Toledo Mud Hens 6, Louisville Bats 2 (box)
Dylan File put together a nice start and Max Clark had a big night as the Hens took down the Bats and evened the series 2-2.
Clark singled but was picked off in the first inning, but in the top of the second, Eduardo Valencia led off with a single. Jace Jung followed with a single and Corey Julks reached on an error. After a Tyler Gentry strikeout, Ben Malgeri lifted a deep enough fly ball to get the run in, but that was all they’d get from the inning. 1-0 Hens.
File cruised through four innings without
much trouble in the meantime, although he certainly wasn’t racking up the whiffs. He allowed two hits and two walks, and then watched his team add on a run in the top of the fifth. Trei Cruz led off with a single and Clark lined another single to right field. Gage Workman doubled in Cruz, but Clark was thrown out trying to score on a Valencia ground ball, and the Bats escaped the inning with the Hens leading 2-0.
File allowed a run in the bottom half, but escaped a minor jam on a Blake Dunn double play ball and wrapped up a pretty good outing overall.
Gentry and Malgeri immediately got the Hens going in the top of the sixth with back-to-back doubles to make it 3-1. A pair of ground outs followed, but Clark stepped to the dish and crushed a 108.4 mph blast to right field for a two-run shot, his first Triple-A home run. 5-1 Hens.
Max Burt tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to make it 6-1. Matt Seelinger allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth, but wrapped this one up without much trouble.
Clark: 4-5, R, 2 RBI, HR
Jung: 2-4, 2B, BB
Julks: 2-5, K
File (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 1:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
Harrisburg Senators 2, Erie SeaWolves 0 (box)(F/7)(Gm1)
Knuckleballer Kenny Serwa survived issuing five walks, surrendering just a pair of runs, only one earned, but it was a quiet game from the SeaWolves offense.
Brett Callahan doubled and drew a walk, but Justice Bigbie was the only other player with a hit. Harrisburg right-hander Davian Garcia wasn’t exactly dominant, but he had a solid night and got good defensive work behind him.
Woo-Suk Go did post his second straight outstanding outing, striking out five and giving up one hit in two scoreless innings.
Callahan: 1-2, 2B, BB
Serwa (L, 0-3): 5.0 IP, 2 R, ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 3 K
Erie SeaWolves 5, Harrisburg Senators 2 (box)(F/7)(Gm2 )
Carlos Pena gave the SeaWolves a good outing, and the bats had enough to take down the Senators on Friday.
The SeaWolves started quickly as Seth Stephenson lead off with an infield single, and Peyton Graham doubled him in. A pair of ground outs got Graham home for a 2-0 lead.
Pena allowed a two-run homer in the top of the second as Harrisburg tied it up, but he shut the Senators down from there, striking out eight without a walk allowed, scattering four hits on the night.
The SeaWolves came right back as Justice Bigbie singled to lead off the game, and E.J. Exposito cracked a two-run homer to re-open a 4-2 lead.
Pena got in a bit of trouble in the fourth after a single allowed, and then a two-out double, but a relay from left fielder Chris Meyers in to Graham and home to Bennett Lee cut down the runner and ended the inning.
The SeaWolves made it 5-2 in the bottom half after Bigbie led off with a single, Exposito walked, and Lee singled in Bigbie.
Peña finished his outing by striking out the side in the fifth. Trevin Michael walked three in two innings of work, but collected the save anyway.
Exposito: 1-2, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB
Stephenson: 2-3, R, K
Bigbie: 2-3, 2 R
Pena (W, 1-1): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 8 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 1:35 p.m. ET start on Saturday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Lansing Lugnuts 4 (box)(F/7)(Gm1)
The Whitecaps got a good outing from Lucas Ellisalt and just held on against a late charge from Lansing to take Game 1 on Friday.
Elissalt only went four innings in this one, but he blanked the Lugnuts, striking out four. Meanwhile, his teammates gave him an early lead to work with. Patrick Lee and Ricardo Hurtado hit one-out singles in the top of the first, and Garrett Pennington reached on an infield single to load the bases. Andrew Sojka paddled a single through the right side of the infield to plate Lee and Hurtado, though Pennington was thrown out trying to take third base, and Cristian Santana flew out. Still is was a 2-0 lead.
Lee got them started again in the fifth when he hammered a deep drive to center field for a triple. Hurtado walked, and their first baseman, Pennington, did first baseman things by ripping a three-run shot the opposite way to make it 5-0.
Duque Hebbert took over for the ‘Caps after a clean fifth from CJ Weins. Hebbert got knocked around a little for two runs in the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, leading 5-2, Hurtado drew a one-out walk and Pennington singled him to third. A Sojka fly ball was deep enough to get the run in for a 6-2 lead.
Hebbert got into trouble in the bottom of th eseventh, but held on to wrap this one up.
Pennington: 3-4, R, 3 RBI, HR
Hurtado: 2-2, 3 R, 2 BB
Patrick Lee: 2-4, 2 R, 3B, 2 K
Elissalt: 4.0 IP, 0 R, H, 2 BB, 4 K
West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Lansing Lugnuts 1 (box)(F/7)(Gm2)
The Whitecaps swept the Lugnuts despite Lansing outhitting them 11 to 4. That makes it four straight for the Whitecaps in this series, and five straigth overall.
On a bit of a makeshift night from the bullpen, the Whitecaps built a lead right away and managed to hold on despite all the traffic on the bases. The game started with Patrick Lee reaching on an error, and Juan Hernandez, just up from Lakeland, followed with a single. Garrett Pennington stepped in and launched his second three-run bomb on the day, and it was 3-0.
Zack Lee got the start, and he tossed three scoreless innings. Lefty Ethan Sloan handled the fourth, and then Ryan Harvey took over in the fifth. Harvey allowed a pair of singles before getting a strikeout and a pop-up. Another single drove in the Lugnuts only run of the game. One more single to Nolan McCarthy in left, making his High-A debut, saw McCarthy cut down Gunner Gouldsmith trying to score to end the inning.
The Tigers signed RHP Seth Chavez to a minor league deal back on April 8, and he took over for the final two innings. Hunter Dobbins singled in the top of the seventh, advanced to second on a Clayton Campbell soft tapper to the pitcher, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1, where it ended.
Pennington: 1-3, R, 3 RBI, HR
Patrick Lee: 0-2, R, 2 BB
Lee: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, K
Coming Up Next:
Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 2 (box)
Zach MacDonald remains red hot at the plate, and the Flying Tigers got good pitching on a bullpen day to win again on Friday.
The Flying Tigers got out to a quick lead when Jesus Pinto singled and MacDonald walked with one out in the first. Beau Ankeney doubled to left and both runners came around to score.
Charlie Christensen is off to a nice start in his pro career, and he tossed two scoreless to start this one off. Cale Wetwiska had a little more trouble, striking out five, but giving up two solo shots that tied the game in his two innings of work.
In the fifth, MacDonald, playing left field in this one, crushed another hard hit homer at 111.4 mph to make it a 3-2 lead. Wetwiska started the fifth, but came out of the game with an injury, though there was nothing obviously wrong and his velocity had been good all night.
Scott Effross and Eliseo Mota got the Flying Tigers through the fifth, sixth, and seventh without a baserunner, combining for five strikeouts.
In the top of the ninth, Jack Goodman singled, and catcher Sergio Tapia pulled a fly ball to left for a two-run shot to make it 5-2, where it ended. Donye Evans was a little shaky in his two innings of work, but collected the save.
While Zach MacDonald is tearing it up, Bryce Rainer continues to struggle pretty terribly after his long absence. He’s struck out 19 times in 10 games this season and his approach is a mess currently. It’s very early though.
MacDonald: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB, K
Tapia: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Espinal: 1-2, 2 BB
Wetwika (W, 1-0): 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 5 K
Mota: 1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The series is even at two games apiece. First on Saturday is set for 6:05 p.m. ET.
