Columbus Clippers 6, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (box)
Carl Edwards Jr. gave up four runs in the first two innings, and the Hens couldn’t quite fight back enough in this one. Edwards did eventually settle in and strike out eighth, but he continues to be pretty vulnerable to the long ball.
Max Clark was clipped by a pitch to start the game. Jace Jung struck out, but Max Anderson singled and Gage Workman walked to load the bases. There was the opportunity, but Corey Julks struck out and Trei Cruz lined out to end the inning.
New depth catcher Carlos Pérez
cracked a solo shot, his third already with the Hens, to open the second inning, but it was 4-1 by the time the inning ended.
Julks did unleash a solo shot in the fifth to make it a 4-2 game. Clark doubled off the wall in right center field in the sixth, but they couldn’t get him home.
Pérez hit a second leadoff homer in this one in the eighth. Max Anderson added a solo shot in the ninth, continuing his red hot month of July.
Anderson: 2-5, R, RBI, HR
Clark: 2-4, 2B, K
Perez: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR
Edwards (L, 4-8): 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start in Columbus on Wednesday.
Akron RubberDucks 12, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)
Max Alba and the SeaWolves bullpen took a beating in this one as Akron pounded out 19 hits to win easily.
Alba gave up two in the top of the first, but in the bottom half, Seth Stephenson led off with a single and Peyton Graham ripped an RBI double to left. So it was 2-1 Akron, but that was the last the SeaWolves would see of their foes as they pulled away with nine runs over the next four innings.
Justice Bigbie’s hit streak came to an end over the weekend, but he started a new one with a solo shot in the fourth. Andrew Jenkins followed him with a solo shot of his own, but that completed the scoring for Erie.
Pennington: 2-3, BB
Graham: 1-4, RBI, 2B, K
Bigbie: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, K
Alba (L, 1-4): 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Belmont Sky Carp 0 (box)
Rayner Castillo threw a good one, and the Whitecaps got some power from an old friend to carry them at home on Tuesday.
Woody Hadeen led off the bottom of the first with a single to right. Bryce Rainer struck out, but Izaac Pacheco, in the first at-bat of his rehab assignment, hammered a two-run shot to right center field. 2-0 Whitecaps.
In the second, Stephen Hrustich singled to lead off the inning and later stole second base. A Caleb Shpur single made it a 3-0 game.
Castillo wouldn’t need any more. The big right-hander went five innings, scattering three hits and three walks, striking out four.
The Whitecaps had two new faces in the lineup as catcher Edian Espinal and first baseman Beau Ankeney were promoted from Lakeland. Espinal cannot be stopped at the plate, and he walked in the first and singled in the third to get some firsts out of the way. He also cut down his first High-A runner along the way.
Ankeney singled in the sixth for his first Midwest League knock. That moved Clayton Campbell, who led off the inning with a walk, to second. Hrustich walked as well, loading the bases, and Campbell scored on a wild pitch. That’s all they got, but the pitching staff didn’t need any more help.
Preston Howey and Jalen Evans handled two innings apiece to complete the shutout.
Pacheco: 1-2, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB
Hadeen: 2-3, R
Hrustich: 1-2, R, 2 BB, K, SB
Castillo (W, 2-8): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.
Tampa Tarpons 10, Lakeland Flying Tigers 7 (box)
Things went poorly for Grayson Grinsell in this one and only a late storm of runs kept this one from being a rout.
Jordan Yost singled to open the game, but Michael Olivato grounded into a force at second in his first full season A-ball at-bat, and Roberto Campos, on a rehab assignment, grounded into a double play.
Five hitters into the bottom half, it was already 4-0, and a third home runs off of Grinsell made it 5-0. After allowing another run in the second, Grinsell did settle in and go four inning with six strikeouts and no walks, but the damage was done.
Antonio Florida and Andrew Pogue each allowed two runs in relief.
Ronald Ramirez doubled in the third inning for his first hit at the Single-A level. Javier Osorio crushed a long home run in the fifth to get Lakeland on the board. In the top of the eighth, Oliveto singled for his first knock in full season ball.
In the top of the ninth, Ramirez cranked a solo shot to left.
Osorio walked with one out and Jordan Yost reached on an error. Oliveto smoked an opposite field automatic double to play Osorio.
Anibal Salas mashed a three-run homer, and Nick Dumesnil took one out to right center field for his sixth of the year.
That was where the party ended but it did make the Tarpons uncomfortable at least.
Ramirez: 2-4, R, RBI,, 2B, HR, K
Dumesnil: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, 2 K
Osorio: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB
Grinsell (L, 5-4): 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 5:00 p.m. ET start in Tampa on Wednesday.
