Toledo Mud Hens 4, Worcester Red Sox 1 (box)
The Mud Hens got a great performance out of their bullpen, and the lineup pounded out eight hits, including the first knocks for Brett Callahan and John Peck in their Triple-A debuts, to win on Tuesday.
Jack Little, Brenan Hanifee, Matt Seelinger, and Woo-Suk Go each tossed two innings in this one. Hanifee allowed an unearned run after a Max Anderson error kept the third inning going, but that was it. Tanner Rainey also fired a scoreless inning of work.
Jace Jung singled in the top of the third and
later scored on an Anderson single to open the scoring, so it was 1-1 game early on. In the fourth, Gage Workman led off with a walk and moved to third on John Peck’s single. A wild pitch later brought Workman in as the go-ahead, and ultimately the game winning run.
In the sixth, Workman again led off with a walk and advanced on a Callahan single. Singles from Corey Julks and then Jung brought both runners in for a 4-1 lead, and that was all that was required.
Workman: 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB, CS
Jung: 2-4, R, RBI
Little: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:45 p.m. ET start in Worcester on Wednesday.
Erie SeaWolves 10, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 2 (box)
Jack Flaherty looked good to go, and the SeaWolves offense cracked four home runs in this one as Thayron Liranzo and Izaac Pacheco continue to do a lot of damage.
Flaherty allowed a pair of solo shots, but otherwise went 5.2 innings allowing just those two runs, and only one other hit. He struck out seven and threw 83 pitches, so he’s seemingly ready to return when eligible.
Liranzo lifted a towering solo shot to right in the fourth inning with two outs to tie the game up 1-1. Chris Meyers followed with a double, and Garrett Pennington showed out in his Double-A debut, mashing a two-run shot the opposite way for a 3-1 lead.
Pacheco followed him with an absolutely monstrous blast to right center field. The third baseman’s 12th shot of the year made it a 4-1 game, but the SeaWolves weren’t done in the inning. Max Burt singled and E.J. Exposito also went yard for a 6-0 lead. All of that with two outs.
Liranzo doubled with two-outs in the fifth as well, scoring on a Meyers double. In the seventh, three walks loaded the bases for the SeaWolves and Pennington cashed in two of them with a line drive single to center field. 9-2 SeaWolves, and they would tack on a run in the eighth when Burt singled, took second on a balk, and then scored on an Exposito single.
Lael Lockhart cruised through the final three innings to put this one away.
Liranzo: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, BB
Pennington: 2-4, R, 4 RBI, HR, K
Meyers: 2-4, R, RBI, 2 2B, K
Flaherty: 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start at UPMC Park on Wednesday.
Dayton Dragons: 8, West Michigan Whitecaps 5 (box)
The offense had a pretty good night, but they still failed to capitalize on plenty of scoring opportunities in this one. Meanwhile the bullpen crumbled to lose a close game late.
Zack Lee gave the ‘Caps a nice spot start, tossing three shutout innings with five strikeouts to start things off right.
The Whitecaps loaded the bases in the first but couldn’t score. In the second, Samuel Gil led off and Patrick Lee walked with one out. Woody Hadeen grounded into a force of Lee, but Bryce Rainer smoked a drive to center field to plate both runs for a 2-0 lead.
Juanmi Vasquez took over for the ‘Caps in the fourth and was promptly knocked around for four runs. He did get some help from Hadeen and Rainer to escape.
So it was 4-2 Dragons in the top of the sixth. Patrick Lee led off with a double and Rainer and Ricardo Hurtado walked to load the bases. Lee scored on a Jackson Strong ground out, and after the Dragons went to the pen, the new reliever balked in Rainer from third. So it was all tied up at 4-4.
Patrick Lee would launch a solo shot in the eighth, completing a heck of a return to action after a rehab stint in the Complex League.
Unfortunately, Eliseo Mota’s High-A debut saw him allow a run in two innings of work. Carlos Lequerica then crumbled for a three-run bottom of the eighth that was the difference in this one.
Lee: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, BB
Rainer: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, K
Zack Lee: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps look to even the series at 7:05 p.m. ET in Dayton on Wednesday.
Dayton Dragons 6, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2 (box)
Grayson Grinsell settled in for a good start after allowing two runs in the first, but the bullpen kept leaking and the offense didn’t get much going in this one.
The left-hander scattered five hits without a walk, striking out five. Jorge Guzman allowed three runs in the sixth, and Jan Carabello allowed a run in the seventh.
Meanwhile the offense was doing very little. Carson Rucker stayed hot with three hits, and the team drew five walks, but they were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Finally in the eighth, Edian Espinal singled and took second on a throwing error. The young catcher holds a .936 OPS this year. With one out, Jude Warwick singled him in and then he took second on a passed ball. Jesus Pinto struck out, but another wild pitch got Warwick to third, and a bliner from Rucker scored the run.
That was about it for the offense though.
Rucker: 3-4, RBI
Yost: 1-3, BB, K
Espinal: 1-3, R, 2 BB, K
Grinsell (L, 4-3): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Wednesday.
FCL Tigers 10, FCL Yankees 6 (box)
Jhonan Coba was knocked around for the first time, giving up six runs over four innings of work. The bullpen, however, was nails and the Tigers blew up the Yankees with a seven run fourth inning and pulled away to win.
Cristian Perez homered and had two hits, while Steven Madero chipped in three of his own. Cris Rodriguez and Santiago Pinto drove in five runs between them.
Pinto: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, K, CS
Rodriguez: 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K, SB
Perez: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Coba: 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 K
