Toledo Mud Hens 7, Louisville Bats 2 (box)
The Mud Hens swung the bats well and got a great Triple-A debut from Andrew Sears to win the conclusion of Tuesday’s rain suspended contest. Even finishing that game was delayed on Wednesday, and the regularly scheduled game couldn’t be completed.
Action picked up in the second inning, with Brant Hurter making his first rehab appearance. He tossed a 1-2-3 inning, looking pretty good as he works his way back from lower back issues.
At that point Sears took over, and he was lethal. The 23-year-old lefty,
the most advanced of the Tigers pitching prospects—River Ryan isn’t a prospect in my book—struck out seven over 4.2 scoreless innings to hold the Bats in place while the Hens’ bats did all the damage.
Seby Zavala singled and Trei Cruz walked to open the third inning. Jace Jung struck out, but Max Anderson singled to load the bases. Josue Briceño emptied them with a rocket up the right center field gap at 113.1 mph off the bat, and it was 3-0 Hens.
In the fourth, Zavala was hit by a pitch and again the veteran backstop reached to spark the offense. Cruz singled and Jung walked to laod the bases. Louisville went to the bullpen, but Max Anderson ripped a two-run single to center field and it was 5-0. Justice Bigbie, back up from Erie with all the recent promotions, mashed a solo shot in the fifth to make it 6-0.
Brenan Hanifee and Beau Brieske each allowed a run late, but in the eighth, Andrew Navigato led off with a double and later scored on a Trei Cruz sacrifice fly.
Anderson: 3-5, R, 3 RBI, K
Cruz: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB
Briceno: 1-5, 3 RBI, 2B, 3 K
Sears: 4.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: They’ll try to play two on Thursday starting at 4:35 p.m. ET.
Hartford Yard Goats 4, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)
The bats were quiet for the SeaWolves in this one until they rallied late to tie this in the ninth, only to get walked off.
Joe Miller returned with a solid three innings of work, giving up just one run. The SeaWolves had their first scoring opportunity in the fourth, but E.J. Exposito flew into a double play as Thayron Liranzo was thrown out trying to tag and score from third to end the inning.
Trevin Michael surrendered a run in the sixth and it was 2-0 Hartford. They made it 3-0 with a run off of Wandisson Charles in the seventh.
Finally Peyton Graham got the SeaWolves on the board with a leadoff homer in the eighth but it was still 3-1 heading into the top of the ninth.
E.J. Exposito singled with one out, and Luke Shliger cracked a two-run shot to tie the game. That was exciting, but they couldn’t finish the job by taking a lead.
Tyler Owens took over to keep things tied, and instead gave up a double, single combination to lose it.
Graham: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, BB, 2 K
Shliger: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Exposito: 2-4, R
Miller: 3.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The series is tied up heading into a 7:10 p.m. ET start on Thursday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Lansing Lugnuts 5 (F/10)(box)
The Whitecaps got another good start out of Ben Jacobs, but had to battle back repeatedly to win this one in 10 innings.
Jacobs was a little wild in this one, but he also got squeezed a fair amount as well. He walked five batters and struck out seven in this one, but didn’t allow a hit in 4.2 innings of scoreless work. Moises Rodriguez took over and got them through the sixth without allowing a run.
Finally, the Whitecaps broke a 0-0 deadlock in the bottom of the seventh. Stephen Hrustich led off the inning with a double, and Andrew Sojka reached on an error to score the run.
That lead didn’t last long as Zack Lee gave up three runs in the top of the eighth. Suddenly it was the Whitecaps playing catchup, but catchup they did. Carson Rucker reached on an error in the bottom of the eighth, and Beau Ankeney launched a two-run shot to tie the game 3-3.
Ryan Harvey shut the Lugnuts down in the top of the ninth, but the Whitecaps couldn’t score either. Harvey allowed two in the top of the 10th, but in the bottom half, the ‘Caps came through to walk it off.
With Nolan McCarthy starting at second, Juan Hernandez singled off the second baseman’s glove to score the run. Edian Espinal followed with a double to left, and the Lugnuts intentionally walked Bryce Rainer to load the bases. Cristian Santana pinch-hit for Rucker and drew a game-tying walk at 5-5. Ankeney struck out, but Samuel Gil lifted a sacrifice fly to right, and Espinal raced home ahead of the throw as the game winner.
Ankeney: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, 2 K
Espinal: 2-5, R, K
Rainer: 1-4, BB, 2 K
Jacobs: 4.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 5 BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 12, Bradenton Marauders 3 (box)
The Flying Tigers evened the series by winning in Cameron Flukey’s pro debut behind big nights from Jordan Yost and Michael Oliveto.
Flukey was pretty wild in his debut, but he also hasn’t pitched in a game in months. The heater was as advertised with good riding action and got some wh1iffs. There wasn’t anything above 96 mph but the extension and hop on the fourseamer are impressive. Both breaking balls were inconsistent. The right-hander walked two and struck out two, and after struggling through a long first inning, he departed with one out in the second inning. Frenny Grant took over to get five outs with three strikeouts to get them through the third.
The Flying Tigers seized the lead in the bottom of the second and didn’t look back. Jesus Pinto led off with a walk, then stole second, taking third on a throwing error on the play. Hunter Dobbins singled him in with one out. Javier Osorio followed with a single, and Yost blasted a three-run shot, his second homer in as many days. A rehabbing Chris Meyers followed with a solo shot, and it was 5-0.
Lefty Paul Wilson took over in the top of the fourth and was pretty wild once again. He allowed two runs, walking three on the night. In the bottom half, Osorio walked, stole second, and took third on another errant throw from the Marauders’ catcher. Yost walked but was caught trying to steal second. Meyers walked as well and a wild pitch scored Osorio. Oliveto stepped in and crushed him first Low-A home run 421 feet to right field to make it an 8-2 game.
Lefty Carlos Rodriguez, another talented young pitcher who bears watching, took over in the fifth and gave Lakeland three scoreless frames. Jude Warwick led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, and a pair of ground balls scored him for a 9-2 lead.
Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Yost dumped a pop-up over the third base and raced to second with a double. He scored on an Oliveto single, and the Tigers have another dynamic duo cooking down in Low-A. Nick Dumesnil followed with a single and Warwick walked to load the bases. A two-run single from Anibal Salas finished their scoring on the night.
Bryce Alewine allowed a solo shot in the eighth, but otherwise looked good with four punchouts in two innings to finish this one.
Yost: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR, BB
Oliveto: 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 BB
Dumensil: 2-5, R, K, SB
Meyers: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, 2 BB
Flukey: 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Thursday.
