Jhonkensy Noel goes yard twice again, Akron gets no-hit in ugly loss

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Monday, June 23, 2025

Columbus Clippers 8, Indianapolis Indians 6

Box Score · Clippers improve to 34-38

We need a sports psychologist to convince Jhonkensy Noel that MLB is the same as Triple-A. Big Christmas went off on Sunday with a pair of home runs, one of them a three-run bomb to carry Columbus to victory. He finished the game 2-for-4 with two blasts and four RBIs.

Other offensive standouts included Milan Tolentino, who homered and walked. Chase DeLauter went 1-for-3 with a walk while Christian Cairo reached base safely three times, going 1-for-1 with a walk and a hit by pitch. Kody Huff also doubled.

Starting pitcher Doug Nikhazy was terrific, allowing just one run on six hits in 5.0 innings with six strikeouts and a pair of walks. Erik Sabrowski allowed one run in 1.1 innings of relief.

Of note, Franco Aleman was brought in to close the game and had to be pulled after allowing two runs on two hits with three walks. Parker Mushinski got the final out to earn his second save of the season.

Akron RubberDucks 0, Portland Sea Dogs 10

Box Score · RubberDucks sink to 43-25

Akron lost its third consecutive game in devastating fashion on Sunday, getting no-hit by Portland and its 2022 11th round starting pitcher David Sandlin.

There wasn’t much to speak about offensively, although Conner Barstad reached base twice with a walk and a hit by pitch. Michael Turconi also walked twice.

Starting pitcher Dylan DeLucia had his first rough outing since being promoted to Akron, getting hammered for seven runs (six earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk in just 3.0 innings.

The lone bright spot was Sean Rapp, who had two scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts.

Lake County Captains 10, South Bend Cubs 5

Box Score · Captains improve to 37-32

Lake County’s offense erupted for 10 runs on 14 hits Sunday. The middle of the lineup in particular was nasty, with Wuilfredo Antunez, Jose Devers and Jacob Cozart all going 3-for-5 at the dish. Deverts homered and doubled, Antunez tripled, stole a base and homered and Cozart had a double.

Esteban Gonzalez also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with a home run. The only other Captain to reach base safely multiple times was Jonah Advincula, who walked three times and stole a base.

The offensive explosion made up for a rough day at the office for Jackson Humphries, who allowed five runs (zero earned) on two hits with five walks and a pair of strikeouts in just 2.2 innings pitched.

The bullpen rose to the occasion, however, as Jesus Luna added 2.1 scoreless innings, Jay Driver had two scoreless frames and Josh Harlow earned his first save with another 2.0 scoreless innings to close out the victory.

Lynchburg Hillcats 2, Augusta GreenJackets 1

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 43-26

Lynchburg was outhit 8-3, but the Hillcats made up for their lack of hits with seven walks, a hit by pitch and two stolen bases. Welbyn Francisca doubled and had an RBI while Luis Merejo went 1-for-3 with a double and a hit by pitch. Ryan Cesarino walked twice as well.

Starting pitcher Jervis Alfaro was excellent, allowing one run on six hits with a strikeout and a walk in 5.0 innings to earn the win. Alfaro has a 3.02 ERA through 14 appearances and 12 starts this year.

The bullpen was sensational behind him as Logan McGuire, Juan Zapata and Xavier Martinez locked things down with 4.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn a pair of holds and a save.