Toledo Mud Hens 17, Syracuse Mets 7 (box)
The Mud Hens crushed the 46th ranked prospect in the game, right-hander Jonah Tong, with a furious barrage on Thursday that knocked Tong out of the game in the second inning. They poured it on against the Mets bullpen, taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
Max Clark got the party started as his hot start at the Triple-A level continues. Clark dumped a ball into shallow left field that left fielder Ryan Clifford couldn’t corral, and burned it around to second base with a speed double. Tong walked Trei Cruz
and Jace Jung, and after Eduardo Valencia struck out, Corey Julks doubled in all three runners for a quick 3-0 lead.
In the top of the second, Max Burt reached on an error with one out. Wenceel Pérez launched a towering two-run shot to right field at 111.6 mph off the bat. That’s his second of the season. 5-0 Hens. Clark kept things going by reaching on an error. Cruz grounded out to first, but Jace Jung walked and Valencia stepped up after a rough stretch to start the year and lined a two-run double to center field. 7-0 Hens.
That was it for Tong. Dan Hammer, and there couldn’t be many better pitcher names than Dan Hammer, took over and cleaned up the inning. Sadly, Hammer does not appear to throw a curveball. Gage Workman doubled in the third but was stranded. Meanwhile, Bryan Sammons leaked a run on a Ronny Mauricio double in the third, but smothered any further rallying.
RHP Ryan Lambert took over from Hammer in the fourth. He gave up a Valencia triple and a Workman RBI double to make it 8-1.
The Mets got to Sammons for two runs in the fourth. Christian Arroyo led off with a single, and Vidal Brujan doubled Arroyo to third, where he scored on a wild pitch. Brujan scored from third on a Cristian Pache ground out. Sammons punched out Jackson Cluff and then gave way to right-hander Tanner Rainey who finished out the inning.
The Mets turned to Alex Carrillo in the fifth, and having seen him already in the series, the Hens were ready. Burt led off with a single and stole second. Pérez walked, and Clark ripped a hot ground ball to right for an RBI double. Cruz flew out, but Jung followed with a double to center, scoring Pérez and Clark. Valencia and Julks walked to load the bases, with Ofreidy Gomez taking over from Carillo. It didn’t help, as Workman singled in Jung, but Valencia was thrown out at home. 12-3 Hens. That didn’t stop the Hens, as Ben Malgeri and Burt singled in runs, and a wild pitch scored Malgeri. When Pérez struck out to end the inning and the smoke cleared, it was 15-3 Hens.
After a long rest in the Hens’ dugout, Tanner Rainey took the mound again and promptly gave up a single to Nick Morabito and then walked MJ Melendez. Mauricio lifted a sinking drive into the left center field gap, but Max Clark made his second diving catch of the season, and then fired into Cruz at third. Cruz gunned it to second and doubled off Melendez, while Morabito scored to make it 15-4.
The Hens finally cooled in the top of the sixth, although Max Clark continued to show up his upgraded batspeed as he torched a 111.3 mph groundout to second. That’s his second ball already over 110 mph. Pretty impressive stuff from Clark all around so far. Jack Little took over in relief and allowed a two-run shot to Jackson Cluff that made it 15-6. Woo-Suk Go got into a little trouble in the seventh, but Pache flew out to end the inning.
The Mets turned to a position player pitching as Jose Rojas took over for the Mets in the eighth. Pérez greeted him with a double, and after Clark flew out, Cruz singled in Pérez. Another Jung double got Cruz to third, where he scored on a Valencia ground out. 17-6 Hens.
Cole Waites allowed a solo shot to Hayden Senger in the bottom of the eighth to make it 17-7, and that’s where it finally ended.
Workman: 3-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, BB
Perez: 2-5, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B, 2 BB, K
Valencia: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, K
Jung: 2-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, K
Sammons: 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K
Rainey (W, 1-0): 1.1 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 4:05 p.m. ET start time on Friday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 1, Lake County Captains 0 (box)
Whitecaps’ pitching was really sharp in this one, while the offense pounded out eight hits and drew five walks, but could only push across one run in their season opener.
Shortstop Woody Hadeen opened the game with a single, and then stole second and took third on a throwing error. Jackson Strong, Roberto Campos, demoted down from Erie to start this season, and Garrett Pennington all struck out to strand Hadeen at third.
Right-hander Hayden Minton, our 33rd ranked prospect, was very good on Opening Day. He spun four no-hit innings with just a walk allowed against five strikeouts. He needed just 51 pitches, pumping 31 strikes and racking up nine whiffs.
The Whitecaps got a single from Stephen Hrustich in the second, and another single for Hadeen along with a walk to Strong in the third, but those baserunners went nowhere.
Hadeen continued his four-hit game with a leadoff single in the fifth, and this time the ‘Caps pushed across a run. Strong walked, and while Campos hit into a double play, Hadeen reached third and scored on a Pennington single. That made it 1-0, and that’s where this one would eventually end.
Luke Stofel threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in relief of Minton. Carlos Lequerica threw two scoreless without a hit, though he walked three and struck out five. Logan Berrier collected the first save of the season, issuing a walk in the ninth but striking out three.
Hadeen: 4-5, R, SB
Pennington: 1-4, RBI, 2 K
Santana: 1-3, BB
Minton: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Friday night.
Here is the Whitecaps roster to start the season. There seem to be a few last minute additions not announced here. The SeaWolves and Flying Tigers rosters are below.
Some notable young faces in Lakeland include RHP Malachi Witherspoon, last year’s second rounder, #3 overall prospect SS Bryce Rainer, returning from his shoulder injury, 2025 3rd rounder LHP Ben Jacobs, 2025 4th round pick LHP Caleb Leys, RHP Cale Wetwiska, and RHP Jatnk Diaz.
