Daniel Espino strikes out career-high 14 batters on just 67 pitches in Akron win

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for April 24, 2022

Columbus Clippers 2, Indianapolis Indians 3

Box Score · Clippers fall to 12-5

After a couple weeks of offensive explosion, Columbus took a bit of a break on Saturday, although that didn’t stop Gabrial Arias from mashing his second home run of the season.

Will Benson also went 2-4 with a pair of doubles and Mitchell Tolman went 1-2 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Peyton Battenfield had a solid showing, allowing two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings while striking out five and walking two. Ben Krauth added 1.2 innings of perfect relief with a pair of strikeouts.

Unfortunately, with the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Brett Daniels allowed a leadoff triple and a walk-off single. At least Columbus wasn’t pelted with garbage afterwards.

Akron RubberDucks 8, Bowie Baysox 6

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 6-8

How good was Daniel Espino yesterday? Well, he missed an immaculate inning in the first inning by one foul ball. He started the game by striking out the first 11 batters he faced before someone hit a solo home run with two outs in the fourth inning. He then struck out three more hitters before exiting the game after 5.0 innings. Only one of his outs was not a strikeout. His final line? 5.0 innings, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 14 K. Not only was it a career high in strikeouts for Espino, but it was the most strikeouts by any pitcher in MiLB or MLB this entire season….. and he did it in FIVE INNINGS and just 67 pitches. He legitimately could be pitching in Cleveland right now. This kid is special.

While Espino was out there blowing everyone’s minds, the Akron offense woke up. Bo Naylor had his best game of the season, blasting his first triple and home run of the year, going 2-4 with a walk.

Other offensive standouts included George Valera, who went 2-4 with a double and a walk, Jose Tena, who went 2-4 with a double and a stolen base, Will Brennan, who went 2-4, Micah Pries, who went 2-2 and was hit by a pitch, and Daniel Schneemann, who went 1-3 with a double and a walk.

Jerson Ramirez was called on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the tying run at home plate, and he was able to pick up a four-pitch save.

Lake County Captains 0, Great Lakes Loons 1 (G1)
Lake County Captains 5 Great Lakes Loons 2 (G2)

Game 1 Box Score · Game 2 Box Score · Captains move to 6-8

Game one saw a tremendous outing from 2021 first round pick Gavin Williams get wasted. Williams allowed one run on just two hits while striking out seven and walking three in 5.0 innings.

The Captains managed just four hits in game one, although Petey Halpin went 2-3 with a stolen base.

Game two was more of a team effort. Starting pitcher Doug Nikhazy had one of the stranger pitching lines you’ll ever see. He allowed just one run in 3.0 innings on one hit with six strikeouts, which normally would be great, but he also walked six batters and it took him 76 pitches to get through those 3.0 innings.

Zach Hart picked up the win by tossing 2.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, no hits allowed and a pair of walks.

The offense woke up in game two, particularly Jhonkensy Noel, who blasted a 450-foot home run with a 107 mph exit velocity. It was majestic.

Noel finished game two going 2-3 with the above homer and also was hit by a pitch.

Angel Martinez went 2-4 with a double, Gabriel Rodriguez went 2-3 and Aaron Bracho went 2-3 with a double. Bracho has quietly bounced back this season while repeating High-A, batting .313 with a .381 on base percentage thus far in a small sample size.

Lynchburg Hillcats 9, Carolina Mudcats 2

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 6-8

For the second consecutive game, Lynchburg whooped Carolina by seven runs.

Dayan Frias had a huge day at the plate, going 2-4 with a pair of walks. Isaiah Green went 1-3 with three walks, Luis Durango went 2-3 with two walks, Wilfri Peralta went 1-4 with a triple and a walk, Jake Fox walked twice while being hit by a pitch and Richard Paz went 2-5.

Starting pitcher Jake Miller allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 4.0 innings. Long reliever Jack Leftwitch allowed one more run in 3.0 innings of work and Yeury Gervacio closed the game out with 2.0 perfect innings that included a pair of strikeouts.

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