CANCELED: Toledo Mud Hens vs. Iowa Cubs
Inclement weather canceled the series finale between Toledo and Iowa. The Mud Hens take the series 4-1.
Coming Up Next: The Hens are at home next week against the St. Paul Saints, starting Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Erie SeaWolves 6, Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 (box)
A four-run ninth carried Erie to victory on Sunday, as the SeaWolves tied the series with the Richmond Flying Squirrels at three games apiece.
The most impactful swing of the night came from Izaac Pacheco with two outs in the top of the ninth. Mitch White had just taken over for Seth Lonsway,
and Pacheco took the first pitch he saw — a 96-mph fastball low in the zone — and crushed it for a two-run homer, giving Erie a 4-3 lead. Justice Bigbie was on base from a single before the pitching change.
Things didn’t get better for White. Andrew Jenkins singled, E.J. Exposito walked and Seth Stephenson drove both runners in with a double to the wall in left-center. 6-3, Seawolves.
Moises Rodriguez earned the win with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth. However, Rodriguez was also the reason Richmond took a late lead. He sailed a throw to first and watched it ricochet off the tarp and down the right field line. The runner ended up on third and scored on a sacrifice fly.
The rest of Erie’s pitching was sound. Max Alba gave 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out four. A solo home run in the first and a soft RBI single into left in the fourth were the only costly mistakes of the day for him. Tanner Kohlhepp took over for Alba in the fifth to get the final out and pitch through the sixth. Eric Silva went 1-2-3 in the seventh.
The SeaWolves didn’t have a ton of offense in the first eight frames. Exposito homered in the third to tie the game at 1-1, and Brett Callahan briefly tied the game again at two runs apiece in the eighth with an RBI. Bigbie and Stephenson both had two hits.
Liranzo: 0-4, 2 K
Exposito: 1-3, HR (8), 2 R, RBI, BB, K
Pacheco: 1-4, HR (9), R, 2 RBI, 2 K
Alba: 4.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves are at home next week against the Akron RubberDucks, starting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m ET.
West Michigan Whitecaps 11, Dayton Dragons 3 (box)
Tarik Skubal day in West Michigan went about as well as it could have, with the Whitecaps winning 8-0 over the Dayton Dragons and the Tigers’ ace looking near-perfect.
Skubal gave up two hits over five scoreless innings and struck out six. He reportedly touched 99 mph and looked like the guy Tigers fans have come to adore over the past few years. For a more in-depth breakdown of Skubal’s start, check out this piece.
Jackson Strong stayed hot at the plate, giving West Michigan an early lead with a two-run homer in the first, and the Whitecaps never looked back.
Garrett Pennington singled in two more runners in the third, Ricardo Hurtado doubled in a pair in the fifth, and Woody Hadeen made it 7-0 in the sixth with an RBI double. A balk with Bryce Rainer at the plate gave the Whitecaps run No. 8 in the seventh.
Hadeen, Pennington and Bennett Lee had multi-hit days. Lee just recently joined the roster after coming down from Erie on Saturday.
Ryan Harvey, Luke Stofel and CJ Weins continued the shutout in relief of Skubal. Harvey struck out a pair in as many innings, and the other two worked around a combined three hits over the final two frames. Way to not mess it up, guys.
The Whitecaps win the series, 4-2.
Rainer: 0-3, R, BB
Strong: 1-5, HR (5), R, 2 RBI, 2 K
Pennington: 2-5, 2B (15), R, 2 RBI
Skubal: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are on the road against the Lake County Captains next week, starting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. ET.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 3 (box)
Lakeland was outhit by Fort Myers on Sunday, but the Flying Tigers prevailed over the Mighty Mussels, 5-3, to close the series out with a second win.
Six free passes on the day helped Lakeland score more often, and six scattered hits around the lineup did the trick. Javier Osorio gave the Flying Tigers an early 2-0 lead with a two-run single into left field in the second.
Beau Ankeney got a run back in the sixth with a solo home run after Fort Myers scored in the top of the inning.
Jesus Pinto and Edian Espinal answered a two-run eighth by the Mighty Mussels with as many runs in the bottom half; the former singling into center field for a run, and the latter driving in another with a sacrifice fly.
Charlie Christensen gave Lakeland four innings of one-hit ball while striking out eight, lowering his ERA to 1.38 on the year. The right-hander’s secondary stuff was sharp once again, racking up whiffs with cutters, sliders, and changeups. Joe Ruzicka gave up the first run on two hits and a walk, but he lasted two innings. Jan Carabello struck out four over 1 2/3 innings, but he also gave up a pair of runs on four hits. Jatnk Diaz got the final four outs of the game, working around just one hit.
Ankeney: 1-4, HR (5), R, RBI, K
Christensen: 4.0 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers are on the road next week against the Clearwater Threshers, starting Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. ET.
