Emilio Taveras.

The Guardians’ pitching staff was locked in Thursday. Only allowing 1 run over 4 separate pitchers is very good to see. Only 6 baserunners were allowed by the group of Santiago Peraza, Luilli Cabrera, Eriberto Vasquez and Delni Uribe.