Guardians Farm Report: Clutch Double By Tolentino Fuels Captains Comeback Win

All four full season Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates were in action on Sunday with the three Rookie League teams having the day off.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Toledo 9 Columbus 8 (10 Innings)

There was no live video stream from Toledo for the third straight game so sorry no video highlights.

Columbus would get an unlikely hero trailing 8-to-6 and down to their final out in the ninth inning and one man on in the form of 33-year-old catcher Sandy Leon. Leon playing in just second game with the Clippers would launch a two-run home run to tie the game at eight runs apiece.

The game would head into extra innings where Columbus would fail to score in the top half of the 10th stranding runners on first and third. The Mud Hens would take advantage getting a walk-off win on a base hit by Daz Cameron and send the Clippers to defeat.

On offense the Clippers would get a huge game out shortstop Tyler Freeman who reached base five times on three hits a walk and a hit by pitch. One of Freeman's hits would come in the form of his sixth home run of the season. For Freeman he has now homered in back-to-back games and extended his hitting streak to 8 straight games.

#Guardians 23yr old INF prospect Tyler Freeman reached base 5x today (3-4 2R HR 2RBI BB HBP) including his 6th HR. Freeman has now homered in back-to-back games and extended his hitting streak to 8 games.

During streak:

15-34 7R 2HR 6RBI 3BB 2SB .441 AVG .513 OBP#ForTheLand
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 24, 2022

Oscar Mercado would hit a two-run home run in the game his first since joining the Clippers while Will Benson would stay red-hot extending his own hitting streak to seven straight games with three more hits including his 18th double of the year.

Columbus drops to 53-39 on the season with the loss.

Top Performers:

Tyler Freeman 3-4 2R HR 2RBI BB
Oscar Mercado 2-5 2R HR 2RBI
Sandy Leon 1-4 R HR 2RBI BB
Will Benson 3-6 R 2B
Trenton Brooks 2-5 R 2(2B)
Jose Fermin 2-4 R 2B
Andrew Misiaszek 2.1(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 2BB 4SO

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Erie 5 Akron 2

The RubberDucks would take an early 2-to-0 lead in the second inning on a Ray Delgado home run to right field. For Delgado the two-run shot was his second home run with the RubberDucks and fourth overall on the season.

#Guardians 22yr old switch hitting INF prospect Ray Delgado crushes a 2-run HR to right field in the second inning to give Akron an early 2-to-0 lead. The HR for Delgado was his 2nd with the Rubberducks & 4th overall on the season. @RayDelgado15 @AkronRubberDuck #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/P4wIWgRk4Y
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 24, 2022

From that point on Erie would shut down the Ducks offense and put up five unanswered runs to hand Akron a loss in the series finale.

RubberDucks starter Gavin Williams was cruising along until the sixth inning when the SeaWolves would touch him up for a couple of runs in the frame. Williams would take the loss finishing the day allowing three runs on four hits over six innings while striking out four.

Akron's record falls to 47-41 on the year.

Top Performers:

Ray Delgado 1-3 R HR 2RBI BB
Micah Pries 2-4 R 2B
George Valera 2-4 2B
Jose Tena 1-5 3B
Brayan Rocchio 1-3
Gavin Williams 6.0(IP) 4H 3R 3ER 2BB 4SO

High-A Lake County Captains

Lake County 6 Lansing 3

The Captains entered the 9th inning trailing 3-to-2 looking at a second straight loss to the Lugnuts. Lake County would load the bases and with one out Connor Kokx would get hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to tie the game at three runs apiece.

Still with the bases loaded and one out shortstop Milan Tolentino would come through with a clutch two-run double to give Lake County a 5-to-3 lead. For Tolentino it was his 11th double with the Captains and 23rd overall on the season. He also extended his hitting streak to six straight games on the day.

#Guardians 20yr old (SS) prospect Milan Tolentino with a clutch 2-run double in the 9th inning gives the Captains a 5-to-3 lead over Lansing! For Tolentino it was his 23rd double on the season & he extends his hitting streak to 6 straight games. @milantolentino #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/miUJwRQgXU
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 24, 2022

The Captains would add one more run in the inning on a Joe Naranjo sacrifice fly to make it a three-run lead at 6-to-3.

Reliever Trey Benton would come on for a second inning of work in the bottom of the ninth inning and shut down the Lugnuts picking up his first win of the season with Lake County.

The win improved the Captains record to 48-40 on the season.

Top Performers:

Milan Tolentino 2-5 2B 2RBI
Gabriel Rodriguez 2-4 2R 2B
Johnathan Rodriguez 1-4 2B RBI
Aaron Bracho 2-4 RBI
Connor Kokx 1-2 R RBI SB
Doug Nikhazy 3.1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 4BB 4SO
Trey Benton 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 2SO (W)

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg 3 Salem 1

Lynchburg was locked in a pitcher's duel with Salem tied at 1-to-1 in the eighth inning. With two runners on Cesar Idrogo would pick an outstanding time to pick up his first hit of the 2022 season with a two-run double giving the Hillcats a 3-to-1 lead.

#Guardians 21yr old switch hitting OF prospect Cesar Idrogo w/ a 2-run double in the 8th inning Sunday that gave Lynchburg a 3-to-1 lead! The double be the difference in the ballgame giving the Hillcats the win. It was Idrogo's 1st hit of the season!@LynHillcats #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/UNt7wst0qJ
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) July 25, 2022

Lynchburg's RHP Brauny Munoz who came on in the sixth inning would hold the Red Sox scoreless over the final two innings after the Hillcats had taken the lead. Munoz in total threw four scoreless innings in relief to pick up his second win of the season.

The win gets Lynchburg back to .500 on the season at 45-45.