Columbus Clippers 8, Toledo Mud Hens 6 (box)
The Mud Hens fought back from an early deficit only for the bullpen and a rough error from Max Clark to allow the Clippers to re-take the lead and win on Tuesday in Columbus.
Ty Madden got the start, and once again looked like an aging depth starter with solid breaking stuff. That’s not a good thing. A double and a walk allowed in the bottom of the second led to a two-run inning for the Clippers, and Madden leaked one more in the third. He walked three, struck out two, and his fastball velocity remains
way down from his pre-injury stuff. Jack Little took over to clean up the third, and then tossed a scoreless pair of innings of his own to keep the Hens in this one.
In the top of the sixth, Max Clark singled with one out and Gage Workman cracked a two-run homer. Grant Holman gave a run back in the bottom half, and it was 4-2 Columbus.
The seventh started with singles from Jace Jung and Tyler Gentry. Andrew Navigato returned to the Tigers fold over the weekend on a minor league deal, and he moved the runners up with a sac bunt. Singles from Luke Ritter and Ben Malgeri followed, and the game was all tied up. The Clippers went to the pen and Tanner Burns got a ground out from Clark that moved the runners up, but Gage Workman came through with a two-run single to make it a 6-4 game.
Unfortunately, Holman allowed a single to lead off the bottom half, and Konnor Pilkington came in and fell apart with a wild pitch, two singles, and then a walk to re-load the bases in a now one-run game. Pilkington then induced a shallow high fly to center field, and Max Clark forgot to secure the catch as he set up to fire home and dropped it. One run scored there, and a sacrifice fly and then a single plated two more runs to make it 8-6. The Hens couldn’t put anything together in the ninth.
Workman: 2-3, R, 4 RBI, HR, BB, K
Malgeri: 2-5, R, RBI
Madden: 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:15 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.
Chesapeake Baysox 11, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)
Kenny Serwa was mauled for six runs, five earned, and the SeaWolves offense didn’t have an answer in this one.
The Baysox scored three in the first, and three more in the fourth to knock Serwa out. The whiffs just aren’t there for him, and controlling the knuckler is something rarely mastered.
In the bottom of the first, Brett Callahan walked, stole second, and scored on a John Peck double. Peck also led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot, and has been heating up a little after a rough start to the season. He also doubled in the eighth, taking third on a Peyton Graham single and scoring on a ground out.
Thayron Liranzo returned to Erie in this one after completing his Lakeland rehab assignment. He was the DH in this one, smoking a pair of doubles, while Aaron Antonini was behind the plate.
The bullpen just kep leaking runs late as the Baysox won this one running away.
Peck: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, HR, K
Liranzo: 2-4, 2 2B
Serwa (L, 1-4): 4.0 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start at UPMC Park on Wednesday.
Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)
Hayden Minton threw an okay game, but the ‘Caps offense couldn’t get much going as they were walked off in Cedar Rapids.
Samuel Gil singled and later scored on a Nolan McCarthy single in the fourth after they missed a good scoring opportunity in the third. Minton wasn’t getting many whiffs, but he kept the Kernels on the hull until allowing a pair of baserunners in the fifth. He picked off the runner at second, and that was well because a two-run homer followed to give Cedar Rapids a 2-1 lead.
The Whitecaps answered back in the top of the sixth when Bryce Rainer led off by hammering a triple off the wall in left center field. Andrew Sojka singled him in, but that was all they’d get.
So it was a 2-2 tie, and Donye Evans gave them two scoreless innings out of the pen. The offense just couldn’t come up with another run, and Ethan Sloan punched out three in the eighth, but then allowed a walkoff homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth to take the loss.
Rainer: 1-3, R, 3B, BB, 2 K
Sojka: 2-4, RBI, 2B, K
Minton: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 1:05 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 4, Bradenton Marauders 1 (box)
Lefty Grayson Grinsell was way too much for the Marauders as the Flying Tigers cruised to victory on Tuesday.
Grinsell one-hit the Marauders with six strikeouts to two walks in this one, allowing his first run of the season along the way. His fastball is only 90-92 mph right now, but he has huge life on the fourseamer and continues to command it well early in his pro career. Single-A hitters haven’t seen many lefties in general, let alone good college arms like Grinsell and Ben Jacobs, and it showed in this one. Grinsell also packs a good changeup and a solid slider, and collected 16 whiffs on 36 swings in this one. Like Jacobs, he should be ready to move up to High-A pretty quickly.
Jordan Yost and Jesus Pinto opened the game with back-to-back singles, and Yost later scored on a Carson Rucker sacrifice fly. In the second, Beau Ankeney led off with a walk, and Jack Goodman singled him to third where a Sergio Tapia sacrifice fly scored him for an early 2-0 lead.
Grinsell allowed a triple in the bottom of the fifth, which led to a run on a sacrifice fly for the only blemish on his scorecard in this one.
So it was a tight 2-1 game, but in the top of the seventh, Bradenton walked Anibal Salas and Yost to start the inning, and Pinto stayed hot with a two-run double to make it 4-1. Jose Guzman and Yendy Gomez each tossed a strong pair of innings with two strikeouts each to lock it down, with Gomez earning his first save of the year.
Pinto: 2-4, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, K
Yost: 1-3, 2 R, BB
Grinsell (W, 2-0): 5.0 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
