Columbus Clippers 10, Toledo Mud Hens 2 (box)
Keider Montero got a bit of a rude welcome to the Triple-A level, though he pitched a little better than his final line, and the Hens offense couldn’t get much going in this one.
Montero struck out the first batter he faced for his new team, then surrendered a solid single to left. From there the Hens’ defense had some difficulties. A pop-up off the bat of Jonathan Rodriguez was just foul behind first base but Tyler Nevin just lost sight of it, extending the AB. A solid line drive to center was then lost in the sun by Parker Meadows and went right by him all the way to the wall to score a run. Colt Keith flat out whiffed a routine ground ball, and Montero had to dig deep in a long inning before recording his second strikeout of the inning to escape with two runs across.
Overall, Montero threw a ton of strikes in his debut, potentially too many of them as the Clippers saw some cookies to crush, walking just one to five strikeouts. After using up a ton of pitches in the first to the point that the Hens had someone warming in the bullpen, he settled in to go five innings, but the Clippers hit him pretty hard in the middle innings.
Finally the Hens got on the board in the fifth when Eddys Leonard singled with one out. Donny Sands walked, and Meadows singled in Leonard to make it 6-1 Columbus. Sean Guenther was rocked for four runs in the top of the ninth, and this one was long over.
Meadows: 1-4, RBI, 2 K
Keith: 1-4, K
Montero (L, 0-1): 5.0 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 8 H, BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: LHP Zach Logue (3-7, 6.22 ERA) takes on RHP Peyton Battenfield (0-4, 6.75 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. ET on Friday night.
Erie SeaWolves 2, Altoona Curve 0 (box)
Ty Madden may have taken some inspiration from Keider Montero’s promotion, as Madden put together his best outing of the season. The right-hander two-hit the Curve over seven innings with two walks and eight strikeouts to lead the SeaWolves to victory.
The SeaWolves only managed three hits of their own, but that’s partly because they walked eight times in the contest. The game was scoreless until the fifth when Danny Serretti singled with two outs, and Ben Malgeri walked. A balk advanced both runners, and then Jace Jung and Dillon Dingler walked as well, forcing in a run. Jake Holton launched a solo shot in the eighth, his third in as many days, and Tyler Mattison shut down the Curve over the final two innings to earn a six-out save.
Holton: 1-3, R, RBI, HR
Dingler: 0-2, RBI, 3 BB
Madden (W, 3-3): 7.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 K
Coming Up Next: LHP Adam Wolf (3-2, 2.90 ERA) takes on Altoona’s RHP Aaron Shortridge (6-7, 5. 11 ERA) at 6:00 p.m. ET.
West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Great Lakes Loons 2 (box)
Troy Melton put together another good start, and a five-run third inning punctuated by Hao-Yu Lee’s first home run in the Tigers’ system carried them over the Loons on Thursday.
Austin Murr and Carlos Mendoza kickstarted the top of the third, leading off with singles before Lee went deep to left center field. 3-0 ‘Caps.
Hao-Yu Lee with a 3-run bomb to left center to give West Michigan the lead. It’s his first with the Whitecaps, and his 6th overall this year. Estimated distance of 422 feet. pic.twitter.com/B5mSObtreU
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 10, 2023
Gage Workman followed with a single, and after Brady Allen struck out, Eliezer Alfonzo doubled Workman to third where he scored on a wild pitch. Luke Gold lined a single to center to bring in Alfonzo, and it was 5-0.
Melton allowed two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but he ultimately went six innings allowing just those two runs. He didn’t allow a walk and struck out four along the way.
Alfonzo singled and scored in the fifth, and Angel Reyes and Trevin Michael took over from Melton and carried the Whitecaps the rest of the way.
Alfonzo: 2-5, 2 R, 2B
Mendoza: 2-2, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Workman: 3-4, R, BB
Melton (W, 3-1): 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Dunedin Blue Jays 5, Lakeland Flying Tigers 3 (box)
Joe Miller gave the Flying Tigers a really good start, but the offense and the bullpen didn’t quite have the goods in this one.
The right-hander struck out eight over five innings of two-run ball. Meanwhile the offense got right to work. Seth Stephenson led off the bottom of the first with a single, took second on an error, and then stole third base for good measure. That was his 53rd stolen base on the season as he continues to wreak havoc on the basepaths. A sacrifice fly from Carlos Santana made it 1-0.
Jose De La Cruz hit a solo shot to make it 2-0 in the second inning, and in the third Stephenson reached on an error and scored on a Santana double. Miller allowed two runs in the fourth, but the Flying Tigers still held a 3-2 lead. However the offense went quiet from there, and Quinn Gudaitis and Tanner Kohlhepp leaked a few runs to let this one slip away.
Santana: 1-2, 2 RBI, 2B, BB
Stephenson: 1-4, 2 R, SB
Miller: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 8 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday night.
FCL Blue Jays 7, FCL Tigers 6 (box)
Max Clark hit the second home run of his pro career on Thursday, and also added a double as the Blue Jays held off a late charge in Florida Complex league action on Thursday. 2023 fourth rounder prep selection Carson Rucker also had a pair of hits including a double. Right-hander Andrew Dunford, a 6’7” specimen out of Houston County H.S. in Georgia and the Tigers 12th round selection in the draft, made his pro debut with a scoreless inning.
Clark’s two-run blast in the top of the eighth gave the Tigers a 6-5 lead, but they couldn’t hold it in the bottom half of the inning.
Clark: 2-5, R, 3 RBI, HR, 2B
Rucker: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B
Andrew Dunford: 1.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, K