Guardians Farm Report: Valera, Naylor And Brennan All Go Deep In Clippers Win

Here is a recap of what happened with the Guardians minor league teams last night.

Author:
Todd Paquette
Sep 18, 2022 9:16 AM EDT

In this story:

Only two of the Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates were in action on Saturday as both Lake County and Lynchburg had the day off as they both prepare to begin their championship series playoff games on Sunday.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Columbus 6 Omaha 2

Columbus center fielder Will Brennan got the scoring started for the Clippers leading off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run to right field. The home run for Brennan was his 12th on the season and extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games. During the streak Brennan is 23-for-53 hitting for a .434 average with six doubles, one triple, one home run and eight runs batted in.

Up 1-to-0 still in the fourth inning with a man on and now two outs right fielder George Valera would step in and crush a two-run home run to right field giving Columbus a 3-to-0 lead. For Valera it was his eighth home run at the Triple-A level and 23rd overall on the 2022 season.

Omaha would score a run in the top of the fifth inning making it a 3-to-1 game. The Clippers offense would respond in the bottom half of the inning when catcher Bo Naylor would hit an absolute bomb to right field for a 2-run home run giving Columbus a 5-to-1 lead.

The Clippers would hold on to win by the final score of 6-to-2 snapping their four-game home losing against the Storm Chasers. Columbus improves to 79-59 on the year.

Starting pitcher Xzavion Curry picked up the win allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out four in the game.

Reliever Nic Enright had a nice game out of the pen throwing two scoreless innings striking out four Omaha batters.

Top Performers:

George Valera 2-4 2R HR 2RBI
Will Brennan 2-4 2R HR RBI
Bo Naylor 1-4 R HR 2RBI
Nolan Jones 3-4 Brooks 1-3 BB
Xzavion Curry 5.0(IP) 5H 1R 1ER 2BB 4SO (W)
Nic Enright 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 4SO

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Akron 4 Bowie 3

The Baysox held an early 1-to-0 lead over the RubberDucks Saturday night until the bottom of the third innings when Jose Tena with a man on and nobody out would turn on a pitch launching a two-run home run to right field giving Akron a 2-to-1 lead. The home run for Tena was his 12th on the season.

The Baysox would get to RubberDucks starter Tanner Bibee in the sixth inning plating two runs to retake the lead at 3-to-2. Bibee would finish the game allowing three runs on three hits and a pair of walks while striking out nine batters over six innings of work.

Bibee's nine strikeouts would give him 167 on season overtaking Logan Allen for the most in the Guardians farm system.

Movin to the bottom of the eighth inning with Bowie still leading 3-to-2 Akron left fielder Jhonkensy Noel come up to bat with runners on first and third with just one out. Noel would come through with a big two-run double scoring both runners and putting the Ducks back in front 4-to-3. The double for Noel gives him 58 extra base hits on the year.

RubberDucks reliever Robert Broom who had come on in relief of Bibee in the seventh inning would stay on to pitch the ninth and hold the Baysox scoreless. Broom would earn the win for his three scoreless innings of work.

Akron with the win improves their record to 78-59 on the season.