Columbus Clippers 10, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (box)
The Hens pitching staff was shelled on Thursday, while the offense couldn’t capitalize much on six walks given up by the Clippers.
Troy Watson got the start and was clobbered for four runs and knocked out of the game with one out in the second inning. Yoniel Curet took over and settled things down through the third inning in a nice performance. Curet arguably has the best stuff on the staff and is still actually a prospect still 23 years old, so outings without walks are a step in the right direction
for him.
The Hens got on the board in the bottom of the third when Ben Malgeri drew a two-out walk and stole second base. Max Clark pulled a grounder through Clippers’ first baseman Ralphy Velazquez to drive in Malgeri and make it a 4-1 game.
Woo-Suk Go took over from Curet and kept the Clippers off the board in the fourth. In the bottom half, Eduardo Valenica led off with a single. Jace Jung struck out, but Corey Julks walked and Tyler Gentry singled to load the bases. Cal Stevenson grounded out, scoring Valencia, and Andrew Navigato smoked a line drive single to center field to make it 4-3 Clippers, but that was all they’d get.
Go cruised through the fifth, but they tried to squeeze a third inning out of him and he immediately gave up back-to-back doubles and a walk before Jack Little took over. Little allowed two more of Go’s runners to score for a 7-3 Clippers lead.
Little and then Luke Ritter gave up three more runs in the late innings while the Hens offense missed a few opportunities.
Clark: 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, K, SB
Malgeri: 1-4, R, BB, K, SB
Watson (L, 1-1): 1.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, K
Go: 2.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday night in Toledo.
Chesapeake Baysox 12, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)
Kenny Serwa and Tanner Kohlhepp were the Baysox’s main victims in this one as Michigan State grad and Orioles’ second rounder last year, Joseph Dzierwa, punched out nine SeaWolves in his start.
Serwa gave up five runs, three earned through three innings of work. Kohlhepp couldnt’ miss a bat, giving up four runs in the fifth.
It was already 9-0 when the SeaWolves got on the board. Izaac Pacheco led off the fifth with a double and E.J. Exposito drew a walk. Bennett Lee and Brett Callahan struck out, but Peyton Graham lined a single that was misplayed into a double to center field to plate both runs. Callahan would later double in the seventh, and an error on the play scored Exposito to make it 9-3.
First baseman Andrew Jenkins tossed the ninth. Enough said. One of the few bright spots was reliever Moises Rodriguez, who tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless ball to keep his ERA at 2.22 on the year. Rodriguez high-powered sinker makes him the next Jason Foley, but he’s still got to improve his command to get there.
Graham: 1-5, 2 RBI, 2B, K
Callahan: 1-4, 2B, BBf, K
Serwa (L, 1-6): 3.0 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Friday with the Baysox up 2-1 in the series.
Lansing Lugnuts 6, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (box)
Carlos Lequerica was rocked in relief, while Andrew Sears made another rehab start with the Whitecaps in yet another loss.
The Whitecaps’ offense got speedy infielder Woody Hadeen back from the injured list, and they churned out 10 hits and drew four walks, but couldn’t come through with runners in scoring position. At least that’s a change from watching their bullpen blow leads.
Things were promising early on. Samuel Gil tripled with two outs in the first and Bryce Rainer pulled a ground ball through the right side for a 1-0 lead. In the second, Cristian Santana walked but was cut down at the plate trying to score on a Junior Tilien double.
Sears wasn’t real sharp in terms of command, but he didn’t have much trouble with the Lugnuts until giving up an RBI double in the third that tied the game 1-1.
Carlos Lequerica took over to get the final out of the third, but walked the first two hitters in the fourth and went on to give up five runs, capped by an Ali Camarillo three-run shot.
The Whitecaps had plenty of baserunners the rest of the way but just could not buy an RBI knock.
Lucas Elissalt’s usual start day accomodated Sears rehab outing, and the right-hander was really good, throwing four scoreless frames without a walk, striking out four.
Rainer: 3-4, RBI
Hadeen: 1-3, 2 BB
Sears: 2.2 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Elissalt: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start in Lansing on Friday. The Lugnuts lead the series 2-1.
Palm Beach Cardinals 9, Lakeland Flying Tigers 3 (box)
Malachi Witherspoon was crusining early on but ran out of gas and was rocked by a pair of homers as his outing ended in this one.
Carson Rucker opened the scoring in the top of the second with a missile to center field for his sixth home run.
Witherspoon leaked a run in the third, and gave up a Trevor Haskins solo shot in the fourth. Still, he was racking up plenty of strikeouts and routine ground balls until the fifth. He gave up a solo shot, and then a single before Andrew Pogue took over. Pogue allowed the inherited runner to score and then gave up two more runs to make it a 6-1 Palm Beach lead.
In the sixth, Sergio Tapia drew a leadoff walk, and a Jude Warwick sac bunt and then a Jesus Pinto single got Tapia to third. A Beau Ankeney sacrifice fly scored Tapia to make it 6-2. Anibal Salas added a solo shot in the seventh. The bullpen leaked three more runs in the late innings.
Rucker: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, 2 K
Salas: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, 3 K
Witherspoon (L, 2-1): 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: The Cardinals are up 2-1 in the series going into a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Friday.
FCL Yankees 2, FCL Tigers 1 (box)
Jhonan Coba made an excellent, though curiously short outing, but the Tigers didn’t swing the bats well in this one. They got an early lead when Maikol Orozco was hit by pitch, and a rehabbing Jack Penney drew a walk. Cris Rodriguez singled in Orozco for a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, Jake Bushnell allowed a pair of runs in his 3.1 innings of work and the Tigers couldn’t answer back.
Penney: 1-2, 2B, BB
Rodriguez: 1-4, RBI, 3 K
Hrustich: 1-1, BB
Coba: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 3 K
Bushell (L, 0-1): 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K
