Columbus Clippers 5, Louisville Bats 7
Clippers fall to 53-74
Johnathan Rodriguez and Khalil Watson did their best to carry the Columbus offense on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough. Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with a double while Watson went 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base and scored three runs.
Dayan Frias went 2-for-4 with a home run and Milan Tolentino went 1-for-3 with a walk. No one else reached base safely twice.
Starting pitcher John Means had a decent rehab outing, allowing one run (zero earned)
on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 4.0 innings.
Jake Miller was roughed up for three unearned runs in 0.2 innings while Trevor Stephan had a scoreless outing.
The Clippers were on their way to a victory, but Franco Aleman gave up three runs in the eighth inning. Aleman was added to the 40-man roster last offseason and was expected to be in the mix as relief depth for Cleveland this year, but he’s had a forgettable season at Triple-A, currently sporting a 9.20 ERA.
Akron RubberDucks 2, Richmond Flying Squirrels 13
RubberDucks fall to 71-54
The story of this game was the disastrous outing from Khal Stephen. Stephen currently is Cleveland’s top pitching prospect, having been acquired from Toronto in the Shane Bieber trade. He recently returned from the injured list with a scoreless 3.0 innings in his Cleveland system debut, but this time around was a nightmare.
Stephen lasted just 0.1 innings, allowing six runs, all earned, on six hits without walking or striking out anymore. He wasn’t fooling anybody on Sunday. It didn’t help that reliever Steven Perez allowed both of his inherited runners to score by immediately giving up a three-run home run in the first inning.
Akron never had a chance the rest of the way. Offensively, Alfonsin Rosario and Conner Barstad had the only multi-hit games, both going 2-for-4 with a double. Alex Mooney also doubled and walked.
Lake County Captains 12, Lansing Lugnuts 4
Lake County’s offense resembled the classic Rake County on Sunday, led by the best game of the season from Jaison Chourio.
Chourio went 4-for-6, blasting his second home run of the season and also doubling, just missing a cycle by the triple.
Jose Devres also had a huge game, going 3-for-6 with a triple and a double while Maick Collado went 3-for-5 with a double. Nick Mitchell reached base safely four times, going 2-for-4 with two walks and a stolen base.
Ryan Cesarini also had a three-hit game, going 3-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base.
That was more than enough offense for starting pitcher Rafe Schlesinger, who allowed two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in 5.2 innings. Xavier Martinez closed out the victory with a scoreless inning of work.
Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Potomac Nationals 2
Hillcats improve to 67-57
Lynchburg continues to get strong support on offense and defense. This time, it was the bottom of the order that impressed as 2025 17th round pick Cannon Peebles (the best baseball name for a catcher ever) went 2-for-4 with a stolen base.
Luis Merejo and 2025 14th round pick Anthony Silva also both had two-hit games while Riley Nelson went 1-for-3 with a walk.
Starting pitcher Jacob Zibin was solid, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 5.0 innings. Logan McGuire was superb in long relief, tossing 3.0 perfect scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Cam Schuelke finished things off with a scoreless ninth inning to earn his second save.
