Guardians Farm Report: Naylor Breaks Up No-Hitter With Prodigious Blast For Columbus

All four Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliate teams were in action on Tuesday. Columbus and Akron continued regular season play while Lake County and Lynchburg both started their best of three playoff series.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Omaha 4 Columbus 2

Columbus trailing 2-to-0 had failed to collect a hit against over the first six innings of the game against a pair of Omaha hurlers Tuesday night.

Guardians 22-year-old catching prospect Bo Naylor would put an end to the no-hit attempt and shutout leading off the bottom of the seventh inning absolutely crushing a solo home run to deep right center field making it a 2-to-1 game. The home run for Naylor was his 18th overall on the 2022 season between Akron and Columbus. He now has 47 extra base hits on the year over 110 games with a .878 OPS.

#Guardians 22yr old (C) prospect Bo Naylor breaks up the no-hitter by Omaha in the 7th inning for Columbus with a solo HR! For Naylor it's his 12th Triple-A HR and number 18 overall on the season. @_BoNaylor_ @CLBClippers #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/bT0T2vqyc1
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 13, 2022

The Storm Chasers would respond the very next inning plating two runs in the eighth taking a 4-to-2 lead.

Clippers center fielder Will Brennan would extend his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI double in the bottom half of the eighth inning making it a 4-to-2 ballgame. Brennan leads the farm system both with 102 runs batted in and 39 doubles. During his seven-game hitting streak he is 17-for-35 hitting for a .486 average.

#Guardians 24yr old OF prospect Will Brennan drives in his 102 run of the season on his 39th double to help cut the Omaha lead to 4-to-2 over Columbus. For Brennan that's his 54th extra base hit on the year.@Silly_Willy18 @CLBClippers #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/AKWhjZVeE0
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 14, 2022

Columbus would ultimately fall short dropping the series opener to Omaha by the final of 4-to-2. The Clippers are now 78-56 on the season.

#Guardians 24yr old RHP relief prospect Kevin Kelly struckout 4 over 3.0 scoreless innings for Columbus Tuesday. Kelly has not allowed an ER over his last 16 appearances.

Line - 3.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 4SO

Last 16 - 19.2(IP) 5H 1R 0ER 4BB 29SO 0.00 ERA@KevinKelly252 #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/BSn2iBaXbN
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 14, 2022

Clippers reliever Kevin Kelly threw scoreless innings in the loss in what was a bullpen game for the team. Kelly has now not allowed an earned run over his last 16 appearances. During that span he has struck out 29 batters allowing just five hits and four walks over 19.1 innings pitched.

Top Performers:

Bo Naylor 1-4 R HR RBI
Will Brennan 1-4 2B RBI
Gabrial Arias 1-4 2B
Mitch Tolman 0-1 R BB
Kevin Kelly 3.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 4SO

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Akron 3 Baysox 0

Akron would strike first blood Tuesday in the fourth inning when right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez would drive home a pair of runs on his 23rd double of the season. For Rodriguez who is enjoying a breakout campaign he now has 50 extra base hits in just 102 games played on the year.

#Guardians 22yr old OF prospect Johnathan Rodriguez w/ a big 2-run double today in the 4th inning for Akron in their 3-to-0 win over Bowie. Rodriguez has 50 XBH on the year in just 102 games.

Last 10 games:

12-39 5R 5(2B) 1(3B) 3HR 11RBI 2BB .308 AVG @jjrodz55 #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/ulU4NzdQYA
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 13, 2022

The RubberDucks still leading 2-to-0 would get an insurance run in the eighth inning off the bat of left fielder Jhonkensy Noel who would drive home the teams third run of the game on his 22nd double of the year. Noel now has 56 extra base hits on the season which leads the farm system.

#Guardians 21yr old INF/OF prospect Jhonkensy Noel reached base 3x today (1-2 R 2B RBI 2BB) for Akron in their 3-to-0 win over Bowie.

Last 20 games 13 walks to just 13 strikeouts.

24-72 18R 9(2B) 1(3B) 4HR 15RBI 13BB 13SO .333 AVG .438 OBP@jhonkensy15 #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/b9xTqoTzQn
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 13, 2022

Five Ducks pitchers would combine to throw a five-hit shutout striking out seven Baysox batters on the night.

Akron reliever Kyle Marman would contribute two scoreless innings in the game continuing his excellent performance on the mound of late. Marman has only allowed one run over his last 15 appearances out of the pen striking out 28 over 20.1 innings while posting a 0.44 ERA.

#Guardians 25yr old RHP relief prospect Kyle Marman w/ two more scoreless innings today for Akron. Marman has only allowed one run over his last 15 appearances.

Line - 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 2SO

Last 15 - 20.1(IP) 7H 1R 1ER 7BB 28SO 0.44 ERA@Therealkylemarm #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/d2dBB4zNle
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 14, 2022

The win over Bowie improves Akron's record to 77-56 on the season.

Top Performers:

Jhonkensy Noel 1-2 R 2B RBI 2BB
Johnathan Rodriguez 1-3 2B 2RBI
Angel Martinez 1-3 SB
Micah Pries 1-4 R
Gavin Williams 3.0(IP) 3H 0R 0ER 1BB 2SO
Mason Hickman 1.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 1SO (SV)

High-A Lake County Captains

Great Lakes 7 Lake County 2 (Game One)

Lake County opened up game one of their three game playoff series with Great Lakes with a loss at home Tuesday night.

The Loons would knock out Captains starter Will Dion in the second inning scoring three runs off him. Dion would throw just one and two thirds' innings for his shortest start of the season.

Lake County would cut the lead to 3-to-1 in the bottom of the second on an RBI double off the bat of designated hitter Korey Holland. The Captains would make it a 3-to-2 game the very next inning on a solo home run off the bat of shortstop Milan Tolentino.

Lake County (SS) Milan Tolentino with a solo HR in the bottom of the 3rd inning with one out cuts the Loons lead now to 3-to-2 over the Captains!#ForTheLand
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 13, 2022

The game would remain 3-to-2 until the top of the seventh when the Loons would plate two more runs giving them a three-run lead. Great Lakes would add two more in the ninth for insurance giving them a commanding 7-to-2 lead which would be the final score handing Lake County the game one loss.

The Captains now will head out on the road at Great Lakes for game two on Thursday and game three if needed.

Top Performers:

Milan Tolentino 1-4 R HR RBI
Korey Holland 1-4 2B RBI
Petey Halpin 2-4 R
Yordys Valdes 1-3
Rodney Boone 4.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 2BB 3SO

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats

Fredericksburg 2 Lynchburg 0 (Game One)

Lynchburg was on the road for game one of their three game playoff matchup against Fredericksburg on Tuesday night.

The Hillcats would get a tremendous start from right-handed pitcher Trenton Denholm who went seven innings only allowing two unearned runs on just four hits and a walk while striking out five.

Tremendous start in Game 1 of the playoffs by #Guardians 22yr old RHP prospect Trenton Denholm tonight allowing two unearned runs over 7.0 innings striking out 5 for Lynchburg!

Line - 7.0(IP) 4H 2R 0ER 1BB 5SO (73 Pitches 54 Strikes)@trent_denholm7 @LynHillcats #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/THQo02hI8f
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) September 14, 2022

The Nationals two runs came in the fourth inning and were added by a pair of errors by Hillcats left fielder Lexer Saduy. Lynchburg would make three errors in total in the contest.

The Hillcats offense would only collect three hits on the evening being completely shut down by Nationals starter Jackson Rutledge who threw eight scoreless innings striking out six picking up the win.

With the game one loss the series now heads back to Lynchburg with game two of the three game series on Thursday.