Toledo Mud Hens 8, Columbus Clippers 3 (box)
The Mud Hens pummeled Clippers pitching while the bullpen dominated, racking up 11 strikeouts. Once again, Ricky Vanasco was outstanding.
A two-run homer from Cal Stevenson with Eduardo Valencia aboard after a single opened the scoring in the top of the second inning. Corey Julks mashed a two-run shot, his sixth of the year, in the third with Max Clark aboard for a 4-0 lead.
Sean Guenther started things off for
the Hens bullpen, spinning two scoreless frames. Yoniel Curet allowed all three Clippers runs in the third after walking the bases loaded, but from there the bullpen got extremely stingy.
In the fifth, the Hens seized control for good. Gage Workman singled with one out and scored on a Gage Workman double. Valencia smoked a ball off the wall in right field for a double to score Workman and then scored on a Tyler Gentry home run that made it 7-3. Valencia’s second double came in the ninth with Max Clark scoring on the knock for the final run of the game.
Clark walked and scored twice, but while he’s getting on base and not striking out, his numbers have cooled over the past two weeks while Ben Malgeri and Valencia have gotten hot.
Right-hander Luke Taggart, just up from Erie, cleaned up the third for Curet, and then tossed two no-hit frames of his own with a pair of strikeouts. Taggart throws 93 mph with a pedestrian fastball but has a pretty funky slider-changeup combination. Drew Sommers and Konnor Pilkington were good in the sixth and seventh. Vanasco handled the final two frames, allowing just a single while punching out five to maintain his perfect 0.00 ERA.
Valencia: 4-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, BB
Julks: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Malgeri: 3-5
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6: 15 p.m. ET start on Friday night with the Hens holding a 2-1 lead in the series.
Erie SeaWolves 5, Chesapeake Baysox 1 (box)
Infielder John Peck remained red hot after a slow start to the season, while Lael Lockhart Jr. blanked the Baysox despite a ton of walks in this one.
Andrew Jenkins opened the scoring with a solo shot in the third. The SeaWolves missed a good scoring opportunity in the fourth, but in the bottom of the fifth, Jenkins led them off with a double and a big inning followed. After E.J. Exposito flew out, Seth Stephenson walked and Thayron Liranzo reached on a poor fielder’s choice decision. Brett Callahan struck out, but Peck stepped in and crushed a grand slam deep to left center field for a 5-0 lead.
Lockhart walked five, and struck out six, allowing just two hits and stranding everyone who reached. Yosber Sanchez collected five outs with relative ease, while Moises Rodriguez allowed a run in his two innings of work to close it out.
Peck: 2-4, R, 4 RBI, HR
Jenkins: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, K
Lockhart Jr. (W, 1-0): 5.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 5 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Friday in Erie. The SeaWolves lead the series 2-1.
Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 5 (box)
The Kernels had the Whitecaps number again on Thursday, making it three straight in the series.
Things looked quite promising early on. Juan Hernandez led off the game with a double, and after two straight outs, Bryce Rainer singled in the run. Clayton Campbell followed with a two-run shot for a quick 3-0 lead.
In the second, Nolan McCarthy led off with a single and stole second. Cristian Santana singled, and Kernels popped into shenanigans mode to allow the run to score and Santana to reach second. Ricardo Hurtado singled in Santana to make it 5-0.
The recipient of this lead was starter Lucas Elissalt. The right-hander got out to a good start and struck out six hitters in 3 2/3 innings of work, but he ran into a long inning in the third with multiple walks and then allowed a solo shot in the fourth.
Logan Berrier leaked a pair of runs in relief as the Kernels tied things up. Thomas Bruss made his season debut in the sixth and allowed a solo shot. So it went on a rough night for the ‘Caps bullpen.
McCarthy: 2-3, R, K, SB
Hurtado: 1-3, RBI, BB, 2 K
Campbell: 1-4, R 2 RBI, 2 K
Elissalt: 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start as the Whitecaps look to get back into this series on Friday night.
Bradenton Marauders 13, Lakeland Flying Tigers 6 (box)
Malachi Witherspoon had a poor outing in this one, and the Flying Tigers bullpen was mauled for 10 runs on Thursday. The presence of Zach McKinstry and Max Anderson helped, but it wasn’t enough.
The Flying Tigers scored first, as Zach MacDonald led off the second inning with a walk and eventually scored on an Edian Espinal single.
Witherspoon worked through two innings without much trouble and his stuff looked good. He just wasn’t very sharp and the Marauders just kept knocking singles. He leaked a run in the bottom of the third, but Max Anderson launched a solo shot to lead off the top of the fourth for a 2-1 lead. Welcome back, Max.
Witherspoon hurt his own cause with a throwing error in the bottom of the fourth that led to two runs and a 3-2 Bradenton lead.
In the top of the fifth, Jordan Yost walked and rode home on another blast from Max Anderson. Ok then. 4-3 Lakeland.
Unfortunately it was all Bradenton the rest of the way. Pedro Garcia allowed four earned runs and Jatnk Diaz was rocked for six runs in the sixth inning, putting this one out of reach. Jude Warwick singled in Caleb Shpur and Javier Osorio in the top of the ninth, but that was as close as they’d get.
Anderson: 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, K
Yost: 0-2, R, 2 BB
Witherspoon: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The Marauders lead the series 2-1 heading into a 6:30 p.m. ET matchup on Friday.
