Louisville Bats 3, Toledo Mud Hens 0 (box)
Troy Watson was dodging and weaving through traffic all night, but he did give up too much to the Bats…bats. His teammates just couldn’t get anything going at the plate.
Watson gave up all three runs, but he did go 5 2/3 innings, slipping the noose repeatedly despite giving up nine hits and two walks. He gave up a solo shot in the third, and then he allowed two runs in the sixth.
He got a little help from Hao-Yu Lee along the way.
Tanner Rainey came on to clean up the sixth for Watson. Brant Hurter threw a perfect inning with two strikeouts, and Woo-Suk Go returned after rehabbing in West Michigan the past few weeks and tossed a perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts as well. Alex Lange handled the top of the ninth with a strikeout and nothing allowed.
The Hens only managed four hits and four walks in the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Eduardo Valencia singled with one out and Justyn-Henry Malloy walked. With the tying run at the plate, Jace Jung struck out and Andrew Navigato grounded out to end it.
Serven: 1-3, 2B, BB
Watson (L, 3-1): 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Erie SeaWolves 6, Altoona Curve 1 (box)
These two clubs will match up in the Eastern League postseason in two weeks, so it’s going to be an interesting series. Andrew Sears spun another excellent short start, though the revelation was Eric Silva, who has returned from the injured list with a vengeance.
John Peck got the SeaWolves started on a two-out rally in the bottom of the second inning. Peck’s single was followed by a Justice Bigbie single and a walk to Roberto Campos. Carlos Mendoza came through with the bases juiced, slicing a ground ball through the left side of the infield to score two runs.
Sears took that slim lead and ran with it. He one-hit the Curve for four innings, striking out four hitters. He didn’t need to do more, because after missing the first half of the season to injury, Eric Silva has suddenly gotten it going late in the year. The Tigers stretched him out as a starter, and he’s been rehabbing in Lakeland since mid-July. The Tigers sent him back to Erie for this one, and he did not disappoint. On Tuesday, Silva went five innings, striking out seven without a walk in this one. A Peck error at third in the top of the eighth led to an unearned run, but otherwise Silva was pretty untouchable. His fastball is still a little too light at 93 mph, but there may be a little more on the way and Silva has a solid set of secondary pitches to go with it. His command in this one was very good as he executed his sequences and didn’t throw many non-competitive pitches. Another interesting late season development on the pitching side of the farm system.
As a result of Sears and Silva’s work, the SeaWolves made a 2-0 lead hold up until the seventh. There, back-to-back one-out doubles from Mendoza and Max Clark set the stage for a four-run inning. Liranzo followed Clark with a walk and they both advanced on wild pitches before Kevin McGonigle walked to load the bases. A call to the bullpen brought in reliever Valentin Linarez, and he popped up Josue Briceño. No problem, as Jake Holton smoked a bases clearing double to left for a 6-0 lead. They wouldn’t need any more.
Holton: 2-4, 3 RBI, 2B, K
Peck: 2-4, R, K
Clark: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B
Briceno: 1-4, 3B
Sears: 4.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 4 K
Silva (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K
West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Lake County Captains 2 (box)
The West Michigan Whitecaps have been the winningest team in the minor league and they showed no sign of stopping on Tuesday night. Joe Miller gave them a decent outing and big nights from Peyton Graham, Woody Hadeen, and Izaac Pacheco powered them to victory in Game 1 of the Midwest League division series.
Graham got them started as the second batter of the game, pouncing on an 0-2 mistake from lefty Matt Wilkinson and smoking a triple to the wall in left field. Pacheco walked and Andrew Jenkins singled in Graham. Garrett Pennington later singled in Pacheco for a 2-0 lead through one inning.
In the second, catcher Bennett Lee singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Hadeen singled to center field, and a Graham ground out scored Lee to make it 3-0.
Miller leaked a run in the third, but the Whitecaps came right back for more in the fourth. Bennett Lee reached on a two-out bunt toward third, and Hadeen drove a triple to right field to make it 4-1.
Finally in the sixth, Miller got into a little trouble and Colin Fields took over. He cleaned things up, and Miller finished with a postseason victory after 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He allowed eight hits and a walk, but the Captain couldn’t do much damage. Miller struck out five on the night.
So it was 4-2 heading into the seventh and the Whitecaps were not content. Hadeen and Graham singled with one out, and the Captains went to their bullpen, bringing in Izaak Martinez. The speedy duo immediately pulled off a double steal to get both into scoring position, but there was no need as Izaac Pacheco crushed a three-run shot to right field.
Moises Rodriguez cruised through the eighth in relief, and Marco Jimenez got into some trouble in the bottom of the ninth, allowing three hits, but ultimately shut the door with a strikeout and a fly out to end it before a run came across.
Graham: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 3B, K, SB
Hadeen: 3-5, R, RBI, 3B, K, 2 SB
Pacheco: 1-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, 2 K
Jenkins: 2-5, RBI, K
Miller (W, 1-0): 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, BB, 5 K
Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Clearwater Threshers 1 (box)
Last year, Gabriel Reyes scheduled postseason start in the Florida State League championship series was washed out by rain in the first inning. This year he got a chance to try it again and threw a very good game as the Flying Tigers took Game 1 and will now welcome in the Threshers on Thursday night looking to win the championship.
Reyes tossed 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball to lead the way. He managed to scatter five hits and three walks, and struck out six Threshers on the evening.
Ricardo Hurtado got them started by leading off the second inning with a double. He would move to third on a Junior Tilien single and then score on a Stephen Hrustich grounder that went for an error.
In the fourth, the Threshers struggle to throw strikes showed up as a rehabbing Chris Meyers drew a leadoff walk and then Hurtado drew one of his own. Unfortunately the next three hitters made outs and so they’d have to wait until the fifth to add some more run support to Reyes’ effort.
Cristian Santana walked with one out in the top of the fifth and Nick Dumesnil singled him to second. Jesus Pinto walked to load the bases, and Meyers came through with a two-run single to make it 3-0 Lakeland.
Reyes got into a little trouble in the fifth, but picked off a runner at second and snuffed a potential rally in style. With two outs in the sixth, Reyes departed while Pedro Garcia took over to finish the inning. Garcia tossed a scoreless seventh, and then allowed a run in the eighth.
That was ok, as the Flying Tigers had already added a run in the top half. Carson Rucker reached on a swinging third strike that got away from Clearwater’s catcher, and Junior Tilien followed with a single. Rucker would eventually score on a Samuel Gil single to make it 4-0 before Garcia allowed the lone run in the bottom half.
Tilien singled in Meyers in the top of the ninth for a little insurance. Ethan Sloan allowed a single but no more to close this one out.
Tilien: 3-5
Hurtado: 2-4, R, 2B, BB
Meyers: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
Reyes (W, 1-0): 5.2 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 K
