Louisville Bats 18, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (box)
What should have been Sawyer Gipson-Long’s first full start after returning from the injured list turned into an absolute beatdown as Louisville mauled the Hens’ starter and then just going through the bullpen like there was no tomorrow.
Gipson-Long’s velocity is still down in the 92 mph range, but it was his control that really betrayed him. The Bats scored one in the first, and then started the bottom of the second by getting a pair of absolute cookies to JJ Bleday and Michael Toglia, who launched
them into the seats. Things did not improve in the third and fourth innings, and it was 8-1 by the time Gipson-Long was done for the night.
The Hens got on the board in the fourth when Eduardo Valencia drew a leadoff walk, and Jace Jung doubled him to third. Trei Cruz lifted a sacrifice fly to get the run home.
Brenan Hanifee came on to get the last out of the fourth, and in the fifth he was hit even harder than Gipson-Long, giving up five runs capped by a three-run shot from Michael Chavis.
Valencia singled and eventually scored on a Cruz single in the sixth. Valencia and Corey Julks would hit solo home runs late in the game, but they were pretty meaningless by that point. Outfielder Cal Stevenson took over in the eighth to wrap this up after Cole Waites was also knocked around. Konnor Pilkington was the only pitcher to throw a scoreless inning.
Max Clark just continued to rake with two more hits, while Valencia is really heating up after a slow start.
Valencia: 2-3, 3 R, RBI, HR, BB
Jung: 2-2, 2B
Clark: 2-5, K
Gipson-Long (L, 0-1): 3.2 IP, 8 R, 6 ER, 9 H, BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s an 11:05 a.m. ET start in Louisville on Wednesday.
Harrisburg Senators 13, Erie SeaWolves 8 (box)
Pitching spoiled a good night for the offense as the Senators pounded the SeaWolves on Tuesday.
Eric Silva got the start. He leaked a run in the top of the first, but the SeaWolves came back to take the lead in the bottom half.
Seth Stephenson got them started with a leadoff double, and then a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed him to score. 1-1 game. Peyton Graham walked and stole second, and after Brett Callahan flew out, John Peck drew a walk and he and Graham pulled off a double steal. A throwing error on Harrisburg’s catcher scored Graham, and Izaac Pacheco doubled in Peck before the inning ended. 3-1 Erie.
That was the high water mark as Silva couldn’t record an out in the second inning, and the Senators dropped six runs on the SeaWolves. Colin Fields came on to clean up the mess, but then he allowed a pair of runs in the third. At that point it was already 9-1 Senators.
Fields handled the fourth without issue, and Woo-Suk Go spun two excellent frames with four strikeouts.
Finally in the seventh, the SeaWolves got it going at the plate. Justice Bigbie and E.J. Exposito singled to start the bottom half, and Bennett Lee walked to load the bases. Stephenson got hit by a pitch to force in one run, and Graham continued to hit the ball hard early on this year, drilling a two-run single back through the box to make it a 9-4 game. Callahan hammered a drive to center field for a double that scored Stephenson and Graham, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Still it was 9-8 game, and a glorious comeback was now in sight.
That vision didn’t last long. Tanner Kohlhepp threw a good seventh inning, but a walk and three doubles allowed in the eighth pushed four runs across. Moises Rodriguez walked one and struck out one in the top of the ninth, but there was no comeback in the offing.
Graham: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, K, 3 SB
Pacheco: 2-4, RBI, 2B
Callahan: 1-5, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 K
Stephenson: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B
Silva (L, 0-1): 7 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Wednesday at UPMC Park as the SeaWolves try to start reversing a 2-8 start.
West Michigan Whitecaps 8, Lansing Lugnuts 6 (box)
The pitching staff didn’t have a great night, but big games from catcher Ricardo Hurtado and first baseman Garrett Pennington, among others, did enough to pitch them up as the Whitecaps moved to 5-5 on the year.
The Whitecaps jumped on to an early lead as Woody Hadeen beat out an infield single to start the game. Unfortunately, Hadeen was injured on the play and Junior Tilien took over as a pinch runner. Jackson Strong struck out, but Roberto Campos hammered a triple to center, and Pennington doubled in Campos for a 2-0 lead. They got one more when Hurtado doubled in Pennington.
Right-hander Carlos Marcano gave up a two-run shot in the bottom half to make it a 3-2 game, but he locked it down to blank the Lugnuts the rest of the way through the fourth inning.
Hurtado mashed his first home of the season to leadoff the top of the fourth. Doubles from Tilien and then Jackson Strong scored another in the sixth. Donye Evans had leaked a run in the fifth, so it was 6-3 ’Caps at that point through six innings.
In the seventh, Campos led off with a single, and Pennington doubled. However, Campos was cut down at the plate trying to score on a passed ball. Samuel Gil came throught with a two-out RBI single to make it 7-3, and after Lansing went back to their pen, Patrick Lee greeted new pitcher Tucker Novotny by punishing an RBI double off the wall in center to make it 8-3.
Luke Stofel and Ethan Sloan weren’t very good in relief, allowing three runs combined, but the ‘Caps hung on to win.
Hurtado: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB, K
Campos: 2-4, R, RBI, 3B, K
Pennington: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B, K
Strong: 2-5, RBI, 2B, 2 K
Marcano: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start in Lansing on Wednesday.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 0 (box)
After finally losing two games, the Flying Tigers bounced back on the road, taking the first of six in Fort Myers.
The Tigers sixth rounder last summer, lefty Grayson Grinsell, was even more impressive in his second outing. He moved down the Mussels in no-hit fashion for four innings, striking out six to just one walk. His low wattage fourseamer sat at 20 inches of induced vertical break, and even at 90 mph that’s pretty effective. Grinsell’s changeup looked really good, and he collected 11 swings and misses in this one.
The Flying Tigers struggled with RHP Reed Moring as well. Jude Warwick opened the game with a single and Bryce Rainer torched a fastball at 114.3 mph off the bat to center field for a double. However, it was hit so hard that Warwick held at third, and Moring got out of the jam. He and Grinsell pretty well dominated from then on, though the Flying Tigers did manage several hits while the Mussels did nothing at the plate all game long against Tigers’ pitching.
Finally, Moring departed in the top of the sixth, giving way to Kolten Smith and the Flying Tigers jumped all over him. Beau Ankeney led off with a sharp single and took second and third on a wild pitch and a balk. Jesus Pinto dropped a single into left field to drive in the game’s first run. Smith left the game with an injury, and with two outs, Sergio Tapia singled to right and a throwing error by the right fielder allowed Pinto to score, making it 2-0.
In the seventh, Warwick led off with a walk and scored on a two-out Ankeney pop-up turned double by some shoddy defense to make it 3-0.
Eliseo Mota was perfect for two innings with three punchouts to earn his first save of the year.
Ankeney: 2-5, R, RBI, 2B, K
Warwick: 3-4, R, BB, K, SB
Rainer: 2-5, 2B, 2 K
Grinsell: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.
