Erie SeaWolves 3, Altoona Curve 1 (box)
After dropping Game 1, the Erie SeaWolves rallied back to win on Thursday, and on Friday night they took down Konnor Griffin and the Altoona Curve against to advance to the Eastern League championship for the fourth straight season. The SeaWolves now have a good shot at an unprecedented third straight title.
Lefty Carlos Pena got the start in this one, and he stepped up nicely. Pena walked Griffin to open the game, then gave up a single and a double. The Curve had a 1-0 lead before he collected an out.
Pena dug in, popped up the next hitter, caught a break with a line out to Jake Holton at first, and then punched out Wyatt Hendrie to strand both baserunners.
The SeaWolves came right back. Max Clark led off the bottom of the first with a walk. John Peck struck out, but Kevin McGonigle lined a single to center field. Josue Briceño followed by drawing a walk, and Jake Holton lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Clark and tie the game.
From that point on, Pena was nails. He scattered two hits and pitched until Austin Bergner relieved him with two outs in the fifth inning. Fine work from Carlos Pena.
Lefty Blake Townsend matched Pena for a couple of innings, but in the bottom of the fourth, the SeaWolves broke through.
Holton drew a walk with one out, and Thayron Liranzo, hitting right-handed, smoked a double up the right center field gap to score him. Chris Meyers struck out, but Ben Malgeri came through with a line drive single to center field to score Liranzo. The lead was 3-1, and the pitching staff would make it hold up.
Bergner did a nice job handling the sixth and the seventh innings. Richard Guasch handled the eighth, but gave up a leadoff single to Griffin. A flyout followed, but Guasch then wild pitched Griffin to second and walked Nick Cimillo. He bounced back to get Esmerlyn Valdez on a shallow fly ball to Clark in center field, but with left-handed hitter Omar Alfonzo up and Guasch struggling with his control, manager Andrew Graham turned to Andrew Magno, who got a ground out to end the inning.
Magno then came up big by getting the first two hitters in the top of the ninth. Javier Rivas singled to center, but a lineout to Malgeri followed and the SeaWolves advanced to the championship series.
The Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the New York Mets Triple-A affiliate, will host Game 1 on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET. Games 2, and 3 if necessary, will be played at 6:35 p.m. ET at UPMC Park.
McGonigle: 1-2, 2 BB, SB, K
Liranzo: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B, 2 K
Malgeri: 1-3, RBI
Pena: 4.2 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K
Here’s a compilation of McGonigle plays at shortstop in the series so you can get an idea of what he looks like defensively.
Iowa Cubs 1, Toledo Mud Hens 0 (box)
The Mud Hens outpitched and out-hit the Cubs on Friday night, and they lost anyway, snapping their four-game win streak.
Jordan Balazovic got the start, and he spun three scoreless frames with two hits allowed, no walks, and five strikeouts. Tanner Rainey followed with two perfect innings and four strikeouts. Chase Lee gave them two more scoreless frames, allowing just a single, and so it went.
The problem, was that while the Hens had three more hits on the night, and five fewer strikeouts, they couldn’t string anything together. Sound familiar? A leadoff double but Riley Unroe in the top of the third went nowhere. Eduardo Valencia reached on a swinging bunt to third base to lead off the fourth inning. He never advanced beyond first base.
Chase Lee gave up a two out single to Miguel Amaya in the bottom of the sixth. Billy Hamilton pinch ran for him, but was cut down by Brian Serven trying to steal second. The Hens looked to find some life as one out singles from Max Anderson and Trei Cruz followed, but Andrew Navigato grounded into an inning ending double play.
Finally in the bottom of the eighth the Cubs broke through. Tyler Mattison got the first two outs of the inning, but Hayden Cantrelle singled, and Nicky Lopez tripled to right field for the game’s only run.
Valencia continues to be the Hens best offensive weapon, and he showed it again in the top of the ninth. Valencia drilled a line drive the opposite way for a leadoff double, but then tried to stretch it into a triple and was thrown out. With two outs, Anderson did the same thing, singling to right and getting cut down by Cantrelle as he tried to take second base to end the game in style from the Cubs perspective.
Valencia: 2-4, 2B, K
Unroe: 2-3, 2B, K, SB
Anderson: 2-4
Balazovic: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Rainey: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K
