Columbus Clippers 5, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (box)
Zach McKinstry hit a home run in his Triple-A debut on Saturday, but Toledo’s offense didn’t do much else in a 5-3 loss to Columbus.
McKinstry hit his bomb in the fourth with Max Burt on base. It was the only extra-base hit of the day, but the Mud Hens still notched six other hits. Most of them came without any follow-up. Toledo strung something together in the second, too, with Andrew Navigato driving in Eduardo Valencia
with a sacrifice fly.
Max Clark’s lone hit of the day came in that frame, a base hit to shortstop that turned into a throwing error that moved everyone up a base.
Bryan Sammons got the start for the Mud Hens. He gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. Most of the damage came in the second, when the Clippers notched three of their eight total hits. Maick Collado doubled off Sammons to tie the game up at one run apiece, and Juan Benamin gave Columbus the lead with an RBI single.
It wasn’t Sammons’ best outing, but his final line looks just fine. His fastball velocity was down a bit, and whiffs were under 20% overall. Still, he left the game tied after giving up a homer in the fifth. Konnor Pilkington was first out of the bullpen in relief. He took the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the sixth — a sacrifice fly from Collado.
Tyler Mattison gave up a run on a homer in the seventh, and Tanner Rainey worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth.
It wasn’t a very exciting day in Triple-A, but it’s good to see McKinstry doing things at the plate and on the field, especially with injuries mounting in Detroit.
Clark: 1-5, K
McKinstry: 1-4, HR (1), R, 2 RBI, K
Short: 2-4, BB, K
Sammons: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The Hens take a 3-2 lead in the series into a 1:05 p.m. ET matchup on Sunday.
Erie SeaWolves 5, Chesapeake Baysox 4 (box)
John Peck didn’t play today, so the home run-watch is on hold for now. Instead, it was Andrew Jenkins and Brett Callahan with the big flies for Erie in Saturday’s 5-4 win over the Chesapeake Baysox.
The SeaWolves led for most of the game, scoring a run in each of the first four innings. They were practically handed a run in the first after Chesapeake starter Juan Rojas walked the bases loaded and threw a wild pitch with just one out.
Joe Miller gave up a three-spot in the second inning, giving up back-to-back doubles and a single with no outs to set up a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice bunt. It was a short outing for Miller, who allowed seven baserunners to reach over three innings. On the bright side, Miller struck out five.
Jenkins’ homer came in the second, and Callahan’s came in the third — both of the leadoff variety.
E.J. Exposito, Seth Stephenson and Peyton Graham all singled in the fourth to give Erie the lead for good. Jenkins had the only other Erie hit of the day in the eighth, a single that moved Chris Meyers over to third base. Exposito drove in the insurance run with a fielder’s choice right after.
The bullpen was very good for Erie. Dariel Fregio took over in the fourth and gave three innings of scoreless relief. He faced the minimum in each inning, getting some help from Thayron Liranzo, who caught a runner stealing to end the fifth and sixth.
John Stankiewicz went 1-2-3 in the seventh, Tanner Kohlhepp stranded a pair in the eighth, striking out two batters, and Woo-Suk Go closed things despite some drama. Frederick Bencosme homered to open the ninth, but Go struck out the side after that.
Jenkins: 2-4, HR (4), R, RBI, K
Callahan: 1-3, HR (4), R, RBI, BB
Fregio (W, 1-1): 3.0 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 1:35 p.m. ET start in Erie on Sunday with the SeaWolves up 4-1 in the series.
Cedar Rapids Kernels 11, West Michigan Whitecaps 6 (box)
West Michigan’s losing streak hit seven games on Saturday despite the Whitecaps putting up six runs.
This loss is the result of a disastrous nine-run seventh inning, but West Michigan briefly led before that after scoring five runs in the fifth.
The Whitecaps didn’t get a baserunner until the fourth, though, when Ricardo Hurtado walked. He moved to third on an error and scored on a groundout later in the inning. Cristian Santana broke up the no-hitter in the fifth with a one-out single. Juan Hernandez tripled him in right after.
A two-out rally led to four more runs crossing. Andrew Sojka singled, Hurtado doubled, Garrett Pennington was hit by a pitch and Bryce Rainer reached on an error before Kernels starter Nick Trabacchi left the game with the score at 4-1.
Samuel Gil drove in Hurtado and Pennington with a single for runs No. 5 and 6. Rainer and Gil executed a double steal, but both were left in scoring position.
Troy Watson got the start for West Michigan. Things went well for him, allowing just one run on two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Both of those hits came in the second, when the Kernels scored the first run of the game.
Gabriel Reyes relieved him in the fifth. Cedar Rapids got to Reyes for a run on a couple of singles and a walk, and he got through the sixth without giving anything up. Then came the big inning.
Cedar Rapids went single, two-run homer, single, single, flyout, single, walk to make it 6-5, and Reyes left the game responsible for the tying and go-ahead run. Both of those runners scored as soon as Ethan Sloan took over on a single and a passed ball. Lovely. A wild-pitch ball four made it 8-6, and a three-run homer brought us to the 11-6 final.
Jalen Evans worked around two hits in the eighth, while the offense did diddly-squat.
Rainer: 0-4, RBI, 2 K
Gil: 1-4, 2 RBI
Hurtado: 1-4, 2B (4), 2 R, RBI, BB, K
Watson: 4.0 IP, 2 H, R, ER, BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 2:05 p.m. ET start on Sunday as the Whitecaps try to avoid a sweep.
Bradenton Marauders 13, Lakeland Flying Tigers 4 (box)
Lakeland gave up a crooked number to Bradenton in four of eight innings on Saturday as the Marauders clinched a series win, 13-4.
Things started okay. Beau Ankeney singled in Jordan Yost to give Lakeland an early lead, but Max Alba gave up a two-run homer in the bottom half of the first.
Alba was fine after that, working around four hits over the next 2 1/3 innings. He left with two men on base in the fourth, but Jose Guzman struck out the first batter he faced, and the defense came up with a 2-6-2 out to get the runner breaking for home.
That jump-started the offense going into the fifth. The Flying Tigers scored three runs, starting on a Jesus Pinto triple and a Yost RBI single. Max Anderson walked, and he and Yost executed a double steal that turned into a run thanks to a bad throw by the catcher. Beau Ankeney singled in Anderson right after.
That’s when the bullpen started to melt down. Caleb Leys got the sixth and promptly allowed a game-tying, two-run homer. Leys gave up the lead in the sixth on a leadoff triple and one-out single. A botched throwing error, walk and balk made it 6-4. One more walk forced Lakeland to make another pitching change.
Jan Caraballo intentionally walked the first batter he faced (or didn’t face?), gave up a run on a sacrifice fly, and allowed another run to cross on a double. Rough four-inning frame to break the tie and crush any hopes of a Flying Tigers win. Lakeland struck out three times in the next half inning.
Caraballo gave up a leadoff home run in the seventh, and Andrew Pogue gave up four runs trying to get the last three outs of the eighth—absolutely brutal stuff.
Yost: 1-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 K
Pinto: 2-4, 3B (2), R, BB, K
Ankeney: 2-4, 2 RBI, K
Alba: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a noon ET start on Sunday with Bradenton leading the series 4-1.
