Toledo Mud Hens 5, St. Paul Saints 4 (box)
The offense took advantage of eight walks and five stolen bases to win on Thursday night.
The Hens went with a bullpen day and the offense struck first in the top of the third. Parker Meadows walked with one out and stole second base. Justyn-Henry Malloy singled him home, and Colt Keith followed with a walk, but the attempt at a rally ended there. Rony Garcia allowed a run in the bottom half to tie the game.
In the seventh, Meadows singled on a line drive that tipped off the shortstop’s glove. He then stole second base again, and Malloy walked. Keith lined a single to right to load the bases, but Donny Sands struck out for the second out of the inning. Fortunately, Wenceel Perez came through with a sharp two-run single back through the box.
Matt Wisler nearly worked out of a jam in the bottom half, but Joe Rizzo dropped a foul pop-up that would’ve ended the inning. A walk and then a two-run double followed, tying it up again at 3-3.
The difference was the eighth. Grant Witherspoon led off with a single and stole second base. He advanced to third on an error on the play, and then Meadows grounded one to second base that also went for an error. Witherspoon scored to make it 4-3 Hens.
In the top of the ninth, Perez walked with one out and stole second, advancing to third on another throwing error from the Saints catcher, Mark Kolozsvary. A ground ball to first from Rizzo scored him, and Johan Camargo followed with a single, but Witherspoon grounded into a double play so they’d take a two-run lead in the bottom half. Miguel Diaz allowed a run, but managed to close it out for his 10th save.
Meadows: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, SO, 3 SB
Perez: 2-3, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SO, SB
Malloy: 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB
Garcia: 2.1 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: It’s an 8:07 p.m. ET start on Friday night. No starters are announced yet.
Akron RubberDucks 10, Erie SeaWolves 8 (F/11)(box)
Lael Lockhart gave the SeaWolves a good start, but the Akron won an extra innings battle of the bullpens on Thursday.
The left-hander tossed six innings of two run ball, striking out five. Akron got those two runs against him in the third, but in the bottom of the fourth, Erie tied it up on a two-run shot from Chris Meyers.
In the seventh, reliever Layne Henderson took over and was a little wild. He allowed one run on a sacrifice fly and managed to snuff what could have been a rough inning. In the bottom half, Akron’s bullpen walked Diego Rincones and Mario Feliciano, and Ben Malgeri singled Rincones home to make it 3-3.
Finally, in the eighth Meyers launched his second home run of the day with Danny Serretti aboard, and seized control of the game. That control didn’t last long, however. Looking to close it out in the top of the ninth, Austin Bergner surrendered a two-run shot that sent them to extra innings.
Each team allowed a run in the tenth inning. The SeaWolves were down to their last out when Jace Jung came through with an RBI single. However in the eleventh, RJ Petit struggled and allowed four runs. Julio E. Rodriguez launched a two-run homer in the bottom half and they got the tying run to the plate, but fell just short in the end.
Meyers: 2-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, 2 SO
Rodriguez: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, HR, SO
Lockhart: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 5 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Tommy Mace (2-2, 5.28 ERA) starts for Akron on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. ET. The SeaWolves haven’t announced a starter.
Fort Wayne TinCaps 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 4 (Gm1)(box)
This one was the resumption of Wednesday’s suspended contest, picking up in the third inning of a 1-1 game. Bryce Tassin took over from yesterday’s starter Angel Reyes, allowing a run in 2 1⁄3 innings of work. Gabriel Sequeira allowed two more in the sixth to make it 4-1 Fort Wayne.
In the bottom of the sixth, Izaac Pacheco reached on an error with one out and Gage Workman followed with a single. Roberto Campos and Josh Crouch then walked in succession, forcing in a run, and Workman scored on an Austin Murr ground out to make it 4-3 Fort Wayne. In the seventh, Luke Gold walked and Pacheco was hit by a pitch with two outs. Gage Workman lined a single to center that scored Gold, but Pacheco was cut down trying to go first to third, snuffing a chance at more.
So the game was all tied up 4-4 when Dario Gardea took over in the ninth and allowed three runs. The ‘Caps had no answer in the bottom of the ninth.
Crouch: 2-3, 2 RBI, BB, SO
Workman: 2-4, R, RBI, SO
Reyes: 2.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 SO
West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Fort Wayne TinCaps 1 (Gm2)(F/7)(box)
Troy Melton was wild in game 2, walking five, but he managed to limit the damage to just one run over four innings of work while the offense built a sizable lead.
The Whitecaps struck first when Workman singled, stole second, and then scored on a Roberto Campos single in the bottom of the second. In the third, Brady Allen and Andre Lipcius doubled with one out, and Eliezer Alfonzo followed with a three-run shot, his seventh of the year. Workman was right behind him, launching a solo shot to right, and it was 5-0 Whitecaps.
Melton allowed his lone run in the top of the fifth before being lifted. Lipcius lined a solo shot the opposite way in the bottom half to keep the five-run lead at 6-1, and the bullpen made it hold up in the sixth and seventh to earn a split.
Workman: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, SB
Alfonzo: 2-3, R, 2 RBI, HR
Lipcius: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B, SO
Melton: 4.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 3 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Williander Moreno (3-2, 4.97 ERA) takes on Fort Wayne’s LHP Austin Krob (1-1, 2.70 ERA) at 6:35 p.m. ET on Friday night.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 8, Daytona Tortugas 3 (box)
The Flying Tigers built a big lead early on in this one and had no trouble holding off Daytona’s comeback attempts.
They started quickly. Seth Stephenson led off the bottom of the first by drawing a walk and then stealing second base. A rehabbing Ryan Kreidler walked as well, and Andrew Jenkins singled them both home.
It was Jenkins again in the third, leading off with a double. Mike Rothenberg walked and Cristian Santana was hit by a pitch. A sac fly from Abel Bastidas made it 3-0 but the center fielder dropped the ball. Daytona went to their bullpen. New reliever Jean Correa did no better, walking Jose De La Cruz to score Rothenberg and keep the bases loaded. An infield hit from Stephenson pushed one run across, and then Kreidler cleared the bases with an opposite field double. 8-0 Lakeland.
Joe Milller finally allowed a few runs in the fourth and fifth, but the bullpen was nails.
Stephenson: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB
Jenkins: 2-5, R, RBI, 2B, SO
Santana: 1-2, R, 2B, BB, SO
Miller (W, 2-3): 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Friday night from Publix Field.