Toledo Mud Hens at Louisville Bats (postponed)
They’ll play two at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday to make up Friday’s rain out.
Erie SeaWolves 5, Bowie Baysox 3 (box)
Brant Hurter was excellent in this one and the offense came through with some key hits to take down Bowie on Friday.
The big lefty tossed five shutout innings with six strikeouts to just one walk. He was gifted an early lead in the bottom of the first when Justice Bigbie singled and stole second before riding home on Chris Meyers 8th home run of the year for Erie.
Hurter was good, but Baysox pitching solidified after the early homer, and the SeaWolves offense didn’t do much more until the seventh. With one out, Jake Holton blasted a solo shot to right center field, and Luis Santana followed with a shot to left, his third in two games. With two outs in the inning and a 4-0 lead, Ben Malgeri singled and Mario Feliciano doubled him home.
Bowie got to the bullpen late, but couldn’t complete their comeback attempt.
Meyers: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Santana: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, 2 K
Hurter (W, 6-7): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: The series is tied at two apiece heading into the weekend. No starters are yet announced for Saturday night’s 6:05 p.m. ET matchup.
West Michigan Whitecaps 9, Peoria Chiefs 1 (box)
It was good to see Dylan Smith healthy and pitching well on Friday night. The right-hander put together another good start, tossing six innings of one-run ball without a walk and with six punchouts. Meanwhile, speedy Seth Stephenson debuted with the Whitecaps with a three hit game and two runs scored.
Stephenson sparked things off in the top of the first just as he has with the Flying Tigers all year. He reached on an error, stole second base, and scored on a Gage Workman single. In the third, Luke Gold led off with a walk and eventually scored on an Izaac Pacheco double. Andrew Jenkins followed with a single to plate Pacheco and make it 3-0.
In the fourth, Stephenson singled to leadoff another inning and again stole second base. Three batters late Brady Allen launched a two-run shot to make it 5-0. Smith allowed a run in the sixth, but the ‘Caps came right back with three more in the seventh.
Allen led off with a double and was wild pitched to third. Eliezer Alfonzo reached on an infield single and then a wild pitch scored Allen and moved Alfonzo to second base. He would score on a Jenkins single, and a couple of walks eventually scored him to make it 8-1. Stephenson singled in Jenkins in the top of the ninth for a bit of emphasis.
Stephenson: 3-6, 2 R, RBI, 2 SB
Allen: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B,BB
Jenkins: 4-5, 2 R, RBI, K
Smith (W, 1-0): 6.0 IP, ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: Fast-rising right-hander Troy Melton (3-1, 1.82 ERA) takes the mound on Saturday against RHP Zane Mills (6-5, 5.35 ERA) at 7:35 p.m. ET.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Clearwater Threshers 2 (box)
The Flying Tigers gave Colin Fields an early lead, and were repayed with a pretty good start from the right-hander in this one. Fields went six innings, allowing two runs without walking a batter and collecting six punchouts along the way. Fields doesn’t throw hard…yet, but he’s got some nasty, high-spin breaking balls to work with.
The scoring started in the bottom of the second as Lakeland’s catcher Josue Briceno, who is having a really good summer already, led off with a double. Jose De La Cruz popped out, but Kevin McGonigle walked. A walk to Cole Turney loaded the bases, and a wild pitch scored Briceno. Bennett Lee then walked to reload the bases and David Smith was hit by a pitch for another run. A Max Clark ground out scored Turney, and it was 3-0 Lakeland.
Clearwater got to Fields for two runs in the sixth, but in the seventh Jim Jarvis singled and later scored on a De La Cruz ground ball. In the eighth, Clark walked with two outs and Cristian Santana launched home run 11 on the year to make it 6-2.
Briceno: 2-4, R, 2B
Jarvis: 2-4, R, 2B, BB
Clark: 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB
Fields (W, 5-0): 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: Lakeland has a 3-1 lead in the series heading into Saturday’s 6:00 p.m. ET matchup.