Guardians Farm Report: Leftwich Dominates Great Lakes In Lake County Win

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

Author:
Todd Paquette
Aug 31, 2022 11:43 AM EDT

In this story:

Cleveland Guardians

All four Cleveland Guardians full season minor league affiliates were in action on Tuesday night.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Iowa 4 Columbus 0

The Clippers were shut out by four Cubs pitchers Tuesday night on just five hits dropping the series opener.

One Clipper remained red hot at the plate in first baseman Trenton Brooks who reached base in all four plate appearances going 2-for-2 with a pair of walks. Brooks has now reached base in eight straight plate appearances over his last two games. He also extended his on-base streak to 11 games during which he is hitting .421 with three home runs nine RBI's and a .500 on base percentage.

Columbus left-hander Kirk McCarty pitched well in relief of starter Konnor Pilkington coming on in the fifth inning and throwing four innings allowing just one run on two hits while striking out five lowering his ERA to 3.58 on the season.

The loss drops the Clippers record to 71-51 on the year.

Top Performers:

Trenton Brooks 2-2 2BB
Ernie Clement 2-4 2B
David Fry 1-4
Will Brennan 0-2 2BB
Konnor Pilkington 4.0(IP) 4H 3R 3ER 4BB 9SO
Kirk McCarty 4.0(IP) 2H 1R 1ER 1BB 5SO

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Altoona 7 Akron 5

Akron starter Tanner Burns threw four scoreless innings before allowing two runs in his final inning of work in the fifth. Burns started out on fire collecting all five of his strikeouts in the first two innings of the game. He would end up getting a no-decision with the score tied up at two runs apiece after five innings.

RubberDucks right fielder Jhonkensy Noel would lead off the top of the sixth inning with a double and come around to score on a wild pitch to give Aron a 3-to-2 lead at the time. The double for Noel extended his hitting streak to nine games in which he is hitting .400 with six doubles a triple, home run and eight runs batted in. Noel also has now reached base in 17 straight games.

The RubberDucks bullpen which has been a problem spot at times all season would allow five runs in the sixth inning handing Altoona a 7-to-3 lead. The Ducks would try to mount a comeback scoring two in the ninth but fall short losing by a final of 7-to-5.

The loss drops Akron's record to 69-52 on the year.

Top Performers:

Micah Pries 2-3 R 2B 2RBI BB
Jhonkensy Noel 1-4 R 2B
Bryan Lavastida 1-4 R 2B
Ray Delgado 1-4 RBI
Tanner Burns 5.0(IP) 4H 2R 2ER 2BB 5SO
Luis Oviedo 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO

High-A Lake County Captains

Lake County 8 Great Lakes 1

The Lake County Captains remained red hot picking up another win on Tuesday. The Captains would hold the Loons to just one run of four hits int he game.

Guardians 23-year-old right-handed pitching prospect Jack Leftwich looked phenomenal over his six innings of work giving up just one run on three hits striking out nine without allowing a walk.

Leftwich was hitting all his spots showing excellent command of all his pitched and was able to keep his velocity of his mid 90's fastball through the whole game. He also was getting tremendous movement on his slider.

Leftwich on the season between Lynchburg and Lake County has 137 strikeouts to just 21 walks over just 106.1 innings with a 2.71 ERA. He has only allowed 74 hits with hitters just hitting .194 against him on the year.

On offense the Captains would plate eight runs on only five hits drawing 10 walks in the game. First Baseman Joe Naranjo would collect two of the teams five hits including his 17th home run on the year.

Coming into the 2022 season Naranjo had hit seven home runs in his career over 157 games. So far this year he has 17 for Lake County in just 109 games.

The win gives Lake County their 70th win on the season improving them a 70-49 record on the year.

Top Performers:

Joe Naranjo 2-5 R HR RBI
Connor Kokx 1-2 2R 2BB SB
Petey Halpin 1-2 R 2BB
Milan Tolentino 1-4 R RBI BB
Aaron Bracho 0-2 R 2BB
Jack Leftwich 6.0(IP) 3H 1R 1ER 0BB 9SO (W)

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg 4 Kannapolis 1

Hillcats starter Trenton Denholm and two relievers held the Cannon Ballers to just one run on seven hits and did not walk a single batter while striking out 14 in their win Tuesday night in the series opener.

Denholm allowed just one run over his six innings of work striking out eight batters. For Denholm the eight strikeouts move him past the century mark now with 105 punchouts on the season. He lowered his ERA to 4.35 on the year over 93.0 innings pitched.

Guardians 2022 third round draft pick 21-year-old outfielder Joe Lampe out of Arizona State University would make his pro-debut for the Hillcats in the game. Lampe on the first pitch he would see hit a line drive base hit to drive in a run to help give Lynchburg a 2-to-0 lead in the first inning. He would finish the game 1-for-4 with the one run batted in.

Third baseman Dayan Frias would collect three hits including his 15th double on the season and score three times in the game. Right fielder Jorge Burgos would finish the game going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Lynchburg improves to 59-62 on the season with the win.