Sewald and Stephen with Great Rehab Outing, Hillcats with Cleveland’s Only System W.

Recapping Friday, June 27th’s minor league games.

Columbus Clippers (37-39) – AAA

Box Score

COL 6 – IOW 15

The Iowa Cubs absolutely wiped the Columbus Clippers last night. Things were looking great in the top of the first when C.J. Kayfus hit a two-out homer to put the Clippers on the board first.

In the top of the third the Clippers used some GuardsBall tactic to tack on another run. Chase DeLauter hit a two-out single and advanced to third on a Brayan Rocchio double. C.J. Kayfus drew a walk to load the bases and CDL scored when Jhonkensy Noel was hit by pitch. Until the bottom of the third Joey Cantillo was looking sharp. In the third he gave up a lead off double, a one-out walk, and a three-run home run to tie the game.

Down by one in the top of the fourth the Clippers came right back. Petey Halpin and Dom Nuñez reached base with a lead off single and walk. Milan Tolentino singled to third, scoring Halpin on a throwing error to tie it up. CDL reached on a fielders choice, leaving runners on the corner. Brayan Rocchio opened it up with a three-run homer to right center.

In the bottom of the fifth with Aaron Davenport on the mound, the Cubs notched in a couple of runs to close the two run deficit and put Iowa up 8-6. In the bottom of the sixth, the Cubs end up on top of the Clippers 14-6. Iowa scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the seventh.

Aaron Davenport received his first loss and first blown save in his 1.2 innings of work. Davenport allowed 9 earned runs in 6 hits and 4 walks.

Chase DeLauter went 1-for-5 with two runs. Brayan Rocchio went 2-for-5 with a run, 3 RBI, and a HR. C.J. Kayfus went 1-for-3 with a run, an RBI, and 2 walks.

Akron RubberDucks (45-27) – AA

Box Score

HBG 4 – AKR 1

The RubberDucks offense couldn’t pull a win out in a bullpen game. Rorik Maltrud took inning 1, striking out 3 and giving up a walk. Paul Sewald gave up a hit in his rehab inning. Trevor Stephan mimicked Sewald’s inning with a 1 hit, 1 strikeout rehab appearance of his own. The loss went to LHP Adam Tulloch who gave up 3 earned runs in 2.0 innings of work. Tulloch allowed 5 baserunners, all hits, and struck out 3. Steven Pérez allowed 1 earned run in his two innings of work. Shawn Rapp and Tyler Thornton pitched the last two innings of the game, allowing a walk each but kept it scoreless.

Akron’s only run came in the bottom of the seventh. Angel Genao hit a lead off double to left. After a pitching change Jorge Burgos hit into a RBI single to score Genao.

Angel Genao went 2-for-4 with a run and Jorge Burgos went 2-for-4 with a RBI.

Lake County Captains (38-35) – High A

Box Score

WM 8 – LC 4

The Captains got on the board first in the bottom of the third with a solo shot from Christian Knapczyk.

In the bottom of the fourth, down by two, the Captains and Knapczyk tied it up. Johnny Tincher drew a lead off walk and advanced to third on a one-out Maick Collado double to center. Kyle Dernedde grounded out to short, Tincher scoring in the process. Knapczyk hit a two-out RBI double to center to score Collado.

The Captains added their final run in the bottom of the seventh. Juan Benjamin hit a one-out single. Wuilfredo Antunez hit a two-out single to put runners on first and second. Jacob Cozart drew a walk to load the bases. A passed ball by the Whitecaps catcher allowed Benjamin to score.

The pitching staff had a tougher time and couldn’t capitalize on the four run offense. Tugboat had the start for Lake County, pitching a solid three innings of scoreless baseball. In the top of the fourth he ran into trouble. After two quick outs, a single and a stolen base had a runner on second. Two back-to-back homers gave Tugboat three runs and the lead. In the top of the fifth another homer put the Whitecaps back on top, forcing the Captains to turn to Jesus Luna to replace Wilkinson. In the top of the sixth, a lead off hit by pitch, a one-out double, and a walk loaded the bases. Seth Stephenson reached on a fielding error by the shortstop Dernedde, allowed a run to score.

Tugboat got his eighth loss of the season, putting his record at 2-8. He pitched 4.2 innings, allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hit and 2 walks. Jesus Luna pitched 1.2 innings, giving up 4 runs, 3 earned, on 5 hits and 3 walks. Izaak Martinez threw 1.2 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 2. Jay Driver closed out the game allowing only 1 hit but keeping any further runs off the board.

Lynchburg Hillcats (46-27) – Low A

Box Score

LYN 8 – CHS 5

The Hillcats prevented the full system sweep with a 8-5 victory over the Riverdogs. Starting LHP Rafe Schlesinger earned his second win of the year. He pitched 5.0 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks, striking out 4. Julio Zapata pitched 2.0 innings, allowing the Riverdogs final 3 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk. Conner Whittaker earned his fourth save of the season. In 2.0 innings he didn’t allow a single baserunner.

The Hillcats cut the Riverdogs lead in the top of the second. Ryan Cesarini hit a lead off triple to right, scoring when Robert Lopez reached on a fielder’s choice. In the top of the third the Hillcats finally took the lead witha a two-out single followed by Luis Merejo’s two-run homer. In the top of the fourth, three more runs were tacked on. Robert Lopez hit a lead off single followed by a walk to put runners on first and second. Alberto Mendez hit into a sac fly to score Lopez. With two outs Welbyn Francisca drew a walk. Jeffrey Mercedes smacked a two-run double to right to put the Hillcats up 6-2. In the top of the eighth Jose Pirela drew a walk and stole second. Alberto Mendez hit a RBI trip to score Pirela. Welbyn Francisca brought Mendez home with a sacrifice fly to center for the team’s final run of the game.