Toledo Mud Hens 11, Louisville Bats 4 (box)
Then Hens offense bludgeoned Bats pitching in this one to win easily on Thursday.
Hao-Yu Lee opened the bottom of the first with a single through the right side. Max Anderson and Justyn-Henry Malloy followed with singles of their own to load the bases, and Eduardo Valencia walked to force in a run as the Bats starter, Charlie Barnes, struggled to get any whiffs. Jace Jung drilled a grounder up the middle for a two-run single to make it 3-0. Gage Workman later tripled in a pair of runs and scored on a Riley
Unroe single for a 6-0 lead.
Jordan Balazovic made a short start for the Hens in this one. After a clean first, he struck out the side in the second inning before giving up a run in the third, his final inning of work.
By then it was pretty much over. Malloy led off the bottom of the second by drawing a walk and then took second on a passed ball. Valencia singled him to third, and Jung did something we rarely see from him, lifting a high fly ball the opposite way and just over the wall for a three-run shot that made it 9-0.
The game settled down in the middle innings. Chase Lee was perfect for 1 2/3 innings of work with three strikeouts. Tanner Rainey collected four outs, allowing just a walk with a pair of strikeouts. He topped out at 98.1 mph and looks good out there. He just continues to have the odd outing where he sprays it too much.
The Bats got a run off of RJ Petit in the seventh, but in the bottom half, Valencia singled in Trei Cruz and Max Anderson to make it 11-2. Matt Seelinger handled the eighth, while Alex Lange got into a mess in the top of the ninth and allowed two runs, walking three hitters along the way. Gabe Alvarez came out with the hook, and Wilkel Hernandez entered the game to get the final out.
Jung: 3-5, 2 R, 5 RBI, HR
Workman: 4-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 3B
Valencia: 2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Malloy: 2-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB, K
Balazovic: 3.0 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 5 K
Erie SeaWolves 3, Altoona Curve 1 (box)
Kenny Serwa put together a good outing as the SeaWolves took a 2-1 series lead over Altoona. With the two squads bound to meet in the Eastern League postseason, it’s an interesting test this week for both teams as they try to keep a few surprises in their back pocket for the game that really matter.
Konnor Griffin opened the game with a single but was cut down by Eliezer Alfonzo trying to steal second. Serwa then allowed a double, but he got the next two outs to escape the inning. The second inning was easier, while a single and a walk allowed in the third created another little jam that Serwa was able to navigate.
In the bottom of the third, the SeaWolves offense got loose. Danny Serretti drew a leadoff walk and Seth Stephenson pulled a grounder to left and raced to second with a double. John Peck singled in Serretti and sent the Curve back to their bullpen. Kevin McGonigle eventually lifted a sacrifice fly to score Stephenson for a 2-0 lead.
Serwa continued to struggle with his control but managed to slip through traffic in the fourth and the fifth innings.
In the bottom of the fifth, Stephenson walked and then stole second base with two outs. Thayron Liranzo drove a fly ball to left for an RBI double and a 3-0 lead.
Trevin Michael spun two perfect innings of relief with two punchouts. Andrew Magno allowed a run in the eighth, but closed out the ninth to collect the save.
Stephenson: 1-2, 2 R, 2B, BB, SB
Peck: 1-3, RBI, BB
Serwa (W, 6-6): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K
West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Lake County Captains 0 (box)
The West Michigan Whitecaps claimed the Eastern division pennant on Thursday evening and will play in the Midwest League championship series.
Right-hander Hayden Minton locked up with left-hander Caden Favors in Game 2 of the East division championship series. Both pitchers were good early on, but Minton just got stronger as his outing went along. He struck out four of the first nine hitters he faced, and allowed just a walk and a hit batter in the fourth inning. Apart from that one inning with a bit of traffic, Minton was untouchable over six no-hit innings of work.
Favors meanwhile was dodging and weaving through traffic. Peyton Graham singled with one out in the bottom of the first and Izaac Pacheco walked before a double play ball ended the inning. They got another walk, this one drawn by Brett Callahan, to open their second inning and a one out single from Austin Murr got Callahan to third. Favors dug down and struck out Jack Penney and Bennett Lee to escape that jam.
Finally in the fourth Favors couldn’t hold the line any longer. Callahan launched a triple to the wall in center field to lead off and Garrett Pennington singled him home for the game’s first run. An Austin Murr ground out got Pennington second, and Penney reached on an infield single. Catcher Bennett Lee drove a fly ball to left for a two-run double, and that forced the Captains to their bullpen.
Lefty Rafe Schlesinger took over and Woody Hadeen greeted him with a hot ground ball up the middle to plate Lee and make it 4-0 Whitecaps.
From that point on Schlesinger was a mess but in an effectively wild sort of way. He had all sorts of traffic on the bases, issuing six walks, but he limited the Whitecaps to just a couple of singles and was able to keep them off the board.
It wouldn’t matter, as Whitecaps pitching was just too strong. Dariel Fregio took over in the seventh and immediately allowed a single for the Captains first hit. A pair of fly outs followed and Fregio punched out Juan Benjamin swinging to end the seventh.
Carlos Lequerica, soon bound for the Arizona Fall League, was electric in this one as the tension built in front of the home crowd at LMCU Park. He went through the back of the Captains order on three straight swinging strike threes in an immaculate inning.
The Whitecaps threatened in the bottom of the eighth, looking for some insurance. Woody Hadeen walked and stole second, and Schlesinger walked Peyton Graham as well. The Captains would escape the inning, but then they had to score at least four against hard-throwing right-hander Moises Rodriguez.
Captains leadoff man Nick Mitchell slapped a grounder toward third base with the Whitecaps shifted for him to pull. Pacheco made a nice play to knock it down but he had no play at first…until Mitchell took a huge turn around first and then thought better of it as Pacheco corralled the ball. He slipped and Pacheco gunned it to Pennington at first for the out. A ground out, a walk, and another ground out from the sinkerballer wrapped this one up.
The Midwest League championship will begin Sunday against either the Cedar Rapids Kernels, or the Beloit Sky Carp.
Bennett Lee: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, K
Callahan: 1-3, R, 3B, BB, SB
Hadeen: 1-4, RBI, BB, 2 K, 2 SB
Graham: 1-3, 2 BB
Minton (W, 1-0): 6.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 5 K
Lakeland Flying Tigers 7, Clearwater Threshers 5 (box)
The Flying Tigers followed the example of their High-A brethren, taking down Clearwater at home on Thursday night to advance to the Florida State League championship.
Luke Stofel got the start in this one and quickly surrendered a run on a pair of walks and a single in the top of the first.
His teammates had his back, jumping all over Threshers starter Gage Wood, the Phillies first rounder back in July. Nick Dumesnil got them started with a leadoff single. Jesus Pinto walked, and after a Chris Meyers pop up, Ricardo Hurtado singled in Dumesnil to tie the game. A grounder from Carson Rucker forced Hurtado at second but scored Pinto from third. Junior Tilien lined a single into center field to move Rucker to third, and a single from Stephen Hrustich scored Rucker. Samuel Gil slapped a grounder through the right side to score Tilien, with Hrustich thrown out at the plate trying to score. Still it was 4-0 Lakeland and they wouldn’t look back.
Stofel continued to struggle and just wasn’t fooling anyone. He gave up a run in the second and another in the third before departing. Jorger Petri was the real hero in this one as the right-hander took over and delivered three scoreless frames to silence the Threshers and allow his teammates to rebuild their 4-3 lead.
Hurtado singled in the third and scored on a Tilien double. In the fifth, Hurtado reached on an error and then scored on a Carson Rucker infield single that was thrown away by second baseman Matthew Ferrara after deflecting off Threshers pitcher Giussepe Velasquez. It was 6-3, and in the seventh, Meyers led off with a single, and Hurtado, the other real hero in this one, doubled him home to make it 7-3.
A Gil error led to two runs for Clearwater in the top of the eighth with Eliseo Mota on the mound. Ignacio Briceno came on to quiet things down, and so the Flying Tigers took a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Ethan Sloan dug himself a hole looking for the save. He allowed a leadoff single and then a walk, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. A ground out, a pop-up, and another grounder followed to wrap this one up and send the Flying Tigers on to the championship round.
Hurtado: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B
Tilien: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B
Dumesnil: 2-5, R, K, 2 SB
Petri (W, 1-0): 3.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, K
