Cleveland Baseball Insider

Guardians Farm Report: Valera And Naylor Power Columbus Over Toledo In Win Friday Night

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

Todd Paquette

In this story:

Five of the seven Cleveland Guardians minor league teams were in action on Friday with two of the Rookie League clubs having their games cancelled by rain.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Columbus 7 Toledo 4

Clippers starter Peyton Battenfield held the Mud Hens scoreless over his six innings of work Friday night allowing just two hits while striking out a season high eight batters. 

Battenfield has been pitched very well over his last three starts putting up a 1.42 ERA over 19.0 innings giving up just three runs on twelve hits striking out 14 batters. 

Columbus up just 1-to-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning would finally break through when with two men on catcher Bo Naylor would connect on a three-run blast giving them a 4-to-0 lead. For Naylor it was his eighth home run with the team and 14th overall on the year.

Still in the sixth inning two batters later and with two outs Guardians 21-year-old top outfield prospect George Valera would step in and connect on a solo home run his first since being promoted to Triple-A making it a 5-to-1 game.

Moving to the bottom of the eighth inning now up 6-to-1 over Toledo Columbus would tack on one more run when Valera would crush another solo home run his second of the game and 17th overall on the season.

Valera had gotten off to a slow start with the Clippers since his promotion from Akron but over his last five games he is 7-for-21 hitting .333 with four runs batted in.

The Mud Hens would score three in the ninth, but their comeback attempt would fall short with the Clippers winning by a final of 7-to-4 improving their record to 66-48 on the year.

Top Performers:

  • Bo Naylor 2-3 R HR 3RBI 
  • George Valera 2-4 2R 2HR 2RBI 
  • Ernie Clement 1-3 R RBI BB 
  • Oscar Mercado 1-3 R BB 
  • Jose Fermin 1-3 R 2B 
  • Peyton Battenfield 6.0(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 2BB 8SO (W)

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Akron 2 Erie 1

Akron trailed Erie 1-to-0 through the first six innings of play on Friday. The Ducks would finally break through with two on and two outs left fielder Julian Escobedo would come up big with a two-run triple giving the team the lead.

The RubberDucks bullpen duo of Brett Daniels and Cade Smith would hold the SeaWolves scoreless over the final three innings of the game allowing just one hit while striking out four with Smith earning his fourth Double-A save.

Guardians 23-year-old right-handed pitching prospect Tanner Bibee started the game for Akron. Bibee went six innings allowing just one run one four hits striking out four and lowering his ERA to 1.44 over eight starts with the Ducks. He has not allowed more than two runs in a game over those eight starts since his promotion from Lake County.

The win improves Akron's record to 63-49 on the season.

Top Performers:

  • Julian Escobedo 1-3 3B 2RBI 
  • Daniel Schneemann 1-3 2B BB SB 
  • Jhonkensy Noel 0-2 R BB SB 
  • Brayan Rocchio 1-4 SB 
  • Tanner Bibee 6.0(IP) 4H 1R 1ER 2BB 4SO (W) 
  • Cade Smith 1.1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO (SV)

High-A Lake County Captains

West Michigan 4 Lake County 1

Lake County's offense was stymied by six West Michigan pitchers in the game of Friday collecting just one run on four hits in the game. The loss drops the Captains record to 62-48 on the season.

One bright spot was the performance of Lenny Torres Jr. out of the bullpen making just his second appearance since returning to the team since his father's tragic passing. Torres threw two scoreless innings allowing just one hit while striking out three Whitecaps batters.

Top Performers:

  • Milan Tolentino 1-3 2B BB 2SB 
  • Christian Cairo 2-3 2B 
  • Petey Halpin 0-3 R BB 
  • Micael Ramirez 1-4 
  • Lenny Torres Jr. 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg 4 Fredericksburg 3

The Hillcats took an early 1-to-0 lead over Fredericksburg when center fielder Isaiah Greene would launch a solo home run to right center field for his fourth long ball of the season.

Fredericksburg would take a 2-to-1 lead until the fifth inning when the Hillcats would break through for three runs with the big hit coming off the bat of catcher Joe Donovan in the form of a two-run home run for his sixth big fly of the season giving Lynchburg a 4-to-2 lead.

The Hillcats would allow one more run to the Nationals in the top of the seventh inning but hold onto win by a final of 4-to-3 improving their record to 55-57 on the year.

Reid Johnston started the game for Lynchburg picking up his fourth win of the season allowing two runs over six innings on four hits while striking out five.

Top Performers:

  • Joe Donovan 1-3 R HR 2RBI 
  • Isaiah Greene 1-4 R HR RBI 
  • Dayan Frias 2-3 R 
  • Cesar Idrogo 1-2 RBI 
  • Victor Planchart 1-3 R 
  • Jake Fox 1-4 2B 
  • Reid Johnston 6.0(IP) 4H 2R 2ER 2BB 5SO (W)

Dominican Summer League Guardians (Blue)

DSL Astros (Blue) 7 DSL Guardians (Blue) 1 (Six Innings)

The DSL Guardians fall to 31-26 on the season falling in a rain shortened six inning affair Friday to the DSL Astros (Blue) squad.

The DSL Guardians (Blue) team could only muster one run on two hits in the game. Both Hits would come off the bat of 17-year-old infield prospect Gueile Borrome who finished the game 2-for-2 with a double.

Top Performers:

  • Gueile Borrome 2-2 2B
  • Jose Gomez 0-2 R BB SB
  • Alberto Mendez 0-3 RBI
  • Miguel Cordones 3.0(IP) 4H 3R 2ER 1BB 3SO

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Read More:

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Guardians Farm Report: Williams Throws Six No-Hit Innings In Win For Akron

WATCH: Terry Francona Ejected After Heated Exchange With Umpire In 4-3 Loss

Guardians Falter, Los 4-3 In Game That Started Anf Ended In Controversy

Nolan Jones Is Doing Something Uncommon As A Rookie

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Todd Paquette
TODD PAQUETTE

Todd Paquette is a Cleveland-area sportswriter and minor league insider who covers the Cleveland Guardians and their farm system. He has been writing professionally since 2014 and has worked for Cleveland Guardians On SI since 2021.

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