Guardians Farm Report: Call Delivers Walk-Off Win For Columbus For Second Straight Night

All four Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates were in action Wednesday but only Columbus and Lynchburg would come out victorious on the day.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Columbus 6 St. Paul 5 (12 Innings)

For the second straight night the Clippers and Saints would play 12 innings and for the second straight night Alex Call would send Columbus home with a walk-off win!

Columbus didn't get their first hit of the game until one out in the seventh inning when catcher Bryan Lavastida broke up the Saints no-hit attempt. Still with only one base hit in the game and now trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the ninth the Clippers would finally break through scoring four runs on a couple of costly errors by St. Paul and some timely base hits by Richie Palacios and Tyler Freeman. Now tied at four apiece the game would head to extra innings.

Each team would score a single run in the top of the 10th inning and hold each other scoreless in the 11th inning. Columbus reliever Zach Draper on for his second inning of relief would hold the Saints scoreless in the top of the 12th setting the stage for Mr. Call.

With catcher Bryan Lavastida placed at second base to start the inning Alex Call would line a single to center field scoring Lavastida and giving the Clippers another wild walk-off victory. Columbus improves to 20-12 with the win.

It's not deja vu it's Alex Call! For the 2nd straight night Columbus Clippers OF Alex Call drives home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning vs St. Paul! Two walk-off winners in consecutive days for Call and the Clips!@ACAD_27 @CLBClippers #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/Eq1NNBzrlq
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 12, 2022

Clippers starter Peyton Battenfield kept Columbus in the game the whole night throwing seven innings of one run ball. Battenfield hasn't put up the same strikeout numbers we saw last season but has been very effective and efficient all season. Battenfield's ERA now sits at 2.54 early on in the season.

Top Performers:

Alex Call 2-6 R RBI
Richie Palacios 1-5 R RBI BB
Tyler Freeman 1-5 RBI
Jose Fermin 1-4 RBI BB
Bryan Lavastida 1-4 2R BB
Anthony Alford 1-3 R BB
Peyton Battenfield 7.0(IP) 5H 1R 1ER 2BB 3SO
Zach Draper 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 4SO (W)

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Erie 11 Akron 8

Erie would score nine runs in the fifth inning off Akron starter Jaime Arias-Bautista and reliever Nick Gallagher putting the Ducks in a 11-to-1 hole midway through the game.

#Guardians 24yr old OF prospect Will Brennan delivers a 3-run HR in the 6th inning tonight for Akron. Brennan's outstanding start to the season continues as he now has a farm leading 30 RBI'S in just 26 games to go along w/ a .333 AVG!@Silly_Willy18 @AkronRubberDuck #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/EPanomcJX3
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 12, 2022

The RubberDucks did make a comeback attempt scoring three runs in the sixth on a Will Brennan three run home run and four more in the seventh. But that would be it as Akron would fall to Erie by a final of 11-to-8 and drop their record to 15-14 on the year.

On a side note, RubberDucks outfielder Will Brennan would finish the game with four RBI's now giving him 12 over his last four games! Brennan currently leads the Double-A Eastern League and the Guardians farm system with 31 RBI's on the season.

Top Performers:

Will Brennan 2-4 R 2B HR 4RBI
George Valera 2-4 2R RBI
Jose Tena 1-5 2R HR RBI
Micah Pries 1-4 R HR RBI
Julian Escobedo 2-5 R 3B RBI
Luis Oviedo 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 2BB 1SO
Kevin Coulter 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1SO

High-A Lake County Captains

Great Lakes 5 Lake County 2

Lake County would take a 2-to-1 lead in the fourth inning on a massive two-run home run by Jhonkensy Noel scoring Petey Halpin who had reached on an error in the inning. Unfortunately for the Captains it was the only two runs the would score as they would strand 24 men on-base in the game.

#Guardians 20yr old INF prospect Jhonkensy Noel just connected on a 2-run HR for Lake County in the bottom of the fourth inning. The HR was Noel's 7th on the season and puts the Captains up 2-1 over the Loons.
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 11, 2022

Tied at 2-to-2 in the top of the eighth the Loons would score three runs in large part to two costly errors committed by the Captains in the inning. Great Lakes would go onto win by a final of 5-to-2 dropping Lake County to 12-16 on the season.

Top Performers:

Jhonkensy Noel 2-4 R HR 2RBI BB
Connor Kokx 3-3 BB SB
Micael Ramriez 1-3 BB SB
Aaron Davenport 4.1(IP) 4H 2R 2ER 2BB 4SO
Damon Casetta-Stubbs 1.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 1SO
Cade Smith 1.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg 4 Down East 1

The Hillcats would shut down the Wood Ducks offense in large part due to starter Rodney Boone. Boone was phenomenal taking a perfect game into the sixth inning before allowing a base hit with one out in the inning. He would finish the game allowing just the one hit over six scoreless frames while striking out eight batters on the night.

Boone would earn his first professional win in the game and lower his ERA to 2.03 on the season. He now has 41 strikeouts over just 26.2 innings while giving up just 17 hits.

#Guardians 22yr old LHP prospect Rodney Boone took a no-hitter into the sixth inning tonight before allowing his lone hit of the game w/ one out. He has been incredible for Lynchburg!

Line - 6.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 8SO

Season - 26.2(IP) 17H 8R 6ER 5BB 41SO 2.03 ERA#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/7h99tfM42I
— Guardians Prospective (@CleGuardPro) May 12, 2022

The Hillcats offense would score four times in the game on eight base hits off Wood Ducks pitching. Outfielder Isaiah Greene and second baseman Yordys Valdes led the way with two hits apiece in the game. Greene would also steal a couple of bases giving him five on the season.

The 4-to-1 win moves Lynchburg back to .500 on the season at 14-14.