If it's true that chicks dig the long ball, then the ladies were likely swarming over the Cleveland Indians' minor league affiliates yesterday. Overall, Columbus, Akron, Lynchburg and Lake County combined to jack nine home runs on a solid 3-1 day overall, a major bounce back after a rough Thursday.
The starting pitching wasn't half bad either (bullpens were a different story).
Columbus Clippers 12, Louisville Bats 2
Box Score · Clippers improve to 25-16
This game got out of hand in a hurry.
The Clippers staked themselves to an 8-0 lead by the third inning and never looked back. First baseman Jesus Aguilar had a monster day, hitting two home runs as the Columbus offense managed 16 hits overall. Erik Gonzalez joined the fray with his first long ball of the 2016 campaign while third base prospect Yandy Diaz had the best game of his brief Triple-A career, going 4-5 with two doubles.
Starting pitcher Will Roberts pitched seven innings, giving up two runs while spreading out nine hits on the day and Josh Martin shut the door in relief with a solid ninth inning.
Akron Rubberducks 8, Binghamton Mets 7
Box Score · Rubberducks improve to 29-11
This game had no reason being as close as it was.
Akron staked itself to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning as Clint Frazier doubled, Bradley Zimmer singled him in and Nellie Rodriguez launched a bomb to dead center. Akron's offense would refuse to let up with single runs scored in the third, fifth and sixth innings including an absolutely majestic drive to left from Frazier in the third inning.
Starting pitcher DJ Brown was excellent, pitching six innings of scoreless, two-hit ball while striking out six. The story should have ended there, but relief pitcher Grant Sides decided to have the worst outing of his minor league career, failing to get anyone out in the seventh inning while surrendering six runs.
By the time the fire was put out in the top of the seventh inning, Binghamton was leading 7-6.
Thankfully, Ivan Castillo would score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh to tie it and Todd Hankins would double in Jeremy Lucas in the eighth for the go-ahead run. Reliever JP Feyereisen would shut things down in the ninth to pick up the save.
Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3
Box Score · Hillcats improve to 28-13
Down 3-0 after five innings, the Lynchburg offense came to life late in the game as Mark Mathias picked up the first home run of his High-A career.
The killing blow was struck by center field prospect Greg Allen, who ripped a two-run single with the bases loaded to take the lead. Claudio Bautista would follow up with a sacrifice fly to give the team an insurance run.
Top slugging prospect Bobby Bradley's bad remained quiet, although he would pick up another two walks on the day without striking out.
With a bullpen so depleted that an outfielder had been forced to pitch two innings on Thursday, Luis Lugo and Jared Robinson combined to pitch all nine innings and give the rest of the arms a much-needed day off. Robinson, in particular, was spectacular out of the bullpen, providing four innings of shutout baseball while striking out four.
Lake County Captains 5, South Bend Cubs 7
Box Score · Captains fall to 24-17
It was a slobberknocker yesterday as Lake County and South Bend traded blows for 10 straight innings, neither team taking the lead for long.
Lake County tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth after four straight singles capped off by a two-RBI knock from Bobby Ison, but it would not be enough.
Reliever Kieren Lovegrove, coming off his worst outing of the season, failed to bounce back as he would surrender two runs in the top of the 10th on a home run and that would be all she wrote.
Conor Marabell and Francisco Mejia had big days, going 2-5 and 3-4 respectively, with Marabell also picking up a double and home run along the way.
Starting pitcher Matt Esparza had a decent outing, lasting six innings while giving up two earned runs and striking out five to earn a quality start, but it would not be enough.