Toledo Mud Hens 4, St. Paul Saints 0 (box)
Jackson Wolf threw a great game, and the bullpen held an early lead to take out the Saints on Friday. The Saints were without prized outfield prospect Walker Jenkins, who was called up to the big leagues for his debut yesterday.
The Hens jumped out to a lead early in this one. Trei Cruz started the game with a single and Jace Jung walked. A fly out from Max Anderson got Cruz to third and Josue Briceño pulled a single through the right side to score him. John Peck followed with a single past the Saints’
second baseman and Jung scored for a quick 2-0 lead.
They added a run in the second when Cal Stevenson walked, stole second, took third on a throwing error on the play, and scored on a Jace Jung double. 3-0 Hens.
Meanwhile, lefty Jackson Wolf was going off. Acquired as the second piece from the Padres in the Casey Mize deal, Wolf has looked pretty good. Here he was excellent, striking out 11 over five scoreless frames.
It was Stevenson sparking them in the sixth as well. He drilled a grounder up the middle to start the inning and raced around to second as the Saints center fielder was a little slow to get the ball in. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third, and a wild pitch from German Marquez scored him for a 4-0 lead.
Yilber Diaz handled the sixth inning in relief of The Wolf, while Brenan Hanifee and Andre Granillo each tossed a perfect inning. Granillo looked to close it out, but gave up a leadoff double. He struck out the next hitters, but Peck threw away a grounder, allowing the run to score. Granillo punched out the next hitter, but Nick Sandlin, who cleared waivers earlier this week, closed it out with a ground ball.
Peck: 3-3, RBI, BB, 2 SB
Anderson: 2-5, K
Cruz: 2-4, R, BB, K, CS
Wolf (W, 7-11): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 BB, 11 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:37 p.m. ET start on Saturday with the Hens up 3-1 in the road series.
Erie SeaWolves 9, Altoona Curve 4 (box)
Kenny Serwa was knocked around a little bit in this one, but the SeaWolves roared back with a couple of big innings to win on Friday.
Serwa gave up three runs in 5.2 innings of work, so he held it together despite issuing four walks in his outing.
Down a run early, the SeaWolves tied things up in the top of the third. Seth Stephenson drew a leadoff walk and got to third on an errant pickoff throw. Peyton Graham followed with a walk, and Stephenson scored on a Woody Hadeen double play ball.
Serwa gave up a run in the bottom of the third, but in the fourth, Luke Shligher singled, stole second, and scored on a Viandel Pena single to tie things up again at 2-2. Serwa promptly gave up a solo shot to open the bottom of the inning.
Finally in the sixth the SeaWolves seized control. Thayron Liranzo and Izaac Pacheco were both hit by pitches to start the inning. Altoona went back to their pen, but Shliger greeted Jaycob Deese to the game with a three-run shot and a 5-3 lead. They weren’t done either, as Stephenson doubled with two outs and scored on a Graham single. 6-3 SeaWolves.
Johan Simon gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh, but in the eighth the Seawolves pulled away. Pena drew a leadoff walk and stole second. With one out, Graham singled him home, and then Graham stole his 62nd base on the year after Hadeen flew out sharply to center. Zyhir Hope singled in Graham, and then Hope stole second base as well. Liranzo walked, and Pacheco ripped a single to right field to plate Hope and make it a 9-4 game.
Dariel Fregio collected the final eight outs, striking out four, to put this one away.
Graham: 3-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB
Shliger: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, K, SB
Hope: 3-5, R, RBI, K, SB
Pacheco: 2-4, R, RBI
Serwa (W, 8-8): 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:00 p.m. ET start in Altoona on Saturday with the SeaWolves down 3-1 in the series.
Peoria Chiefs 8, West Michigan Whitecaps 0 (box)
This one was effectively over by the third inning as JoJo Ingrassia got shelled out of the game with seven runs in. Eliseo Mota took over and gave up another one in the third for good measure, and there was no more run scoring in the contest. Bryce Rainer had the ‘Caps only hit. Win Scott tossed four good innings of long relief to spare the rest of the bullpen, but this was not at all what the ‘Caps needed as the Great Lakes Loons surged to a 2.5 game lead in the division with eight games left in the regular season.
In happier news, RHP Cale Wetwiska was promoted to High-A West Michigan on Friday. The right-hander is creeping into the mix of the Tigers’ top pitching prospects and is definitely one to watch.
Rainer: 1-3, BB, 2 K
Ingrassia (L, 0-2): 2.1 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, BB, 0 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
Clearwater Threshers 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers 6 (box)
Right-hander Michael Massey, one of our favorite pitcher draft picks in recent years finally made his pro debut on Friday night. The Wake Forest product was the Tigers’ fourth rounder back in 2024, but had yet to pitch due to myriad injuries, including Tommy John surgery last year. Finally he was able to take the first step in his pro career in this one.
His outing didn’t go very well though. He cruised through the first in 12 pitches, whiffing one hitter with a power curve and the other with a 96 mph heater. In the second, he got into a little trouble surrendering a solo shot, and then issuing a pair of walks. He got a double play ball, but he was replaced by Frenny Grant with two outs, and the lefty immediately gave up an RBI single.
Massey averaged 94.9 mph, and like Cameron Flukey, averaged a whopping 20 inches of induced vertical break on his fourseamer. His 84 mph slider and 78 mph curveball each drew at least one whiff.
In the bottom of the fourth, Cris Rodriguez got the Flying Tigers on the board with a solo shot, his second Single-A home run, and it was 2-1 Clearwater.
Aleiman Cruz succeeded Massey, making his full season A-ball debut, and he was doing alright until the top of the sixth where he was rocked for four runs.
So it was a 6-1 game entering the bottom of the sixth. Jesus Pinto and Michael Oliveto drew walks to start the inning. With two outs, Javier Osorio singled in Pinto to make it 6-2. In teh seventh, Hunter Dobbins singled and was wild pitched to second. Jordan Yost walked with one out, and a Pinto single plated Dobbins. Oliveto singled in Yost, and it was 6-4.
Just as they closed the gap, Clearwater opened it again against Pedro Garcia in the top of the eighth, giving up two runs.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jude Warwick led off with a double and then Yost walked. A double play ball from Pinto got Warwick to third, and Oliveto, who extended his hit streak to 10 games, singled in Warwick. Rodriguez tripled to right, plating Oliveto, but that was as close as they’d get as Anibal Salas struck out to end it.
Rodriguez: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, 3B, HR, K
Oliveto: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K
Warwick: 2-5, R, 2 2B, K
Massey (L, 0-1): 1.2 IP, 2 ER, H, 2 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:00 p.m. ET start on Saturday with the series tied up.
