Worcester Red Sox 7, Toledo Mud Hens 5 (box)
The Hens dropped a tough one to break their losing streak. They led most of the game, but the bullpen collapsed in the top of the ninth to lose it. Andy Ibañez had two hits in the first game of his rehab assignment as he returns from a hamstring injury.
Brant Hurter got the start, and the Hens gave him an early lead in the second inning. Keston Hiura and Justyn-Henry Malloy led the inning off with singles and Justice Bigbie drew a walk to load the bases. A Dillon Dingler sacrifice fly scored the first run of the game, but Malloy was cut down at home trying to score on a Corey Joyce ground ball. Andrew Navigato singled to score Bigbie before Akil Baddoo lined out to end the inning. 2-0 Hens.
Hurter leaked a run in the third, and then allowed a two run homer in the fourth to lose the lead. Overall a pretty poor start with seven hits allowed and three runs scored in just four innings.
The Hens did come back in the sixth. Malloy and Bigbie doubled to lead off the inning and tie the game 3-3. Navigato singled in Bigbie before the inning ended to make it 4-3 Hens. Hiura tripled home Jace Jung in the seventh to extend the lead to 5-3.
Unfortunately, despite some quality defense played behind them, Andrew Vasquez and Brenan Hanifee melted down in the top of the ninth to allow four runs.
The Hens got a leadoff single from Bligh Madris and a Malloy walk in the bottom of the ninth, but Jung, Hiura, and Bigbie all struck out against Red Sox closer Luis Guerrero.
Bigbie: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB, 2 K
Malloy: 2-4, R, 2B, BB, 2 K
Ibanez: 2-3
Hurter: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday night.
Erie SeaWolves 3, Harrisburg Senators 2 (F/10)(box)
Like his last outing, top prospect Jackson Jobe allowed a little traffic in the first inning and then absolutely shut down his opponent the rest of the way. Jobe walked Robert Hassell III to start the game, then set down the next 12 in a row with six strikeouts. That’s 24 hitters in a row without a hit, 11 strikeouts, and only one walk allowed, going back to his last start. Just a routine day at the office.
Cole Henry pitched well for Harrisburg, but the SeaWolves got to him in the fourth on a two-out single from TJ Hopkins and then a Jake Holton RBI double. Lefty Carlos Pena took over for Jobe but allowed a run in the fifth and another in the sixth.
RJ Petit cleaned up the seventh for Pena, and tossed a clean eighth, setting the SeaWolves up for a comeback. Carlos Mendoza and Daniel Cabrera each walked to start the bottom of the eighth. A wild pitch moved them up and a Trei Cruz sacrifice fly scored Mendoza and tied the game. That was all they’d get, and so this went to the 10th inning.
Andrew Magno was excellent in relief of Petit, spinning two innings without allowing anything and recording four strikeouts. Finally, with Cabrera starting on second base, Ben Malgeri singled him to third. The Senators walked Trei Cruz to set up the double play, but Hao-Yu Lee lifted a fly ball to the warning track in right, allowing Cabrera to tag and walk this one off.
Holton: 3-4, RBI, 2B, K, CS
Hopkins: 3-4, R, 2B, K
Jobe: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. ET on Friday night.
Lake County Captains 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (box)
Dylan Smith put together a decent outing this time out, but the offense couldn’t make much happen in this one. The right-hander allowed two runs in 4 2⁄3 innings, walking two and striking out five.
The Whitecaps had their chances. Back-to-back two out singles from Roberto Campos and Luke Gold were followed by a walk to Danny Serretti to load the bases. Peyton Graham flew out to right field to end the inning.
Max Anderson tripled with one out in the third but was stranded. In the fifth, Jose Sibrian doubled with one out. Austin Murr lined out and Sibrian couldn’t advance on the play. Anderson singled to left, but Sibrian was thrown out at the plate to turn them away again.
You get the idea. The bullpen leaked two more runs, and it wasn’t until the bottom of the ninth that a Dom Johnson single scored Campos for the ‘Caps only run of the game.
Anderson: 2-4, 3B
Campos: 1-3, R
Smith (L, 0-2): 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Friday night as the Whitecaps look to even the series.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Tampa Tarpons 4 (F/12 )(box)
You don’t see too many games get to 12 innings anymore, but it happened on Thursday in Tampa and yet the Flying Tigers made it three straight over the Tarpons anyway.
Things were pretty quiet in the early going. Right-hander Hayden Minton kept the Tarpons off the board until the bottom of the fourth, when he ran out of gas and allowed two runs. Eiker Huizi and Jake Miller kept the Tarpons off the board over 4 1⁄3 innings, and the Flying Tigers made the comeback.
With one out in the top of the sixth, John Peck tripled to right field and scored on a Samuel Gil single. A wild pitch and a Max Clark ground out got Gil to third where Josue Briceño scored him with a double to tie the game.
Patrick Pridgen spun a scoreless ninth, and Yosber Sanchez then took over for two scoreless innings in the 10th and 11th innings.
Finally, in the top of the 12th, Clayton Campbell led off with a double to score Briceño from second base. Jim Jarvis and Brett Callahan made outs, but Jose De La Cruz mashed home run number three to run the score to 5-2. Cam Brown leaked two runs, one earned, in the bottom half but was able to settle things down and collect the save.
Campbell: 2-5, R, RBI, 2 2B, K
Peck: 1-2, R, 3B, 2 BB, 2 SB
Briceño: 1-5, R, RBI, 2B, 2 K
Minton: 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers look to make it four in a row at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday.