Lehigh Valley IronPigs 8, Toledo Mud Hens 7 (box)
The Mud Hens battled back from an early deficit only to get walked off for their second straight loss to Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.
The Hens scored first as Parker Meadows and Hao-Yu Lee drew walks to start the game. A fly out from Akil Baddoo allowed the two to advance, and a Jace Jung sacrifice fly scored Meadows for a 1-0 lead. This was the fourth straight game where Meadows got the start in center field.
Troy Watson started for the Hens and he quickly fumbled that slim lead by allowing two in the bottom
of the first, two more in the third, and one in the fourth. Two two-run homers from the IronPigs were the decisive blows in that outing.
The Hens did get a solo shot from Akil Baddoo to leadoff the fourth, but when Watson exited it was 5-2 IronPigs. In the top of the fifth, Meadows reached on a comebacker to Andrew Painter that the highly regarded pitching prospect couldn’t handle. Lee singled him to second, and Baddoo lined a single to left to plate Meadows. 5-3 IronPigs.
Finally in the sixth, the Hens briefly seized control of the game. Trei Cruz singled with one out, and Gage Workman lifted a towering fly ball the opposite way for a two-run homer. Tomas Nido followed with a double and Meadows lined a single to right to score him. That ended Painter’s night as he continues to struggle to recapture his form. Hao-Yu Lee greeted the new reliever with a double to the right field, moving Meadows to third, and an Baddoo sacrifice fly scored him for a 7-5 lead.
That was as good as it got for the Hens as Codi Heuer tossed a perfect fifth frame, but Chase Lee gave up a solo shot in the sixth. Matt Seelinger gave up the lead, allowing a run in the seventh. So it was a 7-7 tie heading into the ninth. The Hens failed to score, and Tyler Mattison was wild in relief, walking three hitters to load the bases with two outs. Gabe Alvarez had seen enough and called on Wilkel Hernandez to escape the jam, but he failed, allowing a walkoff single to Payton Henry.
Baddoo: 3-4, R, 3 RBI, HR
Lee: 2-4, 2B, BB, K
Meadows: 1-4, 3 R, RBI, BB, K
Watson: 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Mattison (L, 2-2): 1.2 IP, ER, 0 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Erie SeaWolves 10, Portland Sea Dogs 4 (box)
After an uncharacteristically quiet night at the plate, the SeaWolves bounced right back on Wednesday to even the series.
They got out to a quick start when Max Clark led off with an infield single to shortstop, and John Peck crushed a two-run shot to center field for his first since being promoted to Double-A. Mr. Peck continues to be an intriguing under the radar performer this season.
Max Alba got the start in this one and went four innings. He scattered three hits and a walk, striking out three, and gave up just a lone run in the bottom of the third inning.
The SeaWolves came right back to put the Sea Dogs in their rear view mirror in the top of the fourth. Ben Malgeri led off with a double, and a fly out from Carlos Mendoza got Malgeri to third. Danny Serretti hit a grounder to second base that was misplayed and Malgeri slid under the tag at home to make it 3-1.
Clark followed Serretti by drawing a walk, and Peck singled to drive in another run and get Clark to third. Kevin McGonigle lifted a fly ball to center field for a sacrifice that scored Clark. A catchers interference got Josue Briceño to first base, and a Jake Holton single up the middle scored Peck to make it 6-1. Peck would later double in Mendoza in the fifth to make it 7-1.
Carlos Pena took over from Alba in the fifth. The left-hander cruised through the fifth, sixth, and seventh inning. Jake Holton hit a solo shot in the top of the eighth, but Pena leaked a run in the bottom half. In the top of the ninth, Serretti singled and Max Clark crushed a drive to right field for a two-run shot. Clark’s sixth homer with the SeaWolves made it a 10-2 game.
Pena got in a little trouble in the bottom half and allowed two more runs before closing out the game.
Peck: 3-6, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR
Clark: 2-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
Holton: 2-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 BB, K
Pena (W, 7-6): 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K
West Michigan Whitecaps 8, Fort Wayne TinCaps 4 (box)
The Whitecaps can not be contained. They won their 89th game of the year by quickly building an early lead and holding on late to win on Wednesday.
Things popped off with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first. Izaac Pacheco got them started with a walk and Garrett Pennington singled to left. Austin Murr then torched a screaming drive to center field and ended up at third with a triple and two RBI. Brett Callahan sprayed a grounder the opposite way for a single and it was 3-0 Whitecaps.
Lefty Joe Miller, back from a brief stint filling in for the Mud Hens, got the start, allowing a run in the second but no more. Due to the recent workload, I assume, he only went three innings, but it was a 6-1 game by the time he departed.
Abel Bastidas led off the home half of the second with a walk. With one-out Woody Hadeen doubled to right field to get Bastidas to third, and an error on a Jack Penney grounder scored him. Pacheco struck out, but a wild pitch got Penney to second, and Pennington doubled him in to make it 6-1.
Matt Stil over from Miller and allowed a run in the top of the fourth, but the Whitecaps answered right back in the bottom half. Penney led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a Pennington single to make it 7-2 at that point.
Dylan Smith came on and looked reasonably good, though his command still wasn’t great. He collected four outs without allowing a run, striking out three and allowing an infield single and a walk.
Pacheco smoked a ground rule double to center in the sixth and scored on a Murr single to make it 8-2. Joe Adametz and Dariel Fregio each allowed a run in relief late.
Murr: 3-5, R, 3 RBI, 3B, K, SB
Pennington: 3-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B, K
Pacheco: 1-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, 3 K
Callahan: 2-4, RBI, K
Penney: 0-3, 2 R, RBI, 2BB, SB, K
Miller: 3.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Jupiter Hammerheads 7, Lakeland Flying Tigers 6 (box)
The Flying Tigers had control of this one for the first half of the game, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it.
Gabriel Reyes got the start, and he surrendered a solo shot to Starlyn Caba as the first batter of the game. He got plenty of run support immediately as his teammates went on to score five runs in the bottom of the first.
Zach MacDonald was hit by a pitch to start the home half of the first. Jesus Pinto followed with a single and Beau Ankeney drew a walk to load the bases. Junior Tilien took a called strike three, but Stephen Hrustich drew a walk to force in a the first run. Jude Warwick singled in Pinto and Ankeney, and then Cristian Santana was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases. Juan Hernandez followed with a single to right to score Hrustich and Warwick. That was all they’d get, but a 5-1 lead was a good start.
Reyes allowed another run in the second, then settled in a bit to finish the third and fourth. He walked four and just wasn’t spotting his fastball well early in his outing.
Santana opened the bottom of the third with his 15th home run of the season. That solo shot to left made it 6-2 Flying Tigers.
The Hammerheads started their comeback in the fifth. They got a run against Joe Ruzicka, who was a little wild. In the sixth, they scored two more off of Andrew Pogue to make it 6-5 Lakeland, and then Logan Berrier gave up the game-tying run in the seventh.
By that point the Flying Tigers offense had completely stalled out. They didn’t get a hit in any of the last four innings. Jorger Petri took over on the mound in the ninth, and a ground ball went for an error on Juan Hernandez. A wild pitch by Petri got the runner, Andrew Salas, to second base, and he eventually stole third and scored when catcher Sergio Tapia’s throw went wide of third base.
The Flying Tigers got a two-out walk from Santana in the bottom of the ninth, but Hernandez grounded out to end it.
Santana: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, 2K
Hrustich: 0-2, R, RBI, 3 BB
Hernandez: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K, SB
Reyes: 4.0 IP, 2 R, ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 K
