Guardians Farm Report: Vargas Sharp Again In Latest Appearance For Columbus Out Of The Pen
Only two of the four Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliate teams were in action on Wednesday as both Lake County and Lynchburg were traveling before, they resume their playoff series on Thursday.
Triple-A Columbus Clippers
Omaha 9 Columbus 1
Columbus starter Peyton Battenfield didn't make it out of the third inning Wednesday night in a very uncharacteristic starter for him. Battenfield allowed seven runs on eight hits and a walk without recording a strikeout vs Omaha over just two and a third innings pitched. For Battenfield he is now 8-6 on the season with a 3.64 ERA after suffering the loss.
On offense the Clippers would score just once on six hits with the lone run coming on an RBI double by center fielder Oscar Mercado in the second inning that scored left fielder George Valera who had reached on a base hit early in the inning.
Guardians young 22-year-old RHP prospect Carlos Vargas made his fourth Triple-A appearance out of the pen in the game striking out two in one scoreless inning of work.
The flame throwing Vargas who possesses a fastball that touches 100 mph now has 12 strikeouts over just six innings with a 1.50 ERA since being promoted from Akron.
The loss drops Columbus to 78-57 on the year.
Top Performers:
- Oscar Mercado 1-4 2B RBI
- George Valera 1-4 R
- Bo Naylor 1-3
- Tim Herrin 2.2(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 0BB 5SO
- Adam Scott 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 1BB 5SO
- Carlos Vargas 1.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO
Double-A Akron RubberDucks
Bowie 7 Akron 3
After Bowie led off the game with a solo home run in the top of the first inning the RubberDucks leadoff hitter Jose Tena would also go deep tying the game at one run apiece in the bottom half of the frame. For Tena it was his 11th home run on the season.
Akron now trailing 3-to-1 would cut the Baysox lead to just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning when designated hitter Ray Delgado would hit another solo home run with two outs making it a 3-to-2 contest. Delgado's home run was his third with the Ducks and fifth overall on the season.
Bowie would add to their lead plating two more runs in the top of the sixth inning taking a 5-to-2 lead. Akron would respond with their third solo home run of the game this time off the bat of left fielder Johnathan Rodriguez cutting the lead back to two runs at 5-to-3.
The home run for Rodriguez was his fourth in his last eight games for Akron and 25th on the season over two different levels. Rodriguez now has 51 extra base hits on the year in just 103 games in his breakout 2022 campaign.
The RubberDucks bullpen would surrender two more runs in the ninth inning making it a 7-to-3 game. The Baysox would hold Akron scoreless in their half of the ninth and take the win.
The loss drops Akron to 77-57 on the season and three games behind Erie in the Eastern League SouthWest division playoff race with four games to go.
Top Performers:
- Ray Delgado 2-3 R 2B HR RBI BB
- Jose Tena 1-4 R HR RBI
- Johnathan Rodriguez 1-4 R HR RBI
- Jhonkensy Noel 1-3 2B BB
- Brett Daniels 2.2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 3BB 4SO
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