Justyn-Henry Malloy homers as the Mud Hens win in extras

Toledo Mud Hens 4, Indianapolis Indians 3 (F/11)(box)

This one featured a really good pitching matchup as Keider Montero looked to defend home turf against perhaps the best pitching prospect in baseball in Paul Skenes. Montero was good, Skenes was fearsome, and neither factored at all in the decision nor allowed any runs. Instead this went to the 11th inning thanks to Justyn-Henry Malloy’s heroics, and the Hens ultimately walked it off.

Montero spun four innings of two hit ball with six strikeouts, allowing no runs. He did walk three, and the occasional burst of control issues cropped up, but overall the Pirates farmhands couldn’t do much with him.

The Hens couldn’t do much with Skenes either. He scattered three hits, two from Baddoo and one from Malloy, and walked one, striking out eight. It was a brief outing though, as he departed with one out in the fourth inning.

Indy broke the 0-0 deadlock in the fifth, scratching out a run against lefty Sean Guenther and then tacking on two more against him in the sixth. Bligh Madris launched a solo shot, his first homer of the year, for the good guys in the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-1.

In the seventh, Anthony Bemboom led off with a double, but Andrew Navigato and Akil Baddoo struck out against the tough Carmen Mlodzinski. That left it to Malloy, and J-Hen had the answer.

With the game tied, Wilmer Flores spun a clean eighth, and Brenan Hanifee kept Indy off the board in the ninth and tenth innings. Andrew Vasquez got three fly balls to hold the runner at second in the 11th inning. In the bottom half, with Ryan Vilade starting on second base and a former top pitching prospect in Brent Honeywell on the mound in relief, Justice Bigbie was hit by a pitch with one out. Buddy Kennedy then walked to load the bases. Bemboom lined out to center field, and Vilade tagged and raced home as the game winner.

Malloy: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB, 2 K

Baddoo: 2-5, 2 K, CS

Bigbie: 2-3, BB

Montero: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: They’ll have a 2:35 p.m. ET start on Saturday as they play two to make up for Thursday’s rain out.

Erie SeaWolves vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (cancelled)

Rain washed them out again in Erie, and this one won’t be made up. Instead they’ll play two on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. ET, and then finish the series with the regularly scheduled 1:35 p.m. ET start on Sunday.

Quad Cities River Bandits 8, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (box)

The Whitecaps got a good outing from Garrett Burhenn, who spun four innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts. Unfortunately the offense didn’t show up at all as they were one-hit on the night. River Bandits right-hander Ben Kudrna had a great outing, punching seven tickets in six no-hit innings of work with just a walk allowed.

The game was 1-0 Quad Cities most of the evening, but the bullpen blew up in the eighth and ninth to spoil hopes of a comeback.

Burhenn: 4.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: Saturday’s doubleheader to make up Thursday’s rain out will get underway at 2:00 p.m. ET. The Whitecaps lead the series 2-1.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 7, Bradenton Marauders 6 (F/10)(box)

Garrett Hill made a rehab start in this one and got knocked out early. The relief corps didn’t do all that well either, but the Flying Tigers offense showed up with power and timely hitting to eventually walk this off in 10 innings.

Hill allowed two runs in the first, and didn’t make it out of the inning. Hayden Minto took over and struggle to control anything, giving up two more runs in the third. 4-0 Bradenton.

The comeback got underway in the third inning. Dom Johnson led off with a walk and stole second base. Samuel Gil sprayed a line drive double to right to score him. Max Clark walked, and after a103.4 mph lineout off the bat of Josue Briceño that moved Gil to third, Clayton Campbell’s swinging bunt to third brought Gil home. 4-2 Bradenton.

Eiker Huizi issued a walk in each of his two innings of work, but kept the Marauders off the board with a little help from this throw by Briceño,

In the sixth inning, the Flying Tigers finally ran down the Marauders. With one out, David Smith walked, and Cristian Santana was hit by a pitch. Jose De La Cruz followed with his second missile in as many days.

Johnson followed De La Cruz with a single and took second on a botched pickoff throw. Gil struck out, but Max Clark lined a single to center to score Johnson and make it 6-4 Lakeland. Briceño then drew an intentional walk! You don’t see much of that in the minors outside of late game scenarios. However, Clayton Campbell struck out to end the inning.

Jake Miller struggled in the top of the seventh, and he allowed a two-run shot that tied the game. Luke Stofel took over and locked down the eighth and ninth innings. Patrick Pridgen, Tigers 15th rounder in 2022, spun a scoreless tenth, and that set the stage for a pinch-hit appearance by Brett Callahan in the bottom of the tenth as he knocked a walkoff single to end it.

Gil: 1-3, R, RBI, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K

Johnson: 1-3, 2 R, BB, K, SB

De La Cruz: 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers look to run their winning streak to five over Bradenton at 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.