Columbus Clippers 1, Toledo Mud Hens 5

Box Score · Clippers fall to 68-69

The Columbus Clippers lost to the Toledo Mud Hens, 5-1, but right fielder Mike Papi had his seventh multi-hit in Triple-A, in just his 32 game, overall. Papi also accounted for the Clippers’ only run with a solo shot in the third inning.

Lonnie Chisenhall and Abraham Almonte, who are both expected to be activated from the disabled list soon, went a combined 0-for-6 in their rehab starts. They were two of many Clippers batters to go silent yesterday. Only designated hitter Ronny Rodriguez, first baseman Nellie Rodriguez and the aformentioned Papi had hits.

Akron RubberDucks 5, Harrisburg Senators 6

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 65-70

Just ignore the score in this one, and that whole ninth-inning comeback thing, and instead focus on the fact that Francisco Mejia made his debut at third base last night.

As was reported a couple nights ago, Mejia is going to get time at the hot corner in the Arizona Fall League, so this was expected to happen eventually. This was Mejia’s second minor-league start anywhere but catcher or designated hitter. He played left field once in 2013.

I didn’t watch the whole game, and what I watched didn’t involve Mejia making any plays at third base, but according to the play log he did have a line out hit to him in the third inning. I did get a chance to watch Mejia swing wildly at an eye-level pitch, which might be a reason he went 1-for-5 on the day with two strikeouts.

But at least Luigi Rodriguez did this.

Shane Bieber turned in another excellent start for the ‘Ducks, pitching seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts and one walk. Unfortunately, his bullpen let him down to the tune of six earned runs over 1.2 innings.

Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Potomac Nationals 2

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 82-52

Aaron Civale continues to pitch well in High-A with the Lynchburg Hillcats. After a rough start to the season with the Lake County Captains, in which he carried a 4.58 ERA over 10 Single-A starts, Civale has a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts with Lynchburg, and he pitched another great one yesterday — seven innings, eight strikeouts, no walks.

Civale’s gem was all the offense needed with their own five runs scored. Second baseman Claudio Bautista led the team with two hits, and that after coming into the game to replace Willi Castro, who was pulled after one at-bat.

Lake County Captains 3, Lansing Lugnuts 10

Box Score · Captains fall to 52-82

This one wasn’t pretty from the get-go. The Lansing Lugnots scored a pair of runs off Zach Plesac in the first inning, then four more in the third. After Plesac was pulled, Justin Garza came in to give up four runs of his own over five innings.

The offense had seven hits on the day, led by first baseman Emmanuel Tapia’s 2-for-2 day and 27th home run of the season. But they finished 0-of-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded six baserunners.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 1, Batavia Muckdogs 5

Box Score · Scrappers fall to 39-28

It’s hard to win a game when you strikeout (11) more than twice as much as you hit (5), which is exactly what the Mahoning Valley Scrappers did in their 5-1 loss yesterday. The bottom of the lineup combined to go 3-for-11, but the rest managed just two hits, including a home run from third baseman Nolan Jones.

AZL Indians 6, AZL Padres 7

Box Score · Indians fall to 14-40

Even when the AZL Indians outhit their opponents, even when said opponents commit four errors in a game, they just can’t seem to win a game.

Everyone in the starting lineup except for second baseman Jhan Rodriguez finished with at least one hit yesterday, while left fielder Tre Gantt, catcher Felix Fernandez, and right fielder Jonathan Rodriguez finished with two. Third baseman Henry Pujols hit his eighth home run of the season.