Louisville Bats 7, Toledo Mud Hens 5 (box)
Keider Montero got ambushed in the first inning of this one. The Hens fought back to take the lead in the middle innings, but were undone by the bullpen to lose on Tuesday.
The Hens struck first in this one as Justyn-Henry Malloy and Keston Hiura walked with one out. Akil Baddoo doubled in Malloy, but Dillon Dingler flew out to center to end the inning. 1-0 Hens.
Montero walked the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the first, and then a little pop-up off a swinging bunt dropped in when Montero couldn’t react enough to haul it in. Montero struck out the next hitter but left a changeup up over the plate to Edwin Rios, who hit it out to left for a three-run shot. Montero only allowed one more hit in his outing and struck out six against three walks, but that pitch to Rios spoiled his outing.
The Hens came right back in the second as Ryan Vilade led off with a home run. Andrew Navigato doubled with one out and Malloy lifted a towering fly ball to left that got out for a two-run shot. 4-3 Hens.
The Hens had a good scoring chance going in the third, but Vilade grounded into a double play to end the inning. Montero got a little wild in the bottom half but settled back down to strike out two and get a routine ground ball to avoid any damage.
In the fifth, Jace Jung singled to right field and later scored on a Dingler single. 5-3 Hens. However, that was another inning where they got plenty of traffic on the bases only for a double play ball to ruin their chances.
After that, it was all Louisville. Andrew Magno cleaned up the fifth for Montero but then got clobbered in a long sixth inning in which the Bats scored three to take a 6-5 lead. Bryce Tassin allowed a solo shot, and the Hens couldn’t mount another charge.
Malloy: 1-3, 2 R, @ RBI, HR, 2 BB, K
Baddoo: 1-2, RBI, 2B, 2 BB, 2 SB
Montero: 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: A 6:35 p.m. ET start is scheduled for Wednesday.
Erie SeaWolves 11, Altoona Curve 1 (box)
Wilkel Hernandez put together a pretty good start in this one, and the SeaWolves crushed Curve pitching throughout the game to win easily on Tuesday.
Gage Workman got the offense started in the bottom of the first with a leadoff walk. Carlos Mendoza singled him to third and stole second base. Hao-Yu Lee grounded into a double play, but Jake Holton walked and Trei Cruz doubled in Mendoza and Holton. A Chris Meyers single scored Cruz to make it 3-0.
In the third, Lee launched a solo shot with one out, and back-to-back doubles from Cruz and Meyers make it 5-0.
Hernandez was rolling until the fifth when he allowed a two-out walk and then an RBI double for the only run the Curve would score in this one. Hernandez settled back in to go six without further issue.
Things were quiet for a few inning, but Brady Allen led off the seventh with a solo shot, and in the eighth the SeaWolves put this one completely out of reach with a five-run inning.
Trei Cruz started things off with a single. Meyers walked and Ben Malgeri lined a single to center field to load the bases. Eliezer Alfonzo came off the injured list with authority, lashing a bases clearing double to right field to make it 9-1. An Allen single scored Alfonzo and there were still no outs in the inning. Allen took third on a Mendoza single and scored on a wild pitch to completely the run scoring in this one.
Cruz: 3-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B
Meyers: 2-2, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB
Allen: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Hernandez (W, 1-1): 6.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s an 11:05 a.m. ET start on Wednesday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 11, Lake County Captains 7 (box)
The Whitecaps took an early lead in this one, and despite plenty of attempts from the Captains, would not allow them to come back. They scored in six different innings to keep them at bay and took the first of six over in Eastlake, OH.
Max Anderson got them started in the top of the first with a one out single. 2B/3B Luis Santana, up from Lakeland on his rehab progression back to Erie, drew a walk. Both scored when Roberton Campos smoked a double to the wall in center field.
The Whitecaps got a pair of singles in the second but couldn’t move them around. Starter Joe Miller leaked an unearned run in the second on an Izaac Pacheco error.
Santana opened the third with a solo shot, so he appears to be about ready to return to the SeaWolves. The Tigers got singles following him from Luke Gold and Campos, but Peyton Graham popped out, Pacheco lined out, and Bennett Lee struck out to strand them.
Miller allowed a run in the bottom of the third, but in the top of the fourth the Whitecaps came right back for more. A leadoff single from Dom Johnson was followed by a force of Johnson on a Max Anderson ground ball. Santana was hit by a pitch and Gold reached on an error, scoring Anderson. Another Roberto Campos double made it 6-2 Whitecaps.
Miller leaked one more run in the bottom half to make it 6-3, but the offense would not slow down in this one. In the fifth, Lee walked with one out, and Johnson dropped a little liner into center field. Seth Stephenson, known only for speed and contact ability, then launched his second home run of the year to make it 9-3.
The ‘Caps went on to scratch out a run in the sixth, and in the seventh a Johnson double and Stephenson single made it 11-6. The Captains scratched out some runs against the bullpen, but couldn’t cut into the lead enough to threaten.
Campos: 4-5, 4 RBI, 2B
Johnson: 5-5, 2 R, 2B, SB
Santana: 1-4, 3 R, RBI, HR, BB, K
Miller: 4.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday as the Whitecaps look for their seventh straight victory.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 11, Palm Beach Cardinals 1 (box)
The wonder twins sparked a beatdown of the Cardinals to open this home stand.
Kevin McGonigle opened the bottom of the first with a walk, and Max Clark smoked a two-run shot to right field to make it 2-0. In the second, Samuel Gil walked and Archer Brookman singled before McGonigle stepped to the dish and ripped a two-run double to right field to make it 4-0. Clark flew out short of the wall in right field to end the inning.
A bullpen day for the staff saw PJ Pridgen spin two clean innings before Joe Adametz gave them three more. The two combined to no-hit the Cardinals for five innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Thomas Bruss spun a quick sixth, but allowed a run in the seventh before Garrett Hill took over to finish the inning. It wouldn’t matter, because after a quiet stretch in the middle of the game, the offense got loose again in the bottom of the seventh.
Archer Brookman and Jim Jarvis walked with one out in the seventh, forcing a pitching change. McGonigle greeted the new reliever with an RBI single, moving Jarvis to third, and then stole second base. Clark slapped a grounder the opposite way to score Jarvis, reaching as the Cardinals third baseman threw the ball away. A wild pitch scored McGonigle, and Jose De La Cruz singled to score Clark with two outs. 8-1 Lakeland.
They weren’t done yet either. In the eighth, Samuel Gil ripped a ground-rule (automatic) double to right field with one out. Brookman struck out, but Jarvis singled Gil to third, and McGonigle tripled down the right field line to score them both. Clark lined an outside pitch to left field for a double to score McGonigle, and that was that.
Max Clark shoots a double down the left field line to score McGonigle. Clark is 2/5 with a homer, a double, 2 runs scored, and 3RBIs tonight. pic.twitter.com/Cy54ftdWl4
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 22, 2024
McGonigle: 3-4, 5 RBI, 2B, 3B, BB, SB
Clark: 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR
Gil: 1-3, 2 R, 2B, BB
Adametz (W, 2-0): 3.0 IP, 0 R, BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The 26-14 Flying Tigers continue to trail the high-flying Clearwater Threshers by a game. They’ll look to catch them at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.