Jorge Burgos hits another bomb to keep Akron unbeaten

Cleveland Guardians minor league recap for Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

Akron RubberDucks 6, Altoona Curve 5

Box Score: Rubberducks improve to 4-0.

To begin the season, it’s been death, taxes and Jorge Burgos homering in a game for Akron.

Burgos has now homered in all four games for the RubberDucks. He went 2-for-3 on Tuesday with the blast and walk. He sports a respectable 1.724 OPS to begin the 2025 campaign.

While Burgos had the only extra base hit for Akron, he wasn’t the lone offensive standout. C.J. Kayfus stayed hot, reaching base safely twice by going 1-for-3 with a walk, although he got caught stealing.

Jake Fox had a pair of hits, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

It wasn’t a great day for Akron’s starting pitchers (either of them). Rorik Maltrud failed to get out of the first inning, allowing two runs on two hits with two walks in 0.2 innings. The only good part of his outing was both of his outs were strikeouts.

Piggyback partner Carter Spivey didn’t fare much better, allowing three runs on four hits with two more walks and four strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work.

The rest of the bullpen, however, was magnificent, holding Altoona scoreless for the game’s final 5.2 innings.

Shawn Rapp tossed 1.2 scoreless frames, followed by 2.0 scoreless innings from Zach Jacobs. Davis Sharpe added a 1-2-3 eighth inning with a pair of strikeouts to earn the win and Zane Morehouse dropped the hammer with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and a strikeout to earn his second save.

Lake County Captains 6, West Michigan Whitecaps 4

Box Score: Captains improve to 3-1.

Lake County jumped all over West Michigan on Tuesday with six runs in the first four innings, then held on late for the win.

Every member of the Captains reached base except Jacob Cozart, with the top performer being Esteban Gonzalez, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double.

Jose Devers also homered, going 1-for-4. Other offensive standouts included Jaison Chourio, who went 1-for-3 with a walk and Jonah Advincula, who went 1-for-3 with a double, a hit by pitch and a stolen base.

Starting pitcher Caden Favors, a sixth round pick by Cleveland in 2024, made his 2025 debut and he impressed with seven strikeouts and just one run allowed on three hits in 3.1 innings of work. He also walked three.

Jack Jasiak also was terrific out of the bullpen, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and zero walks. Steven Perez was called on in the ninth with the bases loaded, one out and a two-run lead and he only allowed one inherited runner to score to earn the save.

Lynchburg Hillcats 4, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 0

Box Score: Hillcats improve to 3-1.

It was a sensational pitching performance all around for Lynchburg on Tuesday, beginning with starting pitcher Jose Alfaro, who was downright electric.

Alfaro threw 5.0 scoreless innings of one-hit ball while striking out five and walking none. For those curious, he’s a 21-year-old hurler out of Venezuela who spent most of last season in Arizona, but pitched well in six appearances with the Hillcats to close out the 2024 campaign.

The rest of Lynchburg’s bullpen held down the fort, allowing just one more hit the rest of the way. Sean Hepppner had a scoreless inning, Donovan Zsak bounced back from a rough 2025 debut with 2.0 scoreless innings and three punchouts and Luis Flores closed things out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and two more Ks.

Offensively, Lynchburg didn’t really have any standouts, but the team was pesky with five different Hillcats stealing a base. Garrett Howe led the way, going 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base.

Ryan Cesarini had the team’s lone extra base hit, going 1-for-3 with a double and a walk while Luis Merejo went 1-for-3 with a walk and Yaikel Mijares walked twice.