Gabrial Arias carries Clippers offense in victory, Jervis Alfaro dominates in full-season pitching debut

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Monday, Aug. 5, 2024

Columbus Clippers 4, Syracuse Mets 1

Box Score · Clippers improve to 54-52

Will Dion entered the 2024 season as one of the next men up with a potential to help Cleveland’s rotation at MLB. He has struggled mightily this season at Triple-A, but that wasn’t the case Sunday when he had by far his best start of the season.

Dion tossed six shutout frames on four hits with four strikeouts and just one walk allowed, dropping his season ERA to 5.89 and earning the win.

A pair of former Guardians led the way offensively for the Clippers. Gabriel Arias had a huge day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and a walk.

Myles Straw was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and a stolen base.

Juan Brito had the only other multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.

Tyler Beed and Andrew Misiaszek both added a scoreless inning each and Joe Sabrowski ruined the shutout by allowing a run in the ninth inning.

Akron RubberDucks 6, Harrisburg Senators 1

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 59-43

Tommy Mace was having himself a game, tossing 3 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings before he had to leave the game after being struck in the forearm by a 107 mph comebacker, which he managed to get the batter out on the play in a nice display of toughness. Hopefully it was precautionary and he’s not hurt.

The bullpen stepped up in a big way. Mason Hickman was dominant, striking out three in 1 ²⁄₃ perfect innings. Magnus Ellerts stayed on fire, adding two more scoreless innings to keep his ERA at 0.00 since being promoted to Double-A. Jack Leftwich closed out the victory by allowing one run in two innings on one hit.

Aaron Bracho had the lone extra base hit for Akron, going 2-for-5 with a double. Joe Lampe reached base safely three times, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Chase DeLauter went 1-for-4 with a walk. Petey Halpin went 2-for-5 and Kahlil Watson had two walks.

Lake County Captains 3, Beloit Sky Carp 4

Box Score · Captains fall to 61-40

Tyresse Turner led the way for Lake County’s offense, going 3-for-4 with a stolen base from the bottom of the order. Angel Genao also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 while Esteban Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with a walk.

Other standouts included Alex Mooney, who went 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk. Travis Bazzana went hitless, but he walked twice to keep that OBP at .400 for the day.

Starting pitcher Rorik Maltrud struggled, allowing three runs on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts in four innings.

The bullpen was tremendous as Adam Tulloch struck out four in two scoreless frames, Steve Hajjar added a scoreless inning and Shawn Rapp added a scoreless inning. Allen Hernandez gave up an unearned run.

Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Fredericksburg Nationals 6

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 53-49

20-year-old Venezuelan prospect Jervis Alfaro made his Single-A debut on Sunday and he was tremendous. Alfaro allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and a walk in five innings pitched. He had a 3.38 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 42 ²⁄₃ innings at the ACL this season.

Luis Merejo blasted his first full-season home run, going 2-for-5. Christian Knapczyk went 2-for-4 with a walk. Tommy Hawke went 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Ralphy Velazquez went 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.

Everything was looking great for the Hillcats until Jack Jasiak completely imploded by allowing five runs (all earned) in the seventh inning on four hits and two walks.