Toledo Mud Hens 4, St. Paul Saints 2 (box)
Spencer Torkelson cracked his first Triple-A homer and the Hens downed the Saints once again on Wednesday. Ricardo Pinto got the start, and for five innings he cruised, keeping the Saints off the board. Meanwhile, the Hens opened the scoring in the fourth. Eric Haase doubled to lead off the inning, and Torkelson followed with a single to move him to third. A fly ball from Kody Clemens allowed Haase to tag and score. However, Pinto’s outing took a turn late, as he allowed a pair of runs in the sixth and the Hens were down a run. They re-captured the lead on a two-run single from Riley Greene in the seventh, and Torkelson added a solo shot in the eighth. Angel De Jesus earned his third save.
Torkelson: 2-4, R, RBI HR, SO
Greene: 2-4, 2 RBI, SO, SB
Pinto: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 SO
Coming Up Next: Jose Ureña gets a rehab start on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. EDT.
Erie SeaWolves 6, Bowie Baysox 1 (box)
Garrett Hill’s Double-A debut start went quite well and the lineup crushed four home runs to power the SeaWolves over Bowie on Wednesday. Hill allowed a solo home run in the first, but went on to toss a strong five innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Drew Ward’s first home run of the day, a two-run shot with Danny Woodrow aboard, gave Erie the lead for good. Eric De La Rosa added a solo shot in the fourth, and they pushed across another run in the fifth. In the seventh, Ward homered again, and Josh Lester added a solo shot as well to run away with this one.
Ward: 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR
Lester: 3-5, 2 R, RBI, HR, SO
Hill (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Beau Brieske (1-1, 2.45 ERA) is off to a good start through three outings since his promotion from West Michigan. He’ll take the ball on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. EDT.
Lansing Lugnuts 2, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (Gm 1)(F/7)(box)
A well-pitched game ended with a walkoff home run against ‘Caps reliever Christopher Mauloni, as the Lugnuts took game one of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Starter Austin Bergner threw five innings of no-hit ball, with two walks and six strikeouts. The lone run against him came in the third inning, and was the result of a hit batter and two walks issued in the inning. In the fifth, Wenceel Perez led off the inning with a single and stole second place. Perez advanced to third on an Austin Murr fly ball, and then scored on a Cooper Johnson sacrifice fly. The Whitecaps got a leadoff single from Perez again in the top of the seventh inning, and a one-out single from Murr moved Perez into scoring position, but they couldn’t capitalize.
Perez: 2-2, R, SB
Holton: 1-2, 2B, BB
Bergner: 5.0 IP, ER, 2 BB 6 SO
Lansing Lugnuts 2, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (Gm 1)(F/7)(box)
Austin Bergner gave the Whitecaps a pretty good outing, but the offense struggled and they ultimately lost when Christopher Mauloni allowed a walkoff homer in the bottom of the seventh. Bergner allowed one run in five innings of work, despite no-hitting the Lugnuts. A hit batter and a pair of walks in the third inning made that particular oddity occur. Otherwise, Bergner was pretty good, racking up six strikeouts in five innings of work. The ‘Caps tied the game when Wenceel Perez led off the fifth with a single, stole second, and advanced on consecutive fly balls to score their only run.
Perez: 2-2, R, SB
Holton: 1-2, 2B, BB
West Michigan Whitecaps 9, Lansing Lugnuts 2 (Gm 2)(F/7)(box)
The Whitecaps’ offense got loose in game two, winning with a bullpen game from the pitching staff. Eliezer Alfonzo opened the scoring with an RBI single that scored Gage Workman in the second inning. Workman then cracked a solo shot in the fourth, and the Whitecaps poured it on, putting together a five-run fifth inning. Jimmy Kerr hit a two-run shot to make it 4-0 Whitecaps, and it became a parade on the basepaths from there. Jake Holton tripled home Wenceel Perez and Daniel Cabrera, and an RBI double from Gage Workman completed the big inning. The Lugnuts scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, but West Michigan added solo runs in the sixth and seventh inning to end any thoughts of a comeback.
Workman: 3-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB
Kerr: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR
Coming Up Next: No starters are announced for Thursday’s 7:05 p.m. EDT start.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Dunedin Blue Jays 1 (Gm 1)(F/7)(box)
Ricky Davila had a good outing in game one, and the Flying Tigers benefited from Niko Goodrum’s first rehab appearance. Goodrum had a pair of doubles and scored a run. Davila punched out seven in 5 1⁄3 innings of work, allowing one run on three hits and two walks. Mike Rothenberg opened the scoring with a solo shot in the third for Lakeland. They got two more in the fifth. Esney Chacon led off with a walk, and advanced to third on Goodrum’s double. Ben Malgeri walked, and then a Josh Crouch sac fly brought Chacon home. Malgeri and Goodrum then put on the double steal play, with Goodrum successfully stealing home for their second run of the inning. Davila allowed his lone run against in the sixth, but Gabriel Sequiera slammed the door with four strikeouts in 1 2⁄3 innings to earn the save.
Davila (W, 5-6): 5.1 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 SO
Lakeland Flying Tigers 7, Dunedin Blue Jays 4 (Gm 2)(F/7)(box)
The Blue Jays jumped all over Williander Moreno in the nightcap, scoring three runs in the first inning. However, Moreno settled in, striking out six and blanking them for three more innings while the Flygers mounted a comeback. They took advantage of three walks in the third inning to score three runs—nice symmetry, that—with Malgeri’s two-run double landing the big blow in the frame. In the fifth, they came back for more. Carlos Mendoza and Nick Quintana singled with one out, and Malgeri and Josh Crouch walked back-to-back, forcing in a run. After a pitching change, Kingston Liniak greeted the Jays new reliever, Julian Valdez, with an RBI single, and Rothenberg then came up with the biggest hit of the day, a double that cleared the bases and snuffed the Jays chances for a comeback. They got an unearned run against Ted Stuka in the sixth, but couldn’t manage any more as the Flygers swept the doubleheader.
Malgeri: 1-2, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB
Rothenberg: 1-2, 2 RBI, 2B, BB
Liniak: 1-2, RBI, BB, SB
Coming Up Next: RHP Carlos Guzman (4-9, 5.79 ERA) starts on Thursday night for Lakeland. Dunedin has yet to announce a starter for the 6:30 p.m. EDT start.