Iowa Cubs 4, Toledo Mud Hens 2 (box)
Iowa closed out the series with its fourth straight win after dropping the first two games in Toledo. The Mud Hens’ offense finally woke up in the eighth, but a four-run deficit proved too much to overcome.
Beau Brieske got the start on a planned bullpen day. He walked a pair in the first but ended up striking out the side. He ended his day after two scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no hits allowed. Brieske landed 20 of his 34 pitches for strikes, inducing six whiffs on 12 swings. The slider
was the primary source of the swing-and-miss (4), while his four-seamer and sinker both averaged 95 mph.
Luke Taggart was next out of the bullpen. He went 1-2-3 in the third and worked around a one-out single in the fourth. Taggart drew eight whiffs, with six coming on his secondary pitches. He ended the day with three strikeouts.
Yilber Díaz took over in the fifth and surrendered the first run of the game. Jackson Cluff hit a two-out triple and came home on a Justin Dean single. Díaz worked around a pair of walks in the sixth to keep it a one-run game.
Eric Silva, transferred from Erie before the game, ran into trouble in the seventh. He walked the leadoff man, and Matt Shaw’s two-out double brought the run home. Chas McCormick hit a two-run homer right after, making it a 4-0 game. Silva worked through the eighth, finishing the day with three strikeouts — all coming on his curveball — but the damage made it an outing to forget.
The Hens couldn’t do much offensively against Braxton Garrett, striking out seven times over five scoreless innings. They finally put together a rally against Iowa’s bullpen in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough.
Max Burt opened the frame with a double, and Trei Cruz walked. Jace Jung advanced Burt to third with a flyout, and Max Anderson broke the shutout with a sacrifice fly. Justice Bigbie drove home Cruz with a double to left. Unfortunately, that’s all the scoring Toledo did on the day.
Andre Granillo pitched the ninth. He struck out a pair while working around a two-out walk and a single.
Anderson: 2-3, 2B (20), RBI
Bigbie: 1-4, 2B (2), RBI, K
Burt: 1-3, 2B (10), R, 2 K
Brieske: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The Mud Hens open a series in St. Paul on Tuesday at 8:07 p.m. ET.
Erie SeaWolves 6, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3 (box)
Erie closed out a 4-2 series win with another power display Sunday. Izaac Pacheco homered for the second straight day, and Clayton Campbell launched his first Double-A home run in just his second game with the SeaWolves.
Pacheco opened the second with a 463-foot solo shot, his 17th Double-A homer of the year. Pacheco hit 17 last year with West Michigan, so it’s nice to see the power tool stay consistent up a level.
E.J. Exposito doubled to start the third, and Zyhir Hope walked — one of three on the day for him. A double steal set up a sac fly from Thayron Liranzo. Clayton Campbell led off the fourth with his first home run with the SeaWolves. It only took him two games.
Joe Miller held New Hampshire scoreless through 3 2/3 innings in his third start back from the IL. Miller wasn’t particularly efficient, using 73 pitches to record 11 outs. He walked three and struck out three while allowing two hits. Still, a goose egg is a goose egg.
Colin Fields got the final out of the fourth and went 1-2-3 in the fifth. Johan Simon wasn’t as fortunate in the sixth, giving up a solo homer to the first batter he faced. Alexis Hernandez followed with a single, eventually scoring on a passed ball. Simon escaped the inning with a 3-2 lead by striking out the last two batters.
Dariel Fregio held the one-run lead with a pair of perfect innings. The SeaWolves pulled away in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run single from Woody Hadeen. Campbell and Luke Shliger both scored after leading off the inning with back-to-back singles. Exposito grounded out to bring Patrick Lee home, too, making it a 6-2 game.
Wandisson Charles closed things out, but not before giving up a run on a pair of singles and a sac fly.
Campbell: 3-4, HR (1), 2 R, RBI
Pacheco: 1-4, HR (17), R, RBI, 3 K
Hadeen: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB
Hope: 0-2, 3 BB, 3 SB
Miller: 3.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves open a series in Altoona on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET.
South Bend Cubs 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)
West Michigan couldn’t escape South Bend with a series split, losing on a walk-off single in the ninth. The Whitecaps dropped four of six but still hold a half-game lead over Great Lakes in the Midwest League East with two weeks remaining.
Zack Lee got the bullpen-game start, hurling two perfect innings. He filled up the zone, landing 20 of his 29 pitches for strikes but came away with only one punchout.
Eliseo Mota wasn’t as sharp after taking over in the third. Mota walked the leadoff man, botched a pickoff attempt and gave up a run on a sac fly. The next two batters reached (walk, single), but Mota got out of it before allowing another run.
Beau Ankeney hit his eighth homer with West Michigan in the top of the fourth, a game-tying solo shot.
Mota returned for the fourth only to walk the bases loaded before recording an out. Fortunately, he induced a grounder for a forceout at home, buying enough time for Donye Evans to warm up. Evans gave up the lead on a sac fly, but the run goes on Mota’s record — and deservedly so. Mota threw just 15 of his 45 pitches for strikes. You don’t have to be great at math to know that throwing 2/3 of your pitches for balls is bad.
Evans worked through the fifth without any damage. Luke Hoskins was next out, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three through two scoreless innings.
Edian Espinal tied the game in the seventh, scoring on a wild pitch. He doubled with one out and tagged up to get to third.
The Whitecaps’ best chance to win came in the eighth. Andrew Sojka led off with a single, Carson Rucker walked and Nolan McCarthy doubled. That should have produced a run, but Sojka got picked off at first before the extra-base hit, and Rucker was thrown out at home. Jackson Strong walked to get Bryce Rainer to the plate, but he struck out to end the threat.
Jalen Evans worked around a walk in the eighth but couldn’t get an out in the ninth. Jose Escobar walked, Josiah Hartshorn singled to put men on the corners and Angel Cepeda ended the game with a walk-off liner to left. Rainer was also lifted from the game in the ninth.
Ankeney: 1-4, HR (8), R, RBI, K
Espinal: 2-4, 2B (2), R, SB
Lee: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, K
Hoskins: 2.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 3 K
J. Evans (L, 4-4): 1.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps host the Peoria Chiefs on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 12, St. Lucie Mets 2 (box)
Lakeland bounced back from Saturday’s walk-off loss with a blowout victory in the series finale. The Flying Tigers trailed 2-1 through five before scoring 11 unanswered runs to secure a 5-1 series win.
Grayson Grinsell gave up three doubles the first time through St. Lucie’s lineup. The last came from the No. 9 hitter, Wyatt Vincent, to open up the third. Grinsell walked Jeremy Rodriguez and gave up an RBI single to Bohan Adderley to put Lakeland behind.
Grinsell recovered, retiring the next three batters in a row, and Anibal Salas doubled home Zach MacDonald to tie the game back up.
The Mets rallied with back-to-back two-out singles in the fourth, retaking the lead, but that was the last run they scored. Jake Ogden singled with two outs and reached second on a throwing error by Salas before Wyatt Vincent drove him in with another single.
Grinsell prevented any further damage. He completed four innings, allowing two runs — one earned — on six hits and a walk while striking out five. St. Lucie jumped on his four-seamer, putting seven in play with an average exit velocity of 99.1 mph. His changeup drew some swing-and-miss, though, producing three whiffs at a 60% rate.
Yendy Gomez took over in the fifth and delivered two scoreless innings. Lakeland busted the game wide open with a six-run sixth, putting Gomez in line for the win.
Angel De Los Santos started the rally with a single and a pair of swiped bases. Jesus Pinto and MacDonald walked before a passed ball tied the game up. Salas drove in Pinto and MacDonald with a liner into right field.
The fun didn’t stop there. Enderson Delgado walked, and Hunter Dobbins homered, bringing the score to 7-2. Jack Goodman doubled later in the inning but didn’t score.
Carlos Rodriguez worked around a two-out single for a scoreless seventh. He spammed sliders and generated three whiffs.
The Flying Tigers added four more runs in the eighth. Javier Osorio and Delgado hit back-to-back doubles for the first run, and Goodman got the next RBI with a single. Pinto doubled in the remaining two runners, pushing Lakeland into double-digit runs.
The final run of the day came off the bat of Goodman as well. Osorio reached on an error in the ninth and moved into scoring position on a walk before scoring.
Johnathan Rogers finished the rout with two hitless innings. He walked two but struck out three as Lakeland’s bullpen combined for five scoreless frames.
Dobbins: 1-3, HR (7), 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Salas: 2-5, 2B (14), R, 3 RBI
Goodman: 3-5, 2B (7), R, 2 RBI
Pinto: 1-3, 2B (16), R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB
Gomez (W, 6-3): 2.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers host the Clearwater Threshers on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET. Lakeland won the series 5-1.
