Toledo Mud Hens 7, Buffalo Bisons 5 (box)
Jack O’Loughlin’s second Triple-A start after moving all the way up from High-A ball went much better than the first. He only struck out two, sitting 92-93 mph for the most part, but he blanked the Bisons for five innings as the Hens built a lead and just hung on in the end.
After a surprisingly rough last few weeks, Justyn-Henry Malloy had a big game on Wednesday. Things were quiet for two innings, and then O’Loughlin pitched through quite a lot of traffic in the top of the third without allowing the run.
The offense appeared to take a little momentum from the escape act. Jermaine Palacios singled to our old friend Wynton Bernard in right field and then stole second base. A wild pitch moved Palacios to third and Corey Joyce walked and stole second base. A ground out from Parker Meadows scored Palacios, and Malloy took the opportunity to line his ninth home run at 107.4 mph over the wall in left field. 3-0 Hens.
Kerry Carpenter, playing right field for the second straight night, followed with a drive to center field, his third in the past two games, but this one was caught. Andre Lipcius then tripled to keep the inning alive, but Grant Witherspoon grounded out.
In the fifth, Corey Joyce reached on an error to start the bottom half, and Meadows walked. Both scored on a Lipcius single to center field, and it was 5-0. Brendan White allowed a run in the top of the seventh, but Malloy doubled on a bouncer down the first base line with two outs in the bottom half and scored on a line drive single to right from Carpenter that left the bat at 108 mph. 6-1 Hens.
Matt Wisler struggled in the top of the eighth, allowing two runs, but the Hens got another when Michael Papierski singled home Witherspoon, who had led off the bottom half with a single. Miguel Diaz pitched around a Papierski error in the bottom of the ninth, allowing two runs, neither earned before striking out Otto Lopez to end it.
Malloy: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B
Lipcius: 3-4, 2 RBI, 3B, SO
O’Loughlin (W, 1-1): 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, BB, 2 SO
Coming Up Next: LHP Bryan Sammons (0-1, 11.25 ERA) makes his second start in the Tigers organization on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. ET. Buffalo sends RHP Paxton Schultz to the mound.
Bowie Baysox 8, Erie SeaWolves 7 (box)
Keider Montero was rocked in this one and didn’t get out of the first inning. The offense made a pretty valiant try at a comeback, falling just short.
Montero surrendered six runs on six hits and a walk in the first, and was lifted with two outs for R.J. Petit, who escaped the jam but then allowed a run in the second inning.
Down 7-0 already, the SeaWolves hitters got to work. Gage Workman walked and Ben Malgeri pulled a two-run home run to left in the bottom of the second. SeaWolves lefty Adam Wolf allowed a run in the top of the fourth, but after Ben Malgeri was hit by a pitch and pinch-run for by Eric De a Rosa, Colt Keith walked with two outs. He and De La Rosa pulled off a double steal, and a wild pitch scored De La Rosa.
Andrew Navigato homered in the fifth, a solo shot to make it 8-4. In the sixth, Diego Rincones singled and Trei Cruz continued to flash the power, drilling a two-run, opposite field home run to right to make it 8-6. Keith followed with a two-out double but they failed to score him. Jake Holton led off the seventh with his sixth home run of the year to pull them within a run, but the comeback stalled out there.
Holton: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, BB
Cruz: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, SO
Keith: 1-4, 2B, BB
Montero (L, 3-2): 0.2 IP, 6 ER, BB, 2 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Ty Madden (0-1, 3.98 ERA) takes on Bowie’s RHP Justin Armbruester (3-1, 1.62 ERA) on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. ET.
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9, West Michigan Whitecaps 4 (box)
Beau Brieske’s first inning of rehab work went well, as did Troy Melton’s four-inning stint as the “starter” but the bullpen collapsed as the Timber Rattlers came from behind to win this one.
Brieske tossed one inning, sitting 95 mph per Tigers Minor League Report, and struck out two in a perfect inning to start things off. The right-hander had forearm issues and missed the second half of the 2022 season, rested and rehabbed it over the offseason, and then suffered problems in the forearm again in spring training. He was diagnosed with ulnar nerve entrapment and treated with a hydrodissection procedure which is essentially an injection instead of actual surgery.
Here’s Beau Brieske’s first inning of rehab work. He threw 15 pitches, 10 for strikes. Picked up a pair of strikeouts. Fastball sat at 95 and he threw a few breaking balls in 85-86 range. pic.twitter.com/rCMFl0do8j
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 7, 2023
Troy Melton took over in the second inning, and the flamethrowing right-hander allowed just a hit and a walk over four scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
The Whitecaps lineup was quiet early on, but singles from Danny Serretti and Eliezer Alfonzo started the bottom of the third. A ground ball from Dillon Paulson forced Serretti at third, but Izaac Pacheco followed with a double to score Alfonzo, and a Justice Bigbie single plated both Paulson and Pacheco to make it 3-0.
Chris Meyers doubled and scored in the bottom of the sixth for the ‘Caps last run. The bullpen was lit up for three runs in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to lose the game.
Meyers: 2-4, R, 2 2B
Pacheco: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B, 2 SO
Serretti: 2-3, RBI
Melton: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Williander Moreno (3-0, 3.67 ERA) takes on Wisconsin’s RHP Jacob Misiorowski at 6:35 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Tampa Tarpons 3, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (box)
Starter Jake Miller was pretty solid in this one, but he didn’t get much run support. He allowed a two-run shot in the fourth, but that was all over give innings of work with three walks and five strikeouts. He was weaving through plenty of traffic and got some good defensive work behind him.
However, despite drawing six walks, the offense could only scratch across a run in the seventh. Abel Bastidas was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the seventh and would score later in the inning on a Seth Stephenson single.
Shortstop Peyton Graham hasn’t played since June 1, and is presumably getting some work on his swing mechanics, as there are no reports of an illness or injury. The Tigers second rounder last year, the shortstop has put up work K-BB rates but really hasn’t driven the ball much, popping up a ton despite competition that isn’t much different than he saw in college. Hopefully they can get him sorted out.
Stephenson: 1-3, RBI, BB
Gold: 1-3, BB, SO
Santana: 0-2, 2 BB, SB, CS
Miller (L, 1-2): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 SO
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.