A good Jackson Jobe start for the Whitecaps goes to waste; Jace Jung hits his 21st home run in Erie victory

Louisville Bats 6, Toledo Mud Hens 5 (box)

Joey Wentz struggled in this one, and the offense fought back only to see the bullpen lose this one late.

Wentz allowed a solo shot to Trey Mancini in the bottom of the first, but it could’ve been worse as Alejo Lopez had doubled right before Mancini but got cut down trying to stretch it to three on a relay from center fielder Ryan Kreidler to Eddys Leonard, to Justyn-Henry Malloy at third.

In the top of the third, Colt Keith doubled in Nick Solak and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Leonard. 2-1 Hens. However, in the bottom half, Mancini doubled in Lopez to tie the game, and in the fourth, Jhonny Pereda got to Wentz for a two-run home run. 4-2 Bats.

The Hens rallied back in the eighth, as Isan Diaz singled and Leonard walked with one out. Kreidler doubled in Diaz, and Michael Papierski singled in Leonard and Kreidler to make it 5-3 Hens.

Unfortunately, Brenan Hanifee allowed two runs in the bottom half as the Bats recaptured the lead for good.

Leonard: 2-2, R, RBI, 2B, BB

Papierski: 1-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB, K

Keith: 1-5, R, RBI, 2B, K

Wentz: 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (1-2, 4.50 ERA) looks to continue his recent run with a 7:15 p.m. ET Friday night start. RHP Ben Lively (4-0, 4.68 ERA) starts for Louisville.

Erie SeaWolves 12, Bowie Baysox 10 (box)

The offense pounded out 14 hits and drew seven walks to outslug Bowie on Thursday.

They started quickly, with Trei Cruz drawing a leadoff walk in the first, and Justice Bigbie, Jace Jung, and Chris Meyers all followed with singles. A Corey Joyce sac fly scored Bigbie, and the SeaWolves led 2-0.

Bigbie singled again, because this man won’t stop hitting, to open the third, and a Jung ground out moved Bigbie to second and he eventually scored on a Luis Santana ground out. 3-0 SeaWolves. In the fourth, Jung doubled in Julio E. Rodriguez and Trei Cruz. Meyers singled in Jung, and it was 6-0.

Starter Bryan Sammons had held Bowie scoreless to that point, but allowed three runs in the top of the fifth. 6-3 SeaWolves.

The offense was just getting warmed up though, as Santana led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot. Ben Malgeri followed with a triple, his second in two games, and Rodriguez singled him in to make it 8-3. Jung and Santana added home runs in the sixth to make it 11-3, and they added another run in the seventh inning.

This one should have been comfortably in the bag, but Yaya Chentouf allowed five runs in the eighth, and Tyler Mattison two in the ninth to turn this into a little bit of a nail biter before Mattison finally closed it out.

Santana: 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, K

Jung: 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2B, K

Meyers: 3-4, R, 3 RBI

Sammons (W, 1-1): 5.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 K

Coming Up Next: No starters are announced for Friday’s 6:35 p.m. ET first pitch.

Peoria Chiefs 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 3 (box)

The Whitecaps got a good start from Jackson Jobe and built an early lead in this one, but unfortunately couldn’t close it out as the Chiefs walked this one off.

The scoring opened in the top of the third, as Carlos Mendoza led off the inning with a single. A batter later Luke Gold doubled to left, moving Mendoza to third, and he scored on a Gage Workman ground out. Gold took third on the play, and then scored on a balk. 2-0 Whitecaps.

In the fourth, an Eliezer Alfonzo single and a Mendoza double set up another scoring chance and Esney Chacon singled in Alfonzo. Mendoza was thrown out at home trying to follow Alfonzo in, but it was 3-0 Whitecaps.

Meanwhile, Jobe was cruising. He blanked Peoria for five innings, but in the sixth an error on first baseman Andrew Jenkins put the leadoff hitter on, and the next batter, Jimmy Crooks, got what looked like a hanging cutter right into his wheelhouse and cracked a two-run shot to right field. Jobe allowed just three hits and didn’t walk a batter, striking out six along the way.

The Whitecaps still led 3-2, but the offense went quiet and they couldn’t add on any runs. Erick Pinales uncorked multiple wild pitches in the bottom of the ninth, and eventually Peoria walked it off on a single.

Mendoza: 2-4, R, 2B

Allen: 2-3, BB

Gold: 1-5, R, 2B, K

Jobe: 6.0 IP, 2 R, ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: RHP Dylan Smith (0-0, 2.45 ERA) takes the ball on Friday night. RHP Trent Baker (6-8, 3.54 ERA) starts for Peoria at 7:35 p.m. ET.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Clearwater Threshers 2 (box)

Joe Miller gave the Flying Tigers a good start as a number of 2023 draft picks made their Low-A debut with a victory.

Miller went six innings, allowing just two runs. The right-hander struck out six and walked two along the way. Clearwater got a run against him in the second, but in the bottom half, Jose De La Cruz reached on an error and moved to third on a Kevin McGonigle double in his first place appearance in full season ball. A Bennett Lee sacrifice fly got De La Cruz home from third to tie the game.

Clearwater took the lead again with a run in the fourth, but finally in the seventh the Flying Tigers took control for good. McGonigle led off with a solid single, but Clayton Campbell struck out and Bennett Lee lined out. A pair of clutch two-out singles from Brett Callahan and Max Clark made it a tie game, and an error on Clark’s single allowed them each to advance 90 feet. Jim Jarvis singled in Callahan to make it 3-2, and the bullpen held it down the rest of the way.

McGonigle: 2-4, R, 2B

Anderson: 1-3, BB, 2 K

Clark: 1-4, RBI, 2 K

Miller: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Friday night.