Toledo Mud Hens 7, Columbus Clippers 2 (box)
The Toledo Mud Hens out-hit the Columbus Clippers, 15-8, en route to a 7-2 win Friday night.
Troy Watson might be a starter after all. Since moving out of the bullpen on June 29, Watson has gone five or more innings in five of eight starts. He entered the game with a 1.15 ERA through three starts in Toledo and left Friday’s win with a 1.31 ERA after going five innings of one-run work.
He walked (3) more than he struck out (2), but the defense bailed him out with a pair of double plays. Trei Cruz made
three nice plays in the fourth, too. Christian Cairo got to him for a solo homer in the fifth, but he left the game with a 2-1 lead and in line for the win.
Toledo had early opportunities to score. Justyn-Henry Malloy and Max Anderson doubled in the first and second innings, respectively. That’s the first of many Triple-A doubles for Anderson, but hopefully not too many. Detroit could use his bat, and he’s been working at third base for a while. Why not give him a taste of MLB action in September?
The Mud Hens finally broke through in the third with three straight singles, courtesy of Brian Serven, Akil Baddoo and Ryan Kreidler, in that order. It was a nice display of hitting, using all three parts of the field. Kreidler collected the RBI and then got doubled up on a JHM grounder. Jace Jung made sure to get two runs in the inning with a two-out double to the wall in right center.
After Columbus cut into the lead in the fifth, Toledo’s offense responded. Kreidler bounced one over the right field wall for a ground-rule double, and Jung brought him home with a two-bagger of his own down the right field line.
Anderson waited for a 2-0 count and sat on something offspeed — usually it’s a fastball, but Anderson knew he wouldn’t get one in this situation. He got all of it for his second Double-A homer, giving Toledo a four-run lead.
Alex Lange needed just 10 pitches to get through the sixth as the first man out of the bullpen. He looked sharp this time out, fanning two with the knuckle curve and locating everything well. Drew Sommers got the frst two outs of the seventh quickly, but a chopper down the left field line got the Clippers going. Another double made it 5-2.
The Mud Hens got the bases loaded in the sixth after Columbus turned to the ‘pen. Malloy struck out to leave them full, but Toledo got its runs back in the seventh. Cruz legged out a double with two outs, and Andrew Navigato crushed into the night sky to make it 7-2.
Wilkel Hernandez got the final two frames for Toledo. Things started off hairy with a leadoff walk and single just under the glove of a diving Kreidler up the middle. Hernandez spiked one in the dirt and the runner took off for home. Brian Serven flipped the ball to the plate, and Hernandez slapped the tag on before getting the next two outs to kill the threat. He got the bases loaded again in the ninth, but a pop-up to first ended it without things getting ugly.
Anderson: 2-5, 2B (1), HR (2), 2 RBI
Jung: 2-5, 2 2B (21), 1 R, 2 RBI
Watson (W, 2-0): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; 66 pitches (36 strikes)
Erie SeaWolves Moon Mammoths 7, Chesapeake Baysox Oyster Catchers 5 (box)
Even without Kevin McGonigle in the lineup, Erie pulled out the win in 12 innings against Chesapeake on Friday. Half of the game’s 12 runs came in the ninth inning or later as both teams struggled with runners in scoring position.
The SeaWolves took an early lead thanks to a two-run homer from Jake Holton in the top of the first. Josue Briceno extended the inning with a four-pitch walk just after two quick outs from Max Clark and Thayron Liranzo. John Peck took a double to the wall in center but was left on base.
Levi Wells settled in for the Baysox after that. Erie still got a baserunner on in each inning through the fifth, but none of them scored. Wells racked up six strikeouts, including two of Liranzo’s FIVE on the day. Alex Pham taking over in the sixth was a relief (no pun intended), as Mendoza got to him for a game-tying home run.
JP Sears gave up three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out seven over five innings. Considering he had a career-worst outing last week, this is a much better performance to gauge his ability against Double-A bats.
Sears gave up hard contact early. He picked off a runner at first in the opening frame and notched a strikeout to get out of the first, but Adam Retzbach put one off the scoreboard in the second. His fastball command got spotty in the third, leading to a pair of walks. Sears got a pair of strikeouts with the changeup and sinker, but both runners scored on a flare single to left-center. The southpaw responded by striking out the side in the fourth.
Ryan Boyer took over in the sixth and went six up, six down with a strikeout. Chesapeake didn’t hit him hard, but Erie wasn’t hitting Pham anymore. Boyer tapped out first, tagging in Travis Kuhn in the eighth. Another 1-2-3 inning held the tie going into the ninth.
Ben Malgeri just missed a home run with one out in the ninth. He reached second easily after the ball ricocheted off the base off the wall, and the wind had a hold of it. Danny Seretti didn’t waste any time bringing him in with a single up the middle.
That lead was short-lived. Aron Estrada took Kuhn deep in the bottom of the ninth, and Tavian Josenberger nearly sparked a two-out rally. Kuhn left the bases loaded, and to extras we go.
Tevin Michael and Gerald Ogando tagged in for Erie and Chesapeake, respectively. Both got through the 10th without giving up a hit, but Michael had to intentionally walk a batter to set things up. Ogando broke in the 11th, giving the free baserunner an extra bag with a wild pitch. John Peck slapped a go-ahead single through the left side.
Andrew Magno came in to get the save, but immediately made an error on a bunt back to the mound. Thankfully, backup prevented the ball from going into right field, but Chesapeake still tied the game. Magno walked the bases loaded and then walked in a run for his third blown save of the year.
Former Erie SeaWolf Micah Ashman replaced Ogando in the 12th. Hello, old friend! Can we have some runs? Ashman obliged, giving Clark his first hit of the day. Starting an extra inning with Seth Stephenson on second should result in a run every time, and he glided into home with ease after the ball was thrown into Erie’s dugout.
Ashman offered an insurance run in the form of two wild pitches. Clark isn’t Stephenson fast, but he’s got plus speed. I guess this means we won the trade?
Yosber Sanchez came out for Erie’s second try at a save. Things looked bad after Seretti let one under his glove at third. Sanchéz walked the bases loaded but bounced back with a strikeout. Erie converted a 4-6-3 double play to end the game after 3 hours and 38 minutes.
Clark: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K
Liranzo: 0-6, 5 K
Briceno: 1-5, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Sears: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K; 85 pitches (51 strikes)
West Michigan Whitecaps 5, Fort Wayne Tin Caps 1 (box)
West Michigan backed up a combined two-hit night on the mound with 12 hits and five runs in Friday’s win over Fort Wayne.
The Whitecaps got four strong performances and one not-so-good one from the pitching staff. Rayner Castillo retired the first four batters he saw and then worked through a hit and two walks with some help from Archer Brookman behind the plate. Brookman caught Kasen Wells attempting to steal second base.
Runs came early and often for West Michigan. The Whitecaps scored in every inning from the second to the fifth. Garrett Pennington started things off with his 10th High-A double of the year — 26 between both of the low minors. Woody Hadeen moved him to third and Archer Brookman drove him in with a grounder to the right side.
West Michigan left 13 on base, including two in the second, and a 3-for-13 day with runners in scoring position isn’t great, but it got the job done.
Izaac Pacheco hit a two-run homer, his third of the series and 11th of the season and 33rd over four seasons with West Michigan, in the third. He’s chasing Reynaldo Rivera’s Whitecaps record of 34 homers, 21 of which came in the 2021 season.
Peyton Graham scored on the Pacheco homer after opening the third inning with a single up the middle — 106 mph exit velocity — and stealing a base. Pennington had another single, but he got caught stealing second before Jackson Strong could follow up with his own base knock.
Joe Adametz took over for Castillo in the third. There’s no word yet on why Castillo had a short outing, but he didn’t look to be in any discomfort. He’s usually kept to a low pitch count for a starter, so maybe 40 through two innings was enough. Adametz retired the first four batters he faced before an error interrupted things in the fourth. A pair of walks led to a bases-loaded situation, but Adametz got a double play ball to get out of it.
Meanwhile, the Whitecaps manufactured another run in the top of the fourth. Woody Hadeen blooped a single to left field and stole his way to third. Andrew Jenkins drove him with a liner into left, extending his hit streak to 21 games.
The fifth inning brought the final West Michigan run of the ball game. Patrick Lee walked for the second time with one out, and Hadeen singled through the right side, with the hit and run on. Brookman drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.
That was it for the West Michigan offense. Pennington led off the seventh with a single, and Hadeen reached base for the fifth time with his fourth base knock. Brookman came up to the plate with a chance for more RBIs, but he couldn’t make it happen a third time.
Eiker Huizi, a former Tigers prospect picked up by San Diego in the Rule 5 draft, had a full meltdown in the ninth, walking two and hitting another to load the bases. Again, Brookman came to the plate with an opportunity to add to the lead, and he came up short with a grounder to second.
Colin Fields pitched the bulk of the game for West Michigan and picked up the win after three shutout innings. He gave up a liner to the gap in left-center to open his outing, but that 20 mph difference between his fastball and curveball had the rest of the lineup guessing. Fields struck out four and retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced — the one baserunner reaching on an error.
CJ Weins couldn’t command anything in the eighth. He threw four strikes in 17 pitches and some of those were frame jobs or swings at balls. Weins had a couple of close calls high and in the zone, but he didn’t hit anyone. His third straight walk came on a clock violation, and there was no choice but to get him out of there.
Carlos Lequerica got the final five outs of the game. A run scored on a sac fly, but that’s fine considering the mess Weins left for him. It probably should’ve been worse, though. A deep backhander to Graham at shortstop looked like trouble, but he got it to second in time for the inning-ending force out. The video replay was questionable, but there was no challenge.
Graham: 2-5, 1 R, 1 K
Pacheco: 1-4, HR (11), 1 R, 2 RBI , 1 BB, 1 K
Hadeen: 4-4, 1 R, 1 BB
Castillo: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K; (40 pitches, 23 strikes)
Fields (W, 8-1): 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K; (43 pitches, 29 strikes)
Clearwater Threshers 2, Lakeland 0 (box)
Lakeland couldn’t do anything at the plate Friday night, in a very literal way.
Angel Liranzo, A.J. Wilson and Erik Richie threw a combined no-hitter for the Clearwater Threshers. They were four walks away from a combined perfecto — at least the Flying Tigers deployed enough patience to prevent something truly embarrassing…
Lakeland isn’t the strongest level of Detroit’s farm system, especially on offense. Three players in today’s lineup are below the Mendoza line, while Cristian Santana (.768) and Ricardo Hurtado (.736) are two of three starters with an OPS north of .700.
Eighth-round pick Nichols Dumensil out of California Baptist has an .859 OPS over four games. It was much higher two days ago after a 5-for-10 start to his career, but that number is plummeting after back-to-back 0-for days. Dumesnil drew two of the team’s four walks and stole a base, though. Clayton Campbell had the other two bases on balls.
It’s a waste of a decent day on the mound, too.
Jose Urquidy gave up a run in the first but looked good otherwise. The leadoff man got on off an infield single snared by Santana at first. He lobbed it over Urquidy, who wasn’t even looking as he arrived late to first. No one advanced on it, but the sloppiness might have been an omen for the overall approach at the plate.
The run scored on a curveball left over the plate. Urquidy’s fastball looks ready enough, but the secondary isn’t close yet. He was sharper in the second, getting through it with just seven pitches.
Lael Lockhart came in after the third and dealt with some command issues. He threw 56% strikes and induced just one swing and miss over 2.3 innings, walking two while striking out three. The Threshers got to him for back-to-back singles in the third, but Hurtado caught the runner stealing to break up any momentum.
Lockhart got a helpful call from the umpire to open a 1-2-3 fourth with a strikeout, and he came after a two-out double and a walk on in the fifth. Ronny Chalas threw two pitches, got the out and called it a night.
Kelvis Salcedo had the final three innings. His fastball location was spotty up in the zone early, and Raider Tello got to him for a homer in the sixth. Salcedo works extremely quickly, and it might have worked against him here. He couldn’t find that fastball grip, but a big 12-6 curve bailed him out.
Salcedo had some trouble seeing the signs at one point, but he found his fastball. It was smooth sailing from there, but you can’t win without hits. He retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, including the last eight. Through three appearances (10.2 IP), Salcedo has a 2.53 ERA with 14 strikeouts (11.9 K/9).
Flying Tigers: 0/25, 4 BB, 7 K
Urquidy (L, 0-1): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 K; 23 pitches (18 strikes)
Salcedo: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K; 36 pitches (25 strikes)
