Columbus Clippers 6, Indianapolis Indians 5

Box Score · Clippers improve to 44-40

Despite a furious rally in the ninth inning, the Columbus Clippers were able to hold off the Indianapolis Indians to secure a series win. They’ll go for a sweep tomorrow.

Yandy Diaz, Tyler Naquin, Daniel Robertson, and Nellie Rodriguez all had two-hit days, while Erik Kratz and Ronny Rodriguez added home runs to the mix. Diaz and Naquin, two players who have tasted the major leagues, are outclassing their Triple-A competition. Diaz is 14-for-35 in his last 10 games with seven walks and five strikeouts. On the season, he’s slashing an incredible .329/.437/.443. Naquin has been in a bit of a slump lately, but his two-hit day only helped his .315/.379/.523 season slash.

Jarrett Grube, who was recently acquired for what feels like the hundredth time, struck out four over three shutout innings. The ninth-inning rally by the Indians came against Jeff Johnson, who still received a hold, because bullpen statistics ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Akron RubberDucks 3, Harrisburg Senators 7

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 42-38

Indians: “We’re playing the most boring brand of baseball possible right now.”

RubberDucks: “Hold our baseball.”

The Akron RubberDucks were outhit 4-10 yesterday and predictably lost. Francisco Mejia was one of four batters with a hit, along with Yu-Cheng Chang, Joe Sever, and a home run from Eric Haase.

Matt Esparza had a rare bad outing in his start, allowing six runs and receiving his first Double-A loss.

Lynchburg Hillcats 2, Wilmington Blue Rocks 6

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 50-33

The Lynchburg Hillcats took a cue from some of their organizational big brothers and had themselves and offensive stinker. Willi Castro went 2-for-4 with a triple, but that accounted for of Lynchburg’s four hits on the day.

Brock Hartson received the loss with three runs over six innings. He struck out only one batter, his lowest strikeout total of the season.

Lake County Captains 9, Fort Wayne TinCaps 6

Box Score · Captains improve to 35-48

In a refreshing change of pace, the Lake County Captains had a nice 6-9 win against the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

Only Junior Soto and Miguel Eladio failed to contribute to Lake County’s 14 hits; Emmanuel Tapia led the way with three. Tapia and right fielder Mitch Longo added two home runs each.

Longo, a relatively quiet prospect for the Indians selected in the 14th round of the 2016 draft, is absolutely killing the ball in Low-A this season. The 22-year-old is slashing .392/.418/.608 and his 15-for-36 in his last 10 games. Tapia, on the other hand, doesn’t have the well-rounded slash line of Longo, but the man can hit baseballs hard. He leads the Midwest League with 20 home runs after his offensive explosion last night, and the next closest player has 14.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 4, West Virginia Black Bears 1

Box Score · Scrappers improve to 10-6

Thanks to a pair of middle-inning runs, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers reached a double-digit win total on the season with a win over the West Virginia Black Bears.

Hosea Nelson led the way with two hits, hopefully signalling the end of his slow start to the 2017 season. To date, the 20-year-old is slashing .192/.300/.269, but he is 3-for-8 over his last two games. So that’s something.

Ulysses Cantu continued his hot start to the season with another home run, his third of the season, and another hit to bring his season slash to .381/.400/.603. Through 15 games, Cantu already has 24 hits, but he’s also struck out 17 times to two walks. Sustainable? Absolutely not. Fun to watch? Probably.

The Scrappers utilized five pitchers in their effort to hold the Black Bears to three hits, one of which was Jonathan Teaney. A 21-year-old drafted selected in the 20th round of this year’s draft, Teaney struck out six of the seven batters he faced to earn his first professional hold.

AZL Indians 10, AZL Giants 11

Box Score · Indians fall to 4-6

The AZL Indians put up a fight until the end, including scoring a run in the bottom of the ninth, but they ultimately fell to the AZL Giants, 11-10.

Seven Indians batters finished with doubles, including two from Miguel Jerez. Juan Mota was tagged with the loss, despite pitching four solid innings of one-run baseball and striking out seven batters.

DSL Indians 2, DSL Indians/Brewers 0

Box Score · Indians improve to 11-17, Indians/Brewers fall to 9-18

Despite the DSL Indians being outhit by the DSL Indians/Brewers 7-1, they got the one hit that mattered in the ninth inning. After a walk to lead off the inning, and a sacrifice bunt for who knows what reason, the Indians/Brewers intentionally walked Jhon Torres. Roger Marmol finally notched the first Indians hit of the game with a triple that scored both runners.