Trenton Denholm and Conner Whittaker impress in Akron, Lynchburg wins

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Friday, April 25, 2025

Columbus Clippers 5, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7

Box Score · Clippers fall to 12-10

Three different Clippers players had multi-hit games on Thursday, led by Johnathan Rodriguez, who went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and a pair of runs batted in.

Yordys Valdes also had a pair of hits, going 2-for-4 while Will Brennan went 2-for-5 with a double. Milan Tolentino added a double

Starting pitcher Vince Velasquez allowed three runs on six hits with four walks and two strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Two of the six hits he allowed were home runs.

Tanner Burns was effective out of the bullpen, allowing one run on two hits in 3.0 innings with four strikeouts and one walk. Nick Mikolajchak added a scoreless inning while striking out the side (and walking two).

Akron RubberDucks 10, Richmond Flying Squirrels 2

Box Score · RubberDucks improve to 12-6

Cooper Ingle was perfect at the plate on Thursday, going 2-for-2 with three walks. Akron didn’t have many extra base hits, but Kahlil Watson went 1-for-3 with a triple and a walk.

Joe Lampe went 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in.

Other offensive standouts included Jorge Burgos, who went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and three runs batted in; C.J. Kayfus, who walked twice; and Conner Barstad and Tyresse Turner, who both went 1-for-3 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Aaron Davenport allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks in 4.0 innings. Piggyback partner Trenton Denholm was sensational, adding 4.0 shutout, no-hit innings of long relief with three strikeouts and just one walk.

Lake County Captains 1, Great Lakes Loons 3

Box Score · Captains fall to 10-8

Lake County outhit Great Lakes 7-4, but the Captains went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Johnny Tincher had the lone multi-hit game for the Captains, going 2-for-4 with a stolen base. No one else had an extra base hit or reached base safely twice.

Starting pitcher Jackson Humphries had an interesting day on the mound, allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit in 4.0 innings. He walked four and did not strike out anyone.

Kyle Scott allowed one run in two innings of relief and Adam Tulloch closed out the game with three scoreless innings that included five strikeouts.

Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Fayetteville Woodpeckers 0

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 12-6

Tommy Hawke continues to be a terror on the basepaths. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases and scored two of the game’s three runs. He’s a college bat repeating at Single-A, but 21 stolen bases in 17 games with an .835 OPS is nothing to scoff at. He should be playing at High-A.

Jeffrey Mercedes went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI while Luis Merejo walked twice.

Starting pitcher Rafe Schlesinger was terrific, not allowing a run on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 4.1 innings.

The bullpen was literally perfect after that as Conner Whittaker added 3.2 perfect, scoreless, no-hit innings with two strikeouts and Luis Flores earned his first save with a perfect ninth inning, striking out a pair.