Columbus Clippers 10, Toledo Mud Hens 7 (box)
The Hens offense had a good night, but Carl Edwards Jr. and the Hens bullpen did not.
Edwards Jr. is being stretched out as a starter for whatever reason. Probably because Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg liked him as a Cubs reliever nearly a decade ago. Anyway, he got shelled right out of the gate much like his last outing and was pulled before the first inning was over. Scott Effross allowed two run in the second, and so it was 6-0 real quickly.
It was 7-0 by the time the Hens got on the board in
the bottom of the fourth. Max Anderson drilled an opposite field homer, and two batters later Jace Jung launched his seventh of the year to make it 7-2 Columbus. Corey Julks immediately followed with another solo shot, and Tomás Nido doubled. Kerry Carpenter singled to right to get Nido to third, and Ben Malgeri doubled in Nido to make it a 7-4 game.
Anderson was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fifth, and two batter later Jung cracked a two-run shot, his second of the game. 7-6 Columbus.
Lael Lockhart Jr. allowed two runs in the eighth, and Luke Ritter one in the ninth. The Hens got a run in the bottom of the eighth when Tyler Gentry singled against Daniel Espino and Trei Cruz doubled him in.
Carpenter went 1 for 2 with a pair of walks and a strikeout in his first rehab game with the Hens. Trei Cruz had the double and two strikeouts. Cruz shouldn’t be too far from readiness, particularly as the Tigers need him to play shortstop and center field, so all he has to do is be slightly more effective than Zack Short.
Jung: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, BB, K
Julks: 2-5, R, RBI, HR, 3 K
Cruz: 1-5, RBI, 2B, 2 K
Clark: 1-4, BB
Edwards (L, 1-4): 0.2 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start at Fifth Third on Saturday with the Clippers up 3-1 in the series.
Chesapeake Baysox 12, Erie SeaWolves 2 (box)
The Baysox clobbered lefty Carlos Peña in this one, and they found that clobbering pitchers was fun. So they continue to add on as they ran away with this one.
Peña got through the first, but the second was just a parade of hits that wouldn’t end. He didn’t even walk a batter, but the Baysox racked up seven runs in the second inning, knocking him out of the game.
Luke Taggart took over, but left in the fourth with two on, and Johan Simon got a grounder that went for an error on first baseman Chris Meyers to plate another run. Eric Silva gave up another in the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Justice Bigbie doubled to lead off and a flyout and a ground out were enough to score him. Thayron Liranzo has been red hot the past few weeks after a slow start, and he crushed his seventh homer of the year, this one right-handed, in the seventh. That’s six homers in Liranzo’s last 12 games.
Catcher Aaron Antonini pitched 2.1 innings, which tells you all you need to know really. First baseman Andrew Jenkins got the final two out.
Liranzo: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, K
Bigbie: 1-3, R, 2B, BB
Peña (L, 3-2): 1.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Lansing Lugnuts 2 (box)
Carlos Marcano gave the Whitecaps a solid short start and the bullpen held up in this one as they evened the series on Friday.
Marcano needed 55 pitches to work through three innings, and for whatever reason the Tigers refuse to stretch their pitchers out. He allowed just one hit and two walks, striking out four in a scoreless outing.
Caleb Shpur doubled and then stole third in the third inning. Woody Hadeen singled him in for a 1-0 lead.
Lefty Ethan Sloan allowed the Lugnuts to tie it up in the fourth, but bounced back with a scoreless fifth inning. Doubles from Ricardo Hurtado and Garrett Pennington in the sixth made it 2-1 ‘Caps. In the eighth, they loaded the bases and a two-run single from Clayton Campbell made it 4-1.
Ryan Harvey and Thomas Bruss were solid in relief. Zack Lee allowed a run in the ninth but held on to collect the save.
Hadeen: 2-5, R, RBI
Campbell: 1-4, 2 RBI, 3 K
Pennington: 1-3, RBI, 2B, BB, K
Marcano: 3.0 IP, 0 R, H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
Palm Beach Cardinals 7, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (box)
Kelvis Salcedo’s command just wasn’t there in this one. The offense made a nice push late to come back, but couldn’t complete the task.
Salcedo just couldn’t find a groove in this one. His fastball velocity was down, and while he only walked one in three innings of work, he was behind in counts though much of his outing. He gave up a solo shot in the second inning, and three runs in the third before departing. Jatnk Diaz settled things down in the fourth, but then surrendered a pair of runs in the fifth. So it was 6-0 Cardinals at that point, and Yendy Gomez balked in another in the sixth.
Zach MacDonald continues to mash and play a good center field. He crushed a rocket to left in the top of the seventh for his 12th home run on the year with Beau Ankeney board. 7-2 Cardinals.
In the eighth Newremberg Rondon (I can’t help but think Nuremberg) doubled to lead off the inning and singles from catcher Hunter Dobbins and Jordan Yost singled in Rondon. The Cardinals went back to their pen, but Jude Warwick greeted Jesus Garcia with a double to left to plate Dobbins. Yost was thrown out trying to go first to home, but Warwick took third on that play, and Nick Dumesnil lifted a sacrifice fly to score him.
So it was 7-5, but the Flying Tigers couldn’t muster anything more.
MacDonald: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Yost: 1-4, RBI, K
Dobbins: 1-2, R, BB
Salcedo (L, 0-2): 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday with Palm Beach leading the series 3-1.
FCL Tigers 8, FCL Yankees 2 (box)
Aleiman Cruz gave the Tigers a very good start and they pounded out 14 hits to crush the Yankees on Friday. Cruz scattered three hits and no walks over four innings of scoreless work, striking out five.
Santiago Pinto: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, K, SB
Maikol Orozco: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, K
Cruz: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K
