Guardians Farm Report: Espino Fans A Career High 14 For Akron

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

Author:
Todd Paquette
Updated:
Apr 24, 2022 9:09 AM EDT

In this story:

Tremendous pitching performances across the board by all Cleveland Guardians affiliates was the theme on Saturday down on the farm.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Indianapolis 3 Columbus 2

Columbus trailed 2-to-0 to Indianapolis after five innings. Outfielder Will Benson led off the top of the sixth inning with a ground rule double. The next man up shortstop Gabriel Arias crushed a two run home run to tie the game up at 2-to-2. The home run was Arias's second of the year for Columbus. The game stayed knotted at 2-to-2 until the Indians got a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning to take a 3-to-2 victory over the Clippers.

The Clippers starter right hander Peyton Battenfield pitched well going five and a third innings allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out five. Battenfield now owns a 2.70 ERA over his first four starts of the season for Columbus.

Top Performers:

Gabriel Arias 1-4 R HR 2RBI
Will Benson 2-4 R 2(2B)
Mitch Tolman 1-2 BB
Peyton Battenfield 5.1(IP) 5H 2R 2ER 2BB 5SO
Ben Krauth 1.2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Akron 8 Bowie 6

RubberDucks 21-year-old right-handed starter Daniel Espino was unreal on Saturday making his third start of the 2022 season. Espino struck out the first 11 batters of the game before allowing a solo home run with two outs in the fourth inning. He went on to strike out a career high 14 batters over just five innings pitched earning his first win on the season.

For Espino the 14 strikeouts now give him a farm system leading 30 on the year in just 13.2 innings of work. His control vastly improved as well so far giving up just three walks over his first three starts.

Catcher Bo Naylor hit his first home run on the season a two run shot in the sixth inning that gave Akron a 5-to-2 lead at the time. Outfielder Will Brennan continued his hot start adding two more hits on the day while driving in a pair of runs. Brennan is now hitting .400 over his first twelve games on the season.

Top Performers:

Daniel Espino 5.0(IP) 3H 2R 2ER 0BB 14SO (W)
Bo Naylor 2-4 2R 3B HR 2RBI BB
George Valera 2-4 R 2B RBI BB
Jose Tena 2-5 2R 2B RBI SB
Will Brennan 2-4 2RBI
Micah Pries 2-2 RBI
Daniel Schneemann 1-3 2R BB

High-A Lake County Captains

Great Lakes 1 Lake County 0 (Game 1)

The Captains and the Loons played a double header on Saturday after being rained out the night before.

Captains starter 22-year-old right hander Gavin Williams was outstanding again making just his third start of his professional career. Williams struck out seven Loons on the day allowing just one run on two hits and three walks over five innings. He now has 24 strikeouts on the season in just 13.2 innings pitched while sporting a fine 2.63 ERA.

Unfortunately, Lake County would squander Williams strong outing as the offense was shut down by Great Lakes pitching on the day.

The Captains could only muster four hits in the game two of which came off the bat of center fielder Petey Halpin who also added a stolen base.

Top Performers:

Gavin Williams 5.0(IP) 2H 1R 1ER 3BB 7SO
Cade Smith 1.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1SO
Petey Halpin 2-3 SB
Johnathan Rodriguez 1-3
Joe Naranjo 1-4
Angel Martinez 0-2 BB SB

Lake County 5 Great Lakes 2 (Game 2)

The Captains were able to salvage a split of the double header taking game two. Jhonkensy Noel got Lake County on the board tying the game up in the fourth inning at 1-to-1 crushing his second home run of the season 450 feet out of stadium. Aaron Bracho had a huge two run double in the sixth inning that put the Captains up 5-to-1 at the time.

Gabriel Rodriguez continued his impressive start to the season adding two hits and an RBI on the day. Rodriguez is now riding a eight game hitting streak and is leading the farm system with a .448 average on the season.

The Captains starter lefty Doug Nikhazy had a interesting day on the mound Saturday. Nikhazy allowed just one run on one hit to the Loons striking out six but also walking six batters over his three innings of work.

Right-hander Zach Hart would come on in relief of Nikhazy and pitch two scoreless innings striking out four to pick up the win.

Top Performers:

Jhonkensy Noel 2-3 R HR RBI
Aaron Bracho 2-3 R 2B 2RBI
Gabriel Rodriguez 2-3 R RBI
Angel Martinez 2-4 R 2B
Doug Nikhazy 3.0(IP) 1H 1R 1ER 6BB 6SO
Zach Hart 2.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 2BB 4SO (W)

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg 9 Mudcats 2

Hillcats starter 21-year-old right hander Jake Miller continued the string of strong starts across the farm system striking out six Mudcat batters over four innings allowing just one run.

The offense after struggling most of the year has come alive over the last three games putting up 27 runs and helping Lynchburg win their third straight game.

Catcher Richard Paz who had four RBI's on Friday had drove in two more runs tonight on two hits. Shortstop Dayan Frias and outfielder Luis Durango each reached base four times in the game. Both batters had two hits and walked twice scoring two runs apiece. Outfielder Isaiah Greene also reached base four times in the game on three walks and a base hit scoring once.