Iowa Cubs 6, Toledo Mud Hens 2 (susp)
Keider Montero was pretty wild in this one again, and the Cubs rocked him for six runs over the first two innings.
Dillon Dingler led off the top of the fourth with a double. Eddys Leonard singled him to third and Bligh Madris scored him with a single of his own. Ryan Vilade walked to load the bases, and a sacrifice fly from Justice Bigbie made it 6-2. Unfortunately that was all they’d get.
Montero left the game after three innings, with Alex Lange pitching around a Jace Jung error in the fourth. The game was suspended in the top of the fifth due to rain that did not allow a resumption of action. They’ll restart the action at 1:08 p.m. ET tomorrow and then move on to the regularly scheduled game.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 10, Erie SeaWolves 5 (box)
After a strong start to the season, Troy Melton continued to struggle for the third straight outing, and again big mistakes in the zone in swing counts were the fatal flaw. He also just looks a little gassed at this point, with the high-90’s velo not in attendance.
The SeaWolves struck first in this one. Carlos Mendoza singled and stole second with one out, and Hao-Yu Lee continues to rake, doubling in Mendoza to give Melton an early 1-0 lead to work with.
Melton was cruising along with two outs in the second inning when he gave up a single. He got Garrett Spain down 0-2, but then put a hanger above the knees and watched it disappear into the night sky for a two-run shot. He settled in for a while, but a solo shot in the fifth rattled his cage, and a single and triple followed. He cleaned up the inning, but the SeaWolves were down 4-1.
Eliezer Alfonzo made it 4-2 with a leadoff shot in the bottom of the fifth, but that was as close as they’d get. Trevin Michael and Tim Naughton were clobbered in relief.
Mendoza singled in Ben Malgeri in the seventh after Malgeri doubled with one out. In the bottom of the eighth, Lee led off with a walk and a one-out single from Jake Holton kept the line moving. Alfonzo eventually doubled them both in but by then it was 10-5 and the outcome not really in doubt.
Lee: 1-3, R, RBI, 2B , 2 BB, K, SB
Mendoza: 3-4, R, RBI, 2B, SB
Alfonzo: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR, K
Melton: 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET first pitch on Wednesday evening.
South Bend Cubs 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 3 (box)
For the first time, we finally saw Jaden Hamm get hit in a game. The Cubs bashed a pair of home runs to chase him after four innings, and they went on to beat up on the bullpen a bit to take the first of six in South Bend.
Seth Stephenson’s legs got the ‘Caps an early lead when he reached on an error by South Bend’s shortstop, stole second, moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning.
Hamm’s first pitch of the second inning was launched for a solo shot by Jonathon Long. However, Roberto Campos smoked his fourth home run with no one on in the top of the fourth. Luke Gold followed with a bloop single, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third when Izaac Pacheco singled. Josh Crouch lifted a sacrifice fly to score him and it was 3-1 Whitecaps at that point.
Roberto Campos crushes a solo homer to left to give West Michigan a 2-1 lead. It’s his 4th home run of the year. pic.twitter.com/NVNfIFhMtx
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 4, 2024
In the fourth, Hamm’s command slipped a bit. He hit Long with one out, then allowed a single. Former U of M star Jordan Ngowu then crushed a three-run shot to spoil Hamm’s night.
It was 4-3 Cubs, and Erick Pinales took over in the bottom of the fifth only to get rocked for three more runs. 7-3 Cubs.
In the sixth, Luis Santana and Campos singled with no outs, but Gold flew out, and Pacheco grounded into a double play. They got two on with two outs in the seventh, but Max Anderson struck out to end the inning. Point being, the offense didn’t go to sleep, but they just couldn’t string a rally together.
Chris Mauloni spun two scoreless innings, but the attraction in the bullpen is hard-throwing Yosber Sanchez, who was promoted from Lakeland on Tuesday. He put together a stellar debut for the ‘Caps with two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts. Sanchez touches 98-99 mph with the fastball and has a pretty nasty slider as well. If he can improve his command a little more he’s going to keep moving up this summer.
Campos: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, K
Santana: 2-4, K
Hamm (L, 1-1): 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Jupiter Hammerheads 0 (box)
The Flying Tigers made it three in a row with a win at Jupiter to open the homestand.
Joe Adametz gave the Flying Tigers a really good outing, blanking them for five innings with just two hits and no walks allowed.
The Flying Tigers opened the scoring in the second inning. Daneurys De La Cruz walked to lead off the inning. David Smith singled him to second, and he scored on a Jose De La Cruz single. Patrick Lee was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and a McGonigle ground out scored Smith to make it 2-0 Flying Tigers.
That was all they’d need, as Adametz, as well as Luke Stofel, Duque Hebbert, and Donye Evans, had the Hammerheads number all night, allowing just four hits total and no walks against seven strikeouts.
In the eighth, Clayton Campbell launched his fourth home run of the season. The solo shot to left made it 3-0, where it ended as Evans collected his third save.
McGonigle: 2-4, RBI, SB
Daneurys De La Cruz: 1-2, R, 2 BB
Adametz (W, 3-0): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Wednesday at Publix Field.