Indianapolis Indians 5, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (box)
Indianapolis jumped on Nivado Rodriguez for four runs in the first and held on to win on Tuesday. The big blow was a Jack Suwinski grand slam. The Hens attempted comeback started with who else? Kerry Carpenter smoked a solo shot, his 27th of the season, in the bottom of the second to get them started. Now 20 games into his Triple-A tenure, Carpenter holds equal strikeout and walk rates of 11.5 percent. Getting pretty interesting.
A Brendon Davis double to left scored Spencer Torkelson in the fourth. Derek Hill reached on an error to start the bottom of the fifth, moved to second on an Ali Sanchez single, and scored when Daz Cameron slapped a single through the right side of the infield. At that point, it was 4-3 Indy.
Unfortunately, despite a good night for the pen, Shea Spitzbarth allowed a solo shot in the top of the sixth as Indianapolis opened the lead back to two runs. The Hens got one more in the bottom of the seventh when Cameron walked with two outs, and scored on a Josh Lester double, but Indy held on from there to win.
Daniel Norris and Chi Chi Gonzalez were both announced today having signed minor league deals with the Tigers. Expect to see them in Toledo this week.
Carpenter: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB
Cameron: 2-4, R, RBI, BB, SO
Torkelson: 1-4, R, 2 SO
Coming Up Next: Matt Manning makes what should be his final rehab start before returning to Detroit on Wednesday night. RHP Cody Bolton goes for Indianapolis.
Erie SeaWolves 7, Reading Fightin Phils 6 (F/10)(box)
This was a wild one. Reading held sway through the first half of the game, but Erie fought back to seize the lead in the eighth, only for Gerson Moreno to blow the save, sending it to extras where Daniel Cabrera won it with a walk off single in the 10th.
Reese Olson got the start, and his mid-season struggles continued as the right-hander gave up four runs, three earned, in 3.2 innings. Down 4-0, Erie started to answer back in the fourth. Wenceel Perez walked with one out and moved to third on a Dillon Dingler single. Dane Myers lifted a fly ball to right, and Perez tagged and scored to make it 4-1.
A two-run double by Quincy Nieporte in the fifth pulled the SeaWolves within one, and Parker Meadows singled home Andre Lipcius in the seventh to finally tie things up at 4-4. Dingler put them ahead with his ninth homer of the season to lead off the eighth. A pair of walks doomed Moreno to blow the save in the ninth, but in the bottom of the 10th, after Reading had scored in the top half, Myers singled home Dingler, the runner on second to start the inning, to tie things up. Andrew Navigato singled to move Myers to third, and Cabrera hit a grounder to third as Myers raced home with the game winner.
Dingler: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, HR, SO
Myers: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, SO
Navigato: 2-4, 2B, BB
Olson: 3.2 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. EDT start at UPMC Park on Wednesday night. No starters have been announced.
West Michigan Whitecaps 3, Dayton Dragons 2 (box)
Carlos Guzman put together his best start of the year, and the Whitecaps got ahead early and hung on late to win on Tuesday. The right-hander allowed just one hit in five innings of work, allowing no walks while punching out six. It’s been a rough go for him despite pretty good stuff, so here’s hoping the worm is beginning to turn for Guzman, who has hung around the fringes of Tigers prospect lists the past few years.
The Whitecaps scored first, notching two runs in the third. Ulrich Bojarski and Ben Malgeri got them going with a pair of singles. A wild pitch sent both runners up a base, and then a Ryan Kreidler pop up to center dropped in for a single and Bojarski scored while Malgeri advanced to third. Josh Crouch lifted a fly ball to right deep enough for Malgeri to score, and it was 2-0 West Michigan.
In the fifth, the ‘Caps took advantage when Malgeri was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning. Kreidler followed by drawing a walk, and after Crouch hit into a double play that sent Malgeri to third, Bryant Packard brought him home with a single.
Bryce Tassin took over for Guzman in the sixth and allowed a two-run homer, but the bullpen held on from there to secure the win.
Bojarski: 2-2, R, BB
Kreidler: 1-3, RBI, BB, SO
Guzman (W, 5-5): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 6 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Ty Madden (4-4, 2.92 ERA) will be the featured attraction in Comstock Park on Wednesday night. He’ll take on RHP Miguel Medrano (1-2, 6.05 ERA).
Bradenton Marauders 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (box)
The Marauders jumped all over Garrett Burhenn in this one, scoring seven runs and knocking him out in the second inning. The offense fought back, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
After Bradenton scored one in the first, Lakeland came back with two in the second, briefly holding the lead after Austin Schultz tripled home Lazaro Benitez and Eduardo Valencia. Cristian Santana followed with a walk, but a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out with Izaac Pacheco at the plate ended the chance for a rally and it was all Bradenton from there as they put up six in the bottom half of the inning.
In the third, Manuel Sequera singled with one out and took second on a throwing error by the pitcher. Jose De La Cruz later singled him home to make it 7-3, but the Marauders scored one more in the bottom half. Justice Bigbie singled in Sequera after he’d doubled int he fifth, and the Flying Tigers got one more in the top of the ninth when Roberto Campos doubled home Pacheco.
Santana: 1-3, 2 BB, CS
Sequera: 3-5, 2 R, 2B
Campos: 2-5, RBI, 2B, SO
Burhenn (L, 4-4): 1.1 IP, 7 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 SO
Coming Up Next: It’s a noon start down in Bradenton on Wednesday, because everyone loves day games in Florida in July.