Rochester Red Wings 2, Toledo Mud Hens 0 (box)
Sort of painfully twisted for a Tigers affiliate to lose to the Red Wings on Tuesday night, but here we are. Devin Sweet and Mason Englert combined for a decent spot start, and the bullpen was outstanding. The bats just couldn’t come up with a key hit in this first of six from Rochester, NY.
The Hens first scoring chance came early. With one out in the top of the first, Justyn-Henry Malloy singled off pitcher Joan Adon, which is quite a name, and Jace Jung drew a walk. A wild pitch moved them up 90 feet, but Keston Hiura and Justice Bigbie went down swinging. Sweet got in a bit of trouble in the first too, but Dillon Dingler cut down a runner trying to steal third to end the inning after a pitch spiked halfway to home plate.
The Red Wings returned the favor in the second when Bligh Madris led off with a walk. He was then cut down trying to steal second. A pair of walks from Sweet got him in trouble in the bottom half, but the Red Wings couldn’t come up with a key hit.
Akil Baddoo has five extra base hits in his last four games now after doubling with one out in the third. In the process he posted the highest exit velocity we’ve seen from a player in the Tigers’ org in a long time. He too was stranded.
Akil Baddoo with an absolute missile to the wall for a double. How about 114.8 mph off the bat? Hit it so hard he was almost thrown out at second. pic.twitter.com/gBErmCWmsI
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 16, 2024
Sweet finally ran out of gas in the third. A leadoff triple and then a two-run homer ended his night. That was all for the offenses on either side in this one. Mason Englert took over and continued to rack up plenty of whiffs like a low power Reese Olson, mixing tons of sliders and changeups in and avoiding his heater when possible.
The Hens got the leadoff hitter on a few more times but just couldn’t develop a rally. Trey Wingenter struck out three in two innings of relief work, and Drew Anderson likewise struck out three, with a walk and a single allowed, in his inning of work.
Baddoo: 1-4, 2B
Hiura: 1-3, BB, 2 K
Sweet (L, 0-2): 2.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 0 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start scheduled for Wednesday night.
Akron RubberDucks 6, Erie SeaWolves 0 (box)
Like the Mud Hens, the SeaWolves offense got nothing done on Tuesday night. Troy Melton had his first bad start in a long time, allowing four runs in three innings of work, and the RubberDucks cruised to victory.
Melton’s command just wasn’t sharp at all in this one, as he issued three walks and only collected two strikeouts. A pair of walks to start the bottom of the second led to a two-run double that made it 2-0. Chase DeLauter homered in the third, and Melton allowed another run, with an error and another walk not helping the cause, before closing out the inning.
Brady Allen’s two-out triple in the second inning was the only extra base hit among Erie’s four hits on the night. Andrew Magno and Trevin Michael each allowed a run in relief.
Allen: 1-2, 3B, BB, K
Hopkins: 1-3, BB, 2 K, SB
Melton (L, 0-1): 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start in Akron on Wednesday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Great Lakes Loons 3 (box)
Carlos Marcano put together an excellent outing in this one, and the Whitecaps survived a late rally by the Loons to take Game 1 of the series up in Midland.
Seth Stephenson was the spark right out of the gate in this one. The center fielder led off the game with a single and quickly stole second base. Max Anderson and Luke Gold struck out, but Andrew Jenkins walked and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third in time for a Roberto Campos two-run double to left field.
In the third inning, Gold walked with two outs and Jenkins doubled him home to make it 3-0 Whitecaps.
Meanwhile, Marcano was racking up ground ball outs and strikeouts, allowing just two singles and no walks, striking out four.
Things stayed 3-0 until the bottom of the eighth. Erick Pinales took over in relief, and a Jenkins throwing error allowed the leadoff hitter to reach. A passed ball on Josh Crouch allowed the runner to take second. A single and a ground out scored one run, but Pinales allowed a single and a double that plated two more before escaping the inning with the game now tied 3-3.
The Loons gave the game right back to them in the top of the ninth. Cole Turney led off with a single, but was forced at second on a shallow fly ball that dropped off the bat of Peyton Graham. Two straight walks and a wild pitch scored Graham to make it 4-3.
Tanner Kohlhepp came on for the save and spun a 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout to put this one away.
Stephenson: 1-3, R, 2 BB, SB
Campos: 1-2, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB, K
Marcano: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Palm Beach Cardinals 4, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (box)
The Flying Tigers offense sputtered in this one, wasting some pretty good pitching.
Samuel Gil led the game off with a triple, and a sacrifice fly from Max Clark scored him. Garrett Hill allowed a run in the bottom half in his rehab outing to tie the game.
Joe Miller took over from Hill in the second inning and he was untouchable. Miller allowed two hits in four scoreless innings of work, striking out eight Cardinals without allowing a walk.
The Flying Tigers got Jim Jarvis to third with a pair of sacrifices after a leadoff single in the third, but Max Clark was called out on strikes. It was a fun night with the strike zone, no doubt. There’s no video in Palm Beach, but Miller struck out the side in the fourth, all on called third strikes, which is a wee bit suspicious.
Finally in the sixth, the Flying Tigers got a good scoring opportunity, but couldn’t get a run across. A line drive single from Clark with one out was followed by a Josue Briceño fly out in foul territory. Clayton Campbell singled Clark to second, but Brett Callahan struck out to end to strand them.
It was the Flying Tigers turn for a meltdown in the eighth. Thomas Bruss lost his release point completely and walked four hitters, allowing three runs on just one hit and an error.
That was all she wrote as Lakeland went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth.
Gil: 1-4, R, 3B, K
Clark: 1-3, RBI, K
Miller: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 8 K
Coming Up Next: They’ll get back at it with a 6:35 p.m. ET start time on Wednesday.