Spencer Torkelson homers in Mud Hens victory

Toledo Mud Hens 7, Indianapolis Indians 6 (box)

Brendon Davis was the hero on Thursday night, as a back and forth affair was finally put to bed with a two-run walkoff single by Davis in the bottom of the ninth.

Our old buddy Daniel Norris got the start for the Hens after signing a minor league contract earlier in the week. The Tigers current plan is to stretch the lefty out with an eye to helping a decimated rotation down the stretch. Given that he couldn’t hold a relief role with the scuffling Cubs, that’s a big ask but his return went well. Norris tossed a pair of perfect innings before turning it over to Cody Sedlock for four wild frames of two-run ball including four walks and four strikeouts.

Spencer Torkelson has looked rather beat down in the handful of games since he return to Toledo. Hopefully his first inning solo shot to open the scoring in this one can help him to begin turning the page on a rough major league debut.

Sedlock allowed Indy to tie it in the third, but Derek Hill drove a solo shot out to right center field in the fifth to recapture a one run lead for the Hens. Just like that, Sedlock gave the run back in the top half of the sixth on a Travis Swaggerty RBI triple. Hill then sparked a three-run rally in the seventh that featured a two-run Josh Lester double, and Toledo looked to have this one under control. Just like that the seesaw battle continued as Miguel Del Pozo was rocked for four runs, and Indy took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Fortunately, Torkelson drew a two-out walk and Kerry Carpenter reached on an error that allowed him to reach second base. A soft bliner to right field from Davis dropped in and Carpenter raced around behind Torkelson with the game winner.

Torkelson: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB

Davis: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB, SO

Hill: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, SO

Norris: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 SO

Coming Up Next: RHP Elvin Rodrgiuez (4-2, 4.03 ERA) takes on RHP Miguel Yajure (2-2, 8.10 ERA) on Friday night.

Erie SeaWolves 8, Reading Fightin Phils 3 (box)

The SeaWolves pummeled Reading with four home runs in this one, blowing it open with a four-run sixth inning. Andre Lipcius’ 9th, Dillon Dingler’s 10th, Dane Myers’ 14th, as well as catcher Michael De La Cruz’s first with Erie, accounted for most of the runs. Myers’ shot led off the sixth, with De La Cruz homering with Andrew Navigato aboard. Daniel Cabrera doubled in Luis Carpio for the final run of the inning.

Meanwhile, Chance Kirby wasn’t missing many bats but tossed five innings of two-run ball, only one of them earned. Yaya Chentouf came on in the eighth to get Kyle Zurak out of a jam, and then closed out the ninth for the four-out save.

Dingler: 2-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, SO

Lipcius: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, HR, SO, SB

Carpio: 1-2, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB

Kirby (W, 7-3): 5.0 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 2 SO

Coming Up Next: RHP Markus Solbach (3-4, 4.38 ERA) takes on Reading’s Griff McGarry (0-1, 3.24 ERA) who is possibly a character out of Scottish folklore.

Dayton Dragons 8, West Michigan Whitecaps 7 (box)

Keider Montero started strong in this one, and then got absolutely obliterated in the third inning, continuing a recent trend of minor league starters looking rather gassed at this point. Over the first two frames, Montero struck out four and allowed a pair of singles. In the third, the Dragons torched him for three home runs, and the score was 7-1 when the dust cleared.

The one run came when Corey Joyce doubled to lead off the second. A pair of groundouts moved him around to score, but it was in the fourth, after Dayton had plated another run to make it 8-1, that the Whitecaps got serious on the offensive side of the ball.

Josh Crouch led off with a walk, and after Joyce struck out, Jose King went yard for his third homer of the year, and second in four games. Esney Chacon and Ben Malgeri followed with singles, and Trei Cruz drew a walk to load the bases. Dustin Garneau pulled a two-run single to left, and an Austin Murr groundout allowed Cruz to score as well. 8-6 Dayton.

Unfortunately, the deficit was too much to overcome. King singled home Jake Holton in the seventh to pull within a run, but they couldn’t get another. There was a little drama remaining as Crouch was hit in the hand by a pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. He wasn’t happy. Words were exchanged. Things grew spicy. The benches and bullpens cleared for a little mayhem before order was finally restored on the field and Corey Joyce struck out to end it.

King: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR

Garneau: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB

Murr: 0-3, RBI, 2 BB, SO, SB

Montero (L, 5-6): 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, BB, 5 SO

Coming Up Next: The two clubs meet up at 6:35 p.m. EDT on Friday night.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 10, Bradenton Marauders 9 (box)

There was another wild and woolly game on Thursday down in Bradenton as the two clubs combined for 14 walks, 20 hits, and 19 strikeouts in an old fashioned slobberknocker.

Marco Jimenez got the start for the Flying Tigers and it went poorly. He allowed four runs and couldn’t make it out of the second. His replacement, Erick Rodriguez couldn’t do any better, giving up three more runs in the fourth. A two-run single from Austin Schultz got Lakeland on the board in the second inning, and Frank Veliz lifted a solo shot in the fifth, but after six the score was 9-3 Marauders.

The comeback began with a leadoff walk to Eduardo Valencia in the top of the seventh. Schultz singled, and Veliz struck out. Izaac Pacheco hit a grounder than nicked Schultz as he ran to second, making him the second out of the inning. However, everything fell apart for the Marauders at that point.

Manuel Sequera reached on a throwing error, with Valencia scoring. Chris Meyers singled and a throwing error allowed Sequera to move to third. Roberto Campos and Justice Bigbie walked on either side of a pitching change, and the new pitcher, Yunior Thibo, wild pitched a run home and went on to walk two more in a row before Schultz came up again and reached on yet another error. Ah minor league ball. Lakeland led 10-9 when it was over and held on to win.

Bigbie: 2-3, 2 R, 2 BB

Schultz: 2-5, 2 RBI, SO, CS

Veliz: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, SO

Coming Up Next: Friday night’s matchup is set for 6:30 p.m. EDT.