Toledo Mud Hens 4, Syracuse Mets 1 (F/7)(Gm1)(box)
The Mud Hens took game one of this doubleheader on Wednesday behind a solid effort from the pitching staff.
The Hens offense jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the first. Parker Meadows, Zack Short, and Justyn-Henry Malloy led off the game with three straight singles to load the bases. Ryan Kreidler pulled a rocket off the top of the wall in left that nearly went for a grand slam. Meadows and Short scored, with Malloy thrown out at home on the play. Andre Lipcius doubled in Kreidler and it was 3-0.
Starter Reese Olson had another mediocre outing in this one, but managed to limit the damage in the third when he hit Jose Peraza, then walked Danny Mendick with one out. An error on Andy Ibanez at second base allowed Ronny Mauricio to reach, loading the bases. A Mark Vientos sac fly brought home the Mets lone run in the game before Olson got a ground ball to evade any further trouble. Olson only allowed two hits, but he walked a pair with two strikeouts in four innings of work.
In the fourth, Andrew Knapp led off with a walk and stole second base. He scored on a Meadows’ single to make it 4-1. Right-hander Kervin Castro came on in the fifth, but departed with the trainer after two hitters with an injury. No details were forthcoming yet. Matt Wisler took over and racked up three quick outs to end the fifth. He got a pair of outs in the fifth before Miguel Del Pozo took over for a four-out save.
Knapp: 1-1, R, 2B, 2 BB
Meadows: 2-4, R, RBI
Malloy: 1-4, SO
Olson: 4.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 SO
Syracuse Mets 2, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (F/9)(Gm2)(box)
After the makeup game for Tuesday’s rainout, game two got underway around two o’ clock and was set to be seven innings. They needed a pair of extra innings to decide it. Both teams pitched well, but the Mets squeaked out a victory with a run in the top of the ninth. Maybe the most notable point was that Justyn-Henry Malloy’s 16-game hitting streak came to an end.
Alex Faedo got the start in this one. He walked Mendick to start the game, and a single and a ground ball scored him. Faedo would go just three innings, allowing just the lone run on two hits, with a walk and a strikeout to his credit. Garrett Hill took over in the fourth and tossed two scoreless frames. Miguel Diaz followed suit with two of his own in perfect fashion, with three strikeouts.
The Hens finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, just in the nick of time. Lipcius led off with a single and after Jonathan Davis dropped down a bunt and Lipcius was thrown out at second, Davis stole second and took third on a balk. Jermaine Palacios struck out, but a wild pitch allowed Davis to tie the game. Brendon Davis then walked and took second on another wild pitch from the Mets’ Dennis Santana. They intentionally walked Michael Papierski with the potential game winning run on second, but Meadows grounded out to first base to sent it to extras.
In the eighth, with Khalil Lee starting on second base, Aneurys Zabala got Mendick to fly out and Lee took third. Ronny Mauricio lifted a fly ball to left, and Jonathan Davis fired home and cut down Lee at the plate to end the inning. The Hens couldn’t ride that high to a walk off win, unfortunately. With Meadows on second, Ibanez pulled a grounder to shortstop and Meadows got himself cut down trying to take third. Can’t do that. Malloy and Kreidler struck out to end the inning.
A walk and a single led to a run against Zabala in the top of the ninth. The Hens went quietly in the bottom half with a fly out and a pair of strikeouts.
Ibanez: 2-4, SO, 2 SB
Davis, Brendon: 1-2, BB, SO
Faedo: 3.0 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Ashton Goudeau (1-0, 5.94 ERA) goes for the Hens on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. ET. The Mets haven’t announced yet.
Portland Sea Dogs 6, Erie SeaWolves 1 (box)
Brant Hurter put together another quality outing, but the bats were quiet against Shane Drohan and the Sea Dogs’ bullpen on Wednesday.
The SeaWolves got Hurter an early lead in the bottom of the first as Grant Witherspoon led off with a single and stole second base. Colt Keith reached on an error, and Witherspoon scored Erie’s lone run on the night. Jake Holton singled and walked, while Julio E. Rodriguez had a single. That was all for the lineup’s output.
Hurter tossed four innings of scoreless, three-hit ball. The big lefty didn’t walk a batter, struck out six, and is off to a good start through four starts with 18 strikeouts in 16 innings, a 1.13 WHIP and a 0.56 ERA.
The bullpen didn’t do so well. Dario Gardea allowed three runs in the fifth inning, while Adam Wolf allowed three more in the eighth as the Sea Dogs pulled away late.
Witherspoon: 1-4, R, SB
Holton: 1-2, BB
Hurter: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 6 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Ty Madden (0-0, 1.00 ERA) takes on RHP Chih-Jung Liu at 6:05 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
West Michigan Whitecaps 10, Cedar Rapids Kernels 0 (box)
Right-hander Keider Montero was superb and the Whitecaps produced a 17 hit attack, using up the offense for the whole Tigers’ system on Wednesday.
Montero threw 42 of 53 pitches for strikes, allowing just two hits while striking out eight, or popping eight Kernels if you prefer. The only trouble he saw was a one-out double in the first. He mixed in both the slider and the curveball effectively, but in this moment he reared back and spotted a lot of good 96-97 mph fastballs, collecting a strikeout and a ground ball to turn Cedar Rapids away. Montero dominated the rest of the way, spinning an immaculate inning in the third and seeing only a single 1-0 count on the day.
Montero needed some refinement in his game. The stuff is there, but better command and more composure and game control in tough situations was required. So far he’s shown improvements there, and now has 22 strikeouts to just four walks in his first 16 innings of the year. A little more of this and it’s probably time for a Double-A debut.
Blake Holub and Williander Moreno finished the job in relief, allowing just one hit over five combined innings of work.
Chris Meyers got the party started in the third with a lead off double. Eduardo Valencia lined out and Robert Campos struck out, but Jace Jung came through with an RBI single. They pushed across two more runs in the fourth, and then Meyers hit a solo shot in the seventh. Justice Bigbie doubled home Steele Walker in the eighth. In the ninth, the ‘Caps blew it up with a five-run inning. There was no big blow, but a hit by pitch, a walk, a wild pitch, a passed ball and singles from Izaac Pacheco, Eliezer Alfonzo, Roberto Campos, Chris Meyers and Justice Bigbie carried the day.
Meyers: 3-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2B, BB
Bigbie: 3-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B, SO
Serretti: 3-4, R, SO
Montero: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 8 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Garrett Burhenn (0-1, 9.39 ERA) takes on RHP Alejandro Hidalgo (0-1, 1.59 ERA) at 7:35 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
Palm Beach Cardinals 4, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (box)
Starter Chris Williams Jr. had a tough time finding the strike zone and the Cardinals got an early lead and ran with it on Wednesday. The Flying Tigers had some chances to score but couldn’t capitalize much.
Williams Jr. walked the first two batters of the game, and then got a strikeout before allowing another infield single to load the bases. The lefty responded by striking out a pair to avoid giving up a run. However, more walks and a hit batter in the second led to a two-run inning.
The offense loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning with one out, but Manuel Sequera popped out and Seth Stephenson grounded out to end the threat. Stephenson’s two-out triple in the bottom of the fifth was the next time Lakeland got a runner in scoring position, but Andrew Navigato flew out.
Mike Rothenberg led off the bottom of the seventh with his third home run on the year to make it 2-1 Palm Beach, and it was still anyone’s game. Unfortunately Jordan Marks and Trevin Michael each allowed a run in the relief. The Flying Tigers got the game tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, with men on first and second, but Stephenson grounded out to end it.
Rothenberg: 1-3, R, RBI, HR
Reyes: 2-4
Williams Jr. (L, 1-2): 2.0 IP, 2 R, ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday night. No starters have been announced as of yet.