Clippers Rally Late in the 9th to Capture the Only Win for Guards Affiliates Wednesday

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Thursday, April 17, 2025

Columbus Clippers 5, Louisville Bats 4

Box Score · Clippers improve to 11-4

To start off the Minor League recap from last night, the Clippers fought hardly for a late win powered by some 9th inning magic from the team’s lineup. Leading up to the 9th, however, was a mostly good start from Parker Messick. Messick gave up 4 total ER in 5 innings, but he also struck out 5 and was very tidy, outside of the 4th inning where he’d give up a pair of homers.

For the final 4 innings, the Clippers’ bullpen held the Bats down, not allowing a run as they fanned 6 batters and only allowed 2 baserunners. A notable performance from the bullpen came from Luis Frias, who went 1-2-3 in the 8th with 2 strikeouts against the Bats’ bottom of the order. He also ended up getting the win.

Before their rally in the 9th, the Clippers’ runs trickled in steadily due to a good 2-out approach with RISP and a bit of luck to boot. Kody Huff had himself two instances where he drove in a run with 2 outs, one due to a throwing error and the other by means of an RBI single.

The bats went cold for a couple innings until their rally in the 9th, one that Huff started with another single. Christian Cairo ended up tying it with a single of his own. Then Will Wilson, one of the early-season heroes of the Clippers delivered the game-deciding hit with yet another single to old friend Will Benson, winning them the game on a walk-off.

Akron RubberDucks 0, Erie SeaWolves 4

Box Score · RubberDucks fall to 7-4

Sadly, the most that I can say about the Ducks’ offense Wednesday was that C.J. Kayfus had himself a pretty solid day at the plate (for gosh sake, please bring the kid up to Columbus). Kayfus singled in a 1-2 day with 2 walks — but otherwise that and a Jake Fox double, the offense just had one of those days.

Tommy Mace went five-and-a-third, Wednesday, giving up 3 earned and striking out just 2. He gave up 5 hits, one of them being a round-tripper, and walked a trio of batters as well. After that, Jake Miller and Zane Morehouse couldn’t keep the basepaths vacant either, allowing 6 baserunners and an earned run in 2.2 total IP.

Lake County Captains 3, Fort Wayne TinCaps 4

Box Score · Captains fall to 7-4

The Clippers weren’t the only Guards affiliate to be involved in a 4-3 game that ended in a walk-off, Wednesday. The Captains were to, albeit they were on the receiving end of it this time.

Neither team was able to get the bats going until the 6th inning, when Jacob Cozart drew first blood for the Captains with a scorched single to drive in Alfonsin Rosario. However, the TinCaps answered with a run the next inning, only for Lake County to fire back with two more runs of their own. Jaison Chourio drove in one of those with a single, and he himself was driven in on a double from Rosario.

Unfortunately, Robert Wegielnik had serious issues trying to find his command in the 9th. He ended up walking in 2 runners and giving up the winning run on a ground ball single to Jose Devers.

On the bright side, Matt Wilkinson looked like classic Tugboat Wednesday. He only allowed 4 baserunners while K’ing 8 batters in 5 innings. Always a great thing to see Tugboat shove on any given day.

Lynchburg Hillcats 7, Salem Red Sox 9

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 5-6

It was mostly the bottom half of Lynchburg’s order that provided most of the runs last night. All but two Hillcat batters, Garrett Howe and Jeffrey Mercedes, ended the day with a base hit. Even then, Howe walked/scored and Mercedes delivered a ribbie, marking a day of solid production all across the board.

Braylon Doughty in his third start of the year gave up 4 runs (2 earned) in 3.2 innings. Although he allowed a good amount of traffic on the basepaths, he still fanned 4 batters, so that can definitely be something to build upon for the recent Guards draft pick.

Izaak Martinez and Sean Matson both had a rough day as they pitched the last four innings of the game for the Cats. They allowed 9 baserunners and 5 runs total, only striking out 3. For those two pitchers, it’s a day to wash down the drain and come back the next day. But for the rest of the team, it was a very good showing all-around.