Cleveland Baseball Insider

Guardians Farm Report: Noel Hits Minor League Leading 25th Home Run For Akron

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

Todd Paquette

In this story:

All seven of the Cleveland Guardians minor league teams were in action on Friday including a doubleheader for Double-A Akron.

Triple-A Columbus Clippers

Nashville 5 Columbus 3

Columbus dropped their fourth straight game to Nashville on Friday night falling to 46-36 on the season.

Clippers starter Peyton Battenfield would limit the Sounds to just two base hits over six and two thirds innings but allow three runs and walk five batters in the game.

One offense shortstop Gabriel Arias would lead the way with two hits while left fielder Will Benson would reach base twice on a walk and a base hit. The hit for Benson would extend his hitting streak to nine straight games. He is hitting .371 with a .532 OPS during the streak.

Top Performers:

  • Gabriel Arias 2-4 R 
  • Jose Fermin 1-3 R RBI 
  • Tyler Freeman 1-4 RBI 
  • Alex Call 1-3 R BB 
  • Bo Naylor 0-1 2BB 
  • Peyton Battenfield 6.2(IP) 2H 3R 3ER 5BB 3SO

Double-A Akron RubberDucks

Akron 8 Altoona 3 (Game 1)

Tied at 3-to-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning Akron would load the bases for 21-year-old infield prospect Jose Tena who break the game wide open with a grand slam for his fourth homerun on the season.

Left-handed reliever Randy Labaut would pitch three scoreless innings no-hit innings after coming in for starter Luis Oviedo in the fifth inning to pick up his first Double-A win.

Both Micah Pries and Brayan Rocchio would extend their hitting streaks to 14 and nine games respectively in the game only to see them come both to an end during the second game of the doubleheader.

The game one win pushed Akron's record to 43-34 on the season.

Top Performers:

  • Jose Tena 3-4 R 2B HR 4RBI 
  • Micah Pries 2-3 R 2B 
  • Ray Delgado 1-3 2R 2B RBI SB 
  • Eric Rodriguez 1-2 2R BB 
  • Brayan Rocchio 1-4 RBI 
  • Randy Labaut 3.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 3SO (W)

Altoona 6 Akron 5 (Game 2)

Akron was trailing 5-to-1 in the fourth inning when the offense would come to life scoring four runs and tying to the game up on a two-run blast by Jhonkensy Noel followed by a two run double by Julian Escobedo.

For Noel it was his sixth home run in his first 10 games with the Ducks since being promoted from Lake County. He now has 25 homeruns on the season which is tied now for the most in all minor league baseball.

The seven-inning game would head into extra innings with Altoona scoring once in the top half of the frame taking a 6-to-5 lead. The RubberDucks would have two runners with one out but fail to push across the tying run and fall to the Curve in game two.

The loss drops Akron's record to 43-35 on the year.

Top Performers:

  • Jhonkensy Noel 2-4 2R HR 2RBI 
  • Chris Roller 2-2 R 2B RBI BB SB 
  • Julian Escobedo 1-3 R 2B 2RBI 
  • Ray Delgado 1-4 R 2B SB 
  • George Valera 1-4 R 
  • Thomas Ponticelli 2.2(IP0 4H 0R 0ER 0BB 0SO

High-A Lake County Captains 

Fort Wayne 5 Lake County 4

Captains right fielder Alexfri Planez would extend his hitting streak to 19 straight games going 3-for-5 at the plate including driving in a a pair of runs on his 14th double of the season.

Lake County was trailing 4-to-3 in the seventh inning would get a big two-out base double off the bat of designated hitter Johnathan Rodriguez to tie the game up at four runs apiece. Rodriguez would get thrown out trying to turn the double into a triple on the play. The hit would extend his own hitting streak to 13 straight games.

Fort Wayne however would plate a run in the bottom half of the seventh inning taking a 5-to-4 lead and then shutout the Captains over the final two frames to earn the win.

The loss drops Lake County's record to 41-37 on the year.

Top Performers:

  • Alexfri Planez 3-5 R 2B 2RBI 
  • Johnathan Rodriguez 1-3 2B RBI 
  • Petey Halpin 1-3 R BB 
  • Gabriel Rodriguez 1-4 RBI 
  • Aaron Bracho 1-3 BB 
  • Jack DeGroat 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 0SO

Low-A Lynchburg Hillcats

Fredericksburg 4 Lynchburg 1

Lynchburg could only muster one run off Nationals pitching on Friday falling by a final score of 4-to-1 dropping their record to 40-39 on the season.

The one run they would score would come off the bat off 19-year-old center fielder Jake Fox on an RBI double in the fifth inning. Fox would double twice in the game his 11th and 12th of the season. He now has an .807 OPS on the year for the Cats.

Hillcats starter Juan Zapata pitched well giving up just two runs over five innings of work striking out two while not walking a batter.

Top Performers: 

  • Jake Fox 2-4 2(2B) RBI 
  • Luis Durango 2-3 R SB 
  • Carson Tucker 1-4 SB 
  • Joe Donovan 1-3 
  • Juan Zapata 5.0(IP) 5H 2R 2ER 0BB 2SO 
  • Yeury Gervacio 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 3SO

Arizona Complex League Guardians

ACL Guardians 19 ACL Athletics 15

The ACL Guardians and ACL A's would combine to score 34 runs in the game on 29 hits, 17 walks and seven home runs on Friday night.

The ACL Guardians would have multiple terrific offensive performances throughout the lineup as every batter would collect at least one hit in the win.

19-year-old switch hitting third baseman Juan Benjamin would go 3-for-5 in the game tripling twice while driving in a pair and scoring three runs. Benjamin has been terrific at the plate ranking second in the Arizona Complex League in OPS at 1.026, third in OBP at .472 and fifth in AVG at .339 on the season.

The ACL Guardians would hit three home runs coming off the bats of designated hitter Marlin Made, second baseman Fran Alduey and right fielder Simon Rodriguez. For Made it was his third long ball of the season while Alduey and Rodriguez it was each their second on the season.

18-year-old switch hitting catching prospect Manuel Mejias would also enjoy a big game at the plate going 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI's, three runs and a walk.

The win moves the ACL Guardians team to 16-8 on the year.

Top Performers:

  • Juan Benjamin 3-5 3R 2(3B) 2RBI BB 
  • Manuel Mejias 3-4 3R 2B 3RBI BB 
  • Fran Alduey 3-4 2R 3B HR 3RBI 
  • Marlin Made 1-4 3R HR 2RBI BB SB 
  • Simon Rodriguez 1-4 2R HR 2RBI BB 
  • Angel Genao 2-5 R RBI 
  • Jose Baez 1-3 2R 2BB

Dominican Summer League Guardians (Red)

DSL Guardians (Red) 7 DSL Red Sox (Red) 3

The DSL Guardians (Red) squad would snap their losing streak on Friday behind a strong performance of a couple of 17-year-old top international prospects in center fielder Jaison Chourio and catcher Victor Izturis.

Chourio would reach base four times on three hits and a walk driving in three runs and scoring twice. He would also walk and steal a base in the contest.

Izturis would collect two hits in the game including his fifth double of the season. Izturis would also walk reaching base three times while scoring once and driving in a run.

Pitchers Olmandi Diaz and Robert Cruz would combine to throw four and two thirds scoreless innings allowing just one hit while striking out four in the game. Diaz would walk away with his first win on the season while Cruz would pick up his first save.

The DSL Guardians (Red) team is now 8-17 on the year.

Top Performers:

  • Jaison Chourio 3-4 2R 3RBI BB SB 
  • Victor Izturis 2-4 R 2B RBI BB 
  • Pedro Hernandez 1-3 2R BB 
  • Yefri Rivera 1-3 R 2B BB 
  • Olmandi Diaz 2.1(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1SO (W) 
  • Robert Cruz 2.1(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO (SV)

Dominican Summer League Guardians (Blue)

DSL Guardians (Blue) 9 DSL Red Sox (Blue) 5

The DSL Guardians (Blue) squad improves to 12-13 on the season taking down the other Red Soxs DSL team who came into the game with the league's best record at 21-2.

Jesus Montilla would continue his hot streak at the plate of late driving in three runs on a double and a pair of walks. Montilla would also walk in the contest. He has now hit in four straight games after getting off to a tough start on the season.

Top Performers:

  • Jesus Montilla 1-3 2R 2B 3RBI 2BB 
  • Oscar Cedeno 2-4 3R 2SB 
  • Samuel Para 1-3 R RBI BB 
  • Jeffrey Mercedes 1-5 2B 2RBI 
  • Nomar Velasquez 0-2 3R 2BB 3SB 
  • Yonaiker Garcia 2.2(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 4SO (SV)

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Todd Paquette
TODD PAQUETTE

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