Omaha Storm Chasers 5, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)
The Storm Chasers evened the series up by knocking around the Hens bullpen on Wednesday.
Dylan File got the start, and he had perhaps his best start of the year for the Hens. He fired six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts. Omaha got to him for a run in the top of the first, but otherwise they rarely even threatened.
In the fourth, Brett Callahan got the Hens starter with a leadoff single. He took third on a Justice Bigbie ground out, and Callahan went on to steal third base. Cal Stevenson
walked, and Andrew Navigato came through with a sacrifice fly to tie things up.
The Hens never really put together a good scoring opportunity again. Tyler Mattison gave up a two-run homer in the eighth as the Storm Chasers took the lead. Corey Julks doubled with one-out in the bottom half but was stranded. Nick Sandlin coughed up a solo shot in the ninth and then another run to make it 5-1 Omaha.
Stevenson: 2-2, 2B, 2 BB
File: 6.0 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday.
Erie SeaWolves 10, Altoona Curve 7 (box)
This was a wild one. The Curve blew up Hayden Minton in the fourth and scored seven runs total. The SeaWolves then turned it on and roared back to win.
Minton wasn’t getting much swing and miss, but he cruised through three innings before things quickly unraveled in the fourth. He gave up a two-run homer, and then a parade of hits, along with a Stephen Hrustich error, led to three more runs. Minton left after issuing a walk and Yosber Sanchez took over in a deep jam. He immediately gave up a run scoring double to right field. The relay from Zyhir Hope to Max Burt home to Thayron Liranzo cut down a second runner at the plate, but one more single made it 7-0 before the inning finally ended.
Sanchez wiggled his way out of trouble in the fifth after hitting a batter and giving up a one-out walk, and then the offense came alive in the bottom half.
Hrustrich started them off with a single and Burt doubled. Seth Stephenson grounded one to third and Hrustich scored as Altoona made an error on the play. Peyton Graham singled in Burt, and Stephenson scored on a Josue Briceño ground out.
In the sixth, Andrew Jenkins and E.J. Exposito led off with singles and Hrustich walked to load the bases. A new reliever took over and walked Burt to force in a run, and Stephenson ripped a two-run double to left. Suddenly it was a 7-6 game and Briceño later tied things up with a sacrifice fly.
In the seventh, Jenkins tripled and scored on an Exposito ground ball. In the eighth, Graham led off with a single and rode home on Briceño’s sixth home run of the season. That made it 10-7, giving the SeaWolves a little cushion.
Johan Simon held this all together with two strong innings of relief in the sixth and seventh, striking out four. Tyler Owens handled the final two innings to earn the save.
Jenkins: 3-5, 2 R, 3B
Graham: 2-5, R, RBI, 2 K
Stephenson: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B
Briceño: 1-4, R, 4 RBI, K
Minton: 3.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday at UPMC Park.
West Michigan Whitecaps 11, Fort Wayne TinCaps 1 (box)
Ben Jacobs put together a great outing, and five different Whitecaps homered in this one as they crushed Fort Wayne on Wednesday.
Jacobs fired 5.2 innings of one run ball in this one. He allowed just three hits and a walk, striking out five. The lefty threw 59 of 81 pitches for strikes, and had both the breaking stuff and his changeup working throughout his day.
He quickly had a nice lead to work with. Bryce Rainer was the second batter of the game and he torched his 10th home run to center field for a quick 1-0 lead. Jackson Strong followed with his 10th home run, another solo shot, and it was 2-0.
Juan Hernandez bashed a three-run shot in the second with Luke Shliger and Samuel Gil on board. 5-0 Whitecaps.
In the top of the third, the TinCaps walked three straight hitters to start the inning. Cristian Santana lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0, and that was just the beginning of Santana’s night. Jacobs allowed a run in the bottom of the third to make it 6-1.
Rainer doubled to open the fourth inning but was stranded. However, in the fifth they were right back at it. Gil singled with one out and Santana launched a two-run shot to right field. 8-1 Whitecaps.
Shliger led off the seventh with a solo shot of his own. Two batters later, Santana came up again and crushed a solo shot to center field for his second of the game. 10-1 Whitecaps. He would add a third homer in the top of the ninth to complete one heck of a game. That made seven home runs on the night for the Whitecaps, which is a franchise record.
Santana: 3-4, 3 R, 5 RBI, 3 HR, K
Strong: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB
Rainer: 2-6, R, RBI, 2B, HR, 4 K
Jacobs (W, 3-2): 5.2 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Dunedin Blue Jays 11, Lakeland Flying Tigers 0 (Gm1)(F/7)(box)
Game 1 was pretty uneventful for the Flygers after they were rained out on Tuesday. Brant Hurter made a rehab appearance, but otherwise the offense was quiet and the Blue Jays won easily.
Hurter got knocked around for three runs in his first rehab appearances after spending two months on the IL with lumbar back issues. Xiomer Guacache took over with just one out in the first and gave up two runs of his own as well. Caleb Leys then surrendered three runs in 2.2 innings of work. Bryce Alewine gave up three more in the seventh.
Carson Rucker had two hits, and Roberto Campos managed one as his rehab continues. Enough said about this one.
Rucker: 2-2, BB
Hurter (L, 0-1): 0.1 IP, 3 ER, H, BB, K
Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Dunedin Blue Jays 3 (box)
Paul Wilson was wild in this one and gave up three early runs, but the Flying Tigers offense decided that was enough and stormed back to take Game 2.
Jesus Pinto kicked off the offense with a one-out triple in the bottom of the second. Anibal Salas singled him in and then rode home on Zach MacDonald’s 18th home run of the season.
So they had a 3-0 lead, but Wilson, after two decent innings of work, walked the first three batters he faced in the top of third. Luke Hoskins took over, but allowed all three inherited runners to score, tying the game.
The Flying Tigers roared right back. Salas led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, and MacDonald stepped to the dish and smashed his second homer of the game for a 5-3 lead. That one left the bat at 111.7 mph.
In the bottom of the sixth, Pinto and Salas singled to start the inning, and MacDonald walked. A wild pitch scored Pinto, but that was all they’d get.
Grayson Grinsell helped the cause with three scoreless innings with five strikeouts, though he walked three. Donye Evans took over after a leadoff single in the seventh, and he shut the door to earn his second save.
MacDonald: 2-2, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, BB
Salas: 3-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B
Pinto: 2-3, 2 R, 3B
Wilson: 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 0 H, 6 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Thursday.
