Toledo Mud Hens 11, Indianapolis Indians 2 (box)
The Hens took advantage of 8 walks to crush Indy on Wednesday night.
The Carl Edwards Jr. experiment has been an absolute rollercoaster, but they got the good version in this one. The veteran right-hander gave up a run in the first, and then powered through four scoreless frames with six strikeouts to get this one to the sixth with a lead.
The lead was courtesy of a James Outman solo shot in the bottom of the second, a Corey Julks double in the fourth that led to him scoring, and then in the fifth,
Max Burt doubled and stole third, scoring on a Jace Jung double.
So it was 3-1 through five innings. The game ended in the seventh for all intents and purposes, as the Hens scored seven runs in the bottom half. There were six walks and a hit batter in the inning, and the big blow was this grand slam by Burt that capped off a brutal inning for the Indians. It also wasn’t really a grand slam, but the umpires saw otherwise.
Enmanuel de Jesus succeeded Edwards and collected seven outs, five by strikeout. Tyler Mattison finished the eighth, and Nick Sandlin allowed a run in the ninth.
Burt: 2-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, K, SB
Jung: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K
Edwards Jr.: (W, 5-10): 5.0 IP, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: The Hens get back at it at 7:05 p.m. ET, and you may still be able to Konner Griffin for one more game on the other side.
Somerset Patriots 8, Erie SeaWolves 6 (box)
Max Alba was knocked around in this one, and the SeaWolves couldn’t manage a comeback. Fortunately, they still have a pretty good hold on a playoff spot with nine games left, but they do need to get back to winning right quick.
Somerset got to Alba for four runs in the first inning, and Dariel Fregio had to clean up the mess. Izaac Pacheco hit a solo shot, his 20th homer of the year for the SeaWolves, in the bottom of the second inning.
Fregio gave up a run in the third to make it a 5-1 game, but the SeaWolves fought back to tie it up in the bottom of the third.
Peyton Graham and Woody Hadeen started the inning with singles, and Zyhir Hope smashed a two-run double to center field. Hope stole third, but ultimately rode home on a two-run shot from E.J. Exposito. The infielder now has 23 homers on the season. 5-5 game.
Colin Fields allowed a run in the top of the fifth, partly due to his own bad pickoff throw, and the SeaWolves just couldn’t manage another push. Moises Rodriguez led it get away a little further when, after collecting five outs in the seventh and eighth, he allowed two runs in the top of the ninth.
Graham walked, took two bases on defensive indifference, and scored on an error on a Hadeen fly ball, but they couldn’t get any closer.
Hope: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K, SB
Pacheco: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, K
Graham: 2-4, 2 R, BB, K, SB
Rodriguez: 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves get back to work at 7:05 p.m. ET on Thursday. Their Southwest division lead is down to 4.5 games over Chesapeake with nine games remaining.
West Michigan Whitecaps 14, Dayton Dragons 6 (box)
The Whitecaps know the situation; win or go home. Still 1.5 games back of Great Lakes for a playoff spot, Ben Jacobs absolutely shoved in this one, and the Whitecaps offense went off to win again on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Loons won as well, so there are just four games left to make a run at this.
If you read BYB you’ve heard a lot about the 22-year-old lefty this year, and he lived up to the billing again in this one. He gave up a two-run shot in the bottom of the third, but was otherwise dominant the Dragons, showing some really good sliders to go with the gnarly fourseam-splitter combo that is usually his bread and butter. Jacobs punched out 10 without allowing a walk in five innings of two-run ball in this one, and it’s great to see that in a game where his teammates really needed a good outing.
The Whitecaps struck first in the top of the third. Stephen Hrustich cracked a solo shot with two outs, and Bryce Rainer smoked a sharp single to left. Edian Espinal ripped a drive to the wall in center field for an RBI triple, and Beau Ankeney doubled him home for a 3-0 lead.
Jacobs gave up the homer in the bottom half, but was lights out the rest of his night.
In the sixth, they got to work against the Dragons’ bullpen. Ankeney doubled again with one out, and a recently scorching hot, and the still somehow just 22-year-old Cristian Santana crushed a two-run shot to left for a 5-2 lead. Walks to Jackson Strong and Samuel Gil followed, and Carson Rucker grounded into a force of Gil at second. Nolan McCarthy singled in Strong, and it was 6-2 Whitecaps.
Luke Hoskins gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-3, but in the eighth the Whitecaps blew this one open. Santana reached on an error to start the inning and Strong walked again. Juan Hernandez blasted a three-run shot to center field and they tacked on another run in the inning to make it 10-3.
In the top of the ninth, Espinal reached on an error on Dayton’s left fielder and reached third on the play. Ankeney singled him home. Santana struck out, but yet again, Strong drew a walk. Hernandez flew out, but Carson Rucker launched a three-run shot tucked just fair down the right field line to make it 14-3.
Ethan Sloan was a mess in the bottom half, allowing three runs, but it was already over.
Ankeney: 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B
Espinal: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 3B
Rucker: 1-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, K
Jacobs (W, 5-2): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 10 K
Coming Up Next: The ‘Caps have won four in a row, but they need to keep it going at 7:05 p.m. ET in Dayton on Thursday. Do it for Dan Hasty!
Lakeland Flying Tigers @ Bradenton Marauders (postponed)
Cameron Flukey’s last start of the season will have to wait. They were rained out on Wednesday, and will try to make this one up with a doubleheader on Friday. Thursday night’s game is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. In other news LHP Caleb Leys has been moved to the development list, while RHP Jhonan Coba has been activated by the Flying Tigers. Presumably we’ll see another start from Coba before the season ends on Sunday.
