Friday night belonged to the affiliates.
Four clubs, four wins, and each one found its own way to do it. Columbus leaned on a returning starter and a steady offensive push.
Akron got a massive night from Ryan Cesarini. Lake County waited until late to break things open.
And Hill City finished the sweep with a crooked-number barrage that kept the pressure on all night.
At Triple-A, Columbus took down Omaha 6-2 and got a boost from Ben Lively’s return. Activated off the 60-day IL after Tommy John surgery, Lively made his first start back and worked 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out three.
Connor Brogdon followed with the fifth and picked up his first win of the season with a strikeout. Hunter Stanley covered 2.2 innings and gave up one run on three hits, while Carlos Hernández locked down the last 1.1 innings for his second save with Columbus.
Hernández allowed one earned run on two hits and a walk, and he struck out three.
The offense did its part behind that pitching. David Fry hit third and went 2-for-4 with a run, two RBI and a home run.
Kyle Manzardo drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to bring home Daniel Schneemann, and Dayan Frias finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Columbus totaled six runs on nine hits.
Akron kept rolling at Double-A, stretching its winning streak to seven with a 7-1 win over Altoona. Caden Favors was the headline there, improving to 6-6 by spinning 7.0 innings of one-run ball.
He gave up just two hits and one walk and punched out 10. Izaak Martinez and Adam Tulloch each handled an inning to finish it off.
Ryan Cesarini powered the RubberDucks’ lineup from the top spot. He opened the game by taking the first pitch deep for a solo homer to right, then did it again in the second inning with two runners aboard.
That three-run shot was his second homer of the night and his eighth of the season. Cesarini finished 3-for-4 with two homers, a single, a walk, two runs and four RBI.
Akron added runs in the third when Alex Mooney singled to left to score one and Luke Hill crossed on a wild pitch. The last run came in the eighth, when a throwing error on a double-steal attempt let Maick Collado score.
Lake County made it three straight affiliate wins with a 5-1 victory over Dayton. Jacob Zibin set the tone with a quality start, working 6.0 innings and allowing one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven.
Xavier Martinez earned his third win of the season with two scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out five. Cam Schuelke handled the finish with a groundout, flyout and lineout.
The Captains struck first in the opening inning when Welbyn Francisca walked with two outs, Anthony Martinez doubled to left, and Riley Nelson singled to right to bring Francisca home. The game stayed tied from the fourth inning on until Lake County finally cracked it open in the eighth. Garrett Howe launched a two-run homer to right, Anthony Martinez followed with a double to center that scored Luis De La Cruz, and a walk plus an RBI single added the final run.
Hill City capped the night with an 11-7 win over Myrtle Beach and completed the sweep. The pitching wasn’t as clean as the earlier stops, but the Howlers did enough.
Ryan DeSanto went 4.0 innings and allowed three runs on four hits and three walks, striking out four. Keegan Zinn improved to 5-4 with 3.0 innings of one-run relief, giving up one hit and two walks while striking out three.
Harrison Ruiz gave up three runs in the bottom of the eighth over 1.2 innings, and Manuel Osorio came in with two outs in the ninth and struck out the final batter.
The offense kept answering. Alejandro Garza went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs, while Jonathan Martinez reached base four times on walks and scored three runs.
Hill City’s first run came on a sacrifice fly to right in the top of the first. The big turn came in the seventh, when a double steal put runners in scoring position, Ben Cleary singled to left for two runs and moved to second on a fielding error, then stole third.
Jhorvic Abreus walked, Yerlin Luis walked to load the bases, and Garza drew another walk to force in the go-ahead run. Alejandro Blasco then singled to right and drove in two more.
The Howlers kept pouring it on in the eighth. Jonathan Martinez walked again and stole second, Yeiferth Castillo singled to center, Ben Cleary walked to load the bases, and Pedro Dalmagro singled to right for two runs.
Garza came up with two outs and doubled to left to score two more. Hill City added one last run in the ninth when a fielding error let Jonathan Martinez score from second after he had walked.
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