Toledo Mud Hens 3, Omaha Storm Chasers 1 (box)
Omaha won the series, 4-2, but Toledo took the final game on Sunday.
It was a pretty strong pitching day for the Mud Hens. Austin Gomber made his first start with the Tigers organization after being signed Wednesday. He gave up a solo homer in the first but only allowed one other hit through four innings of work.
Jackson Wolf, who came over in the Casey Mize trade with San Diego, also threw four innings. He only gave up one hit, a double to Jacob Berry, who has been hitting everything all week. Wolf does
some funny moves in his pre-pitch setup, but the stuff is sound. His 79-80 mph sweeper gets some good swing-and-miss (5/13; 38%), and Omaha only had one hard-hit ball off him on 30 swings.
Troy Watson closed out the win in the ninth, notching his first save of the year with Toledo.
As far as offense, it was an average day for the Hens. Justice Bigbie and Andrew Navigato each had two hits. Bigbie sparked a second-inning rally and scored on a follow-up double from Trei Cruz. Brett Callahan and Navigato hit back-to-back singles to put Toledo ahead right after.
Cruz also had a sac fly in the third to make it 3-1, and that’s all of the offense worth talking about in this one. Good win, solid baseball to close out what was a pretty rough week for the Tigers’ Triple-A squad.
Anderson: 0-2, 2 BB
Bigbie: 2-4, R, K
Cruz: 1-2, 2B (10), K
Perez: 0-4, 2 K
Wolf (W, 1-0): 4.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: The Mud Hens are in Louisville next week to face the Bats, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Altoona Curve 4, Erie SeaWolves 1 (box)
Erie came into Sunday with a chance to win the series against Altoona, but the Curve took the finale, 4-1, to end the week in a tie. Josue Briceno was not in the lineup today as he’s being called up to Triple-A. Left-hander Andrew Sears is also being promoted.
Everyone’s favorite knuckleballer, Kenny Serwa, was back with the SeaWolves after making a start for the Mud Hens on Tuesday. Altoona jumped on him quickly, starting the game with three straight singles. Serwa almost got out of the first without allowing another run, but a two-out base knock made it 2-0 early.
Serwa’s command wasn’t great. He walked three batters, the last of which ended up scoring in the third. Despite taking the loss, Serwa finished things on a high note, retiring the last nine batters he faced.
Yoniel Curet, Johan Simon, Dariel Fregio and Tanner Kohlhepp each threw an inning in relief. All four pitchers gave up a hit, and Fregio gave up the fourth run to Altoona in the eighth. Fregio had a brief meltdown, walking a batter and hitting the next two, all in search of a third out. Brutal.
Erie’s lone hit of the game came off the bat of Patrick Lee in the third. He was caught stealing third to end the inning, a cardinal sin in baseball. The SeaWolves had a few more opportunities to score, thanks to four walks, but an 0-for-5 day with runners in scoring position led to eight shutout innings.
Thayron Liranzo scored in the ninth after reaching on a fielder’s choice. He took second on defensive indifference and came home on a throwing error, so it’s a bit of a hollow stat.
Serwa (L, 5-8): 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves are in Hartford next week against the Yard Goats, starting Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. ET.
West Michigan Whitecaps 8, Fort Wayne TinCaps 2 (box)
West Michigan finished off a 5-1 series win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps with an 8-2 victory on Sunday. More importantly, the Whitecaps remain tied for first place in the East Division of the Midwest League.
Connor Fenlong was brilliant, striking out six batters over 5.1 innings while allowing just one baserunner. You can’t ask your starter to do much more, and the bullpen could afford to make a few mistakes behind him without jeopardizing the win.
Moises Rodriguez took over and got the final two outs of the sixth. He hit a batter and walked another in the seventh. The lead runner wouldn’t have scored on an infield single, but a bad throw from Woody Hadeen brought him home.
Fortunately, the offense scored consistently through the first four innings to build up a six-run lead. Roberto Campos drove in Hadeen with a two-out single in the first; Hadeen had a two-run double in the second, also with two outs; Beau Ankeney had an RBI single in the third; and Edian Espinal drove home two with a base hit in the fourth.
Ankeney also homered in the ninth for some extra insurance. It’s the third for him in 10 games with West Michigan, so that promotion is working out well.
Preston Howey pitched the final two innings of the game for the Whitecaps. He went 1-2-3 in the eighth, but ran into some trouble in the ninth. West Michigan could afford to give up a run, though, and he closed it out right after that score.
Hadeen: 1-3, 2B (15), R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Rainer: 0-4, R, BB, 2 K
Ankeney: 2-3, HR (3), R, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Fenlong (W, 2-1): 5.1 IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are at home against the Lansing Lugnuts next week, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Dunedin Blue Jays 2, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (box)
Lakeland dropped the series finale against Dunedin, 2-1, on Sunday to lose the week, 3-2. Saturday’s game wasn’t rescheduled after getting rained out.
Both teams hit the ball fairly consistently, but runs were at a premium in this one. Kelvis Salcedo threw 45 pitches over 2.2 innings, but he left the game in line for the loss after giving up a leadoff double and a sac fly in the second.
The good news is that Salcedo drew four whiffs (33%) on his cutter and touched 96 mph with his heater in the first. He’s only been back from injury for about two weeks, so a one-run outing with one walk is good to see.
Donye Evans got the final out of the third, and Owen Hall worked the next two frames for the Flying Tigers. Hall had a rough welcome to Single-A in July, giving up six earned runs in his first outing, but he’s been sharp in his last two outings. Through four innings of work in August, Hall has allowed just one hit, with seven strikeouts and no walks. His sinker is missing bats at a good rate (71% today).
Anibal Salas tied the game up in the fifth with a base knock to score Nick Dumesnil, who led off with a single. Dumesnil and Salas each had two hits on the day, but that was the only run Lakeland scored in the loss.
Cash Kuiper took over for Hall in the sixth. He hit a batter but retired the other three without much trouble. Kuiper struggled in the seventh, though. He gave up the go-ahead run on a pair of doubles, but the more concerning part of that is that he left the game with some apparent discomfort in his right shoulder immediately after. It’s wait-and-see for now, but Kuiper only threw three pitches in his last outing. The facts don’t add up to anything positive.
Luke Hoskins was the next man up. He struck out a pair of batters and then faced the minimum in the eighth, thanks to a double play. Yendy Gomez got the ninth. He worked around a pair of two-out singles. Lakeland’s offense couldn’t make anything happen in the bottom half, though.
Yost: 0-4, K
Dumesnil: 2-4, R, K
Salas: 2-3, RBI
Salcedo: 2.2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 5 K
Hall: 2.0 IP, 0 R, H, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers are at home against the Bradenton Marauders next week, starting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
