Guardians Farm Report: Naylor Returns To The Lineup For Columbus In Series Finale Against Toledo

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

Author:
Todd Paquette
Sep 26, 2022 1:29 PM EDT

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Cleveland Guardians

The Triple-A Columbus Clippers remain the only Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliate still playing games as Akron, Lake County and Lynchburg all have finished their seasons.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Toledo 8 Columbus 7

Columbus trailed 2-to-0 heading into the top of the fourth inning in their series finale Sunday against Toledo.

The Clippers would score four runs in the inning giving them a 4-to-2 lead over the Mud Hens. The first run came on an RBI double by third baseman David Fry that scored designated hitter Bo Naylor who led off the inning with a double of his own. Naylor returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games with an undisclosed injury.

After a George Valera walk still with nobody out Oscar Mercado would single to left field scoring Fry. Toledo would get the next two batters to flyout brining up second baseman Mitch Tolman with runners on first and third.

Tolman would lace a double to left field scoring both Valera and Mercado to cap off the inning.

Columbus extended their lead to 5-to-2 in the fifth inning when George Valera with two outs would drive home David Fry all the way from first base on an RBI double to right field. The double for Valera was his 51st extra base hit on the season.

Toledo would respond with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-run home run off the bat of Josh Lester making it a 5-to-4 ballgame.

Moving onto the sixth inning Columbus left fielder Richie Palacios would draw a one out walk bringing shortstop Brayan Rocchio to the plate. Rocchio would drive home Palacios on his 27th double of the season just missing a home run. The double for the 21-year-old Rocchio was his 45th extra base hit on the season.

The very next batter Bo Naylor would single to right field scoring Rocchio giving the Clippers a three-run lead making it a 7-to-4 game.

Naylor would finish the game 2-for-5 and is now hitting .259 on the season over 116 games with 49 extra base hits including 19 home runs. While his average may not be too impressive his .389 on-base percentage is thanks to 80 walks drawn on the year. Also as impressive is his .872 OPS which is .260 points higher than he produced in 2021.

Unfortunately for Columbus the bullpen could not hold the lead giving up a single run in the seventh and two runs in the eighth tying the game up at seven runs apiece.

In the ninth inning Clippers reliever Luis Oviedo would load the bases with on a walk and two hit batters. Oviedo had a chance to get out of the inning with two outs facing Mud Hens third baseman Andre Lipcius but would uncork a wild pitch handing Toledo a walk off 8-to-7 win as the runner on third would come into score.

Columbus drops to 82-64 on the season with the tough luck loss.

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