Omaha Storm Chasers 7, Toledo Mud Hens 5 (box)
Ty Madden put together another strong outing on Wednesday. He spun five innings of one run ball with a walk against four strikeouts. The Hens had the game in hand until the bullpen melted down in the eighth and ninth inning to blow it.
Parker Meadows led off the bottom of the first with a walk and Spencer Torkelson singled him to second. Jace Jung walked, and a Dillon Dingler double play ball allowed Meadows to score.
Madden allowed his lone run in the third, so it was knotted at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when the Mud Hens struck again. Eddys Leonard, playing center field in this one, led off with a single but was forced at second by a Riley Unroe ground ball. Unroe stole second and Andrew Navigato singled him to third. Meadows walked to load the bases and Omaha was forced to go to the bullpen. The new reliever immediately wild pitched Unroe in to score and a Torkelson sacrifice fly scored Navigato. 3-1 Hens. Singles from Jace Jung and Ryan Vilade made it 4-1 in the sixth.
Sean Guenther took over in the eighth and got clobbered for four runs as the Storm Chasers tied the game. The Hens loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and Unroe drew a walk to force in a run and make it 5-5, but Navigato flew out to end the inning. Trey Wingenter gave up two runs in a long top of the ninth to lose it. Meadows led off the bottom half with a single, but they went 1-2-3 from there.
Vilade: 3-5, K
Torkelson: 2-5, RBI, 2 K
Bigbie: 2-4, BB
Madden: 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K
Erie SeaWolves 5, Altoona Curve 2 (box)
The SeaWolves did a nice job coming back from an early deficit to make it two in a row over Altoona and four straight overall. They remain tied with the Akron RubberDucks with 10 games left in the Eastern League’s first half.
RJ Petit pitched as an opener in this one and he was wild early. The bottom of the first started off with a walk and a hit batter. An RBI single and a double steal of home and second would follow before Petit settled in to close out the inning, spin a clean second inning, and then turn the ball over to lefty starter Carlos Pena.
In the third, the SeaWolves fought back and seized control of the game. Brady Allen singled with one out and Carlos Mendoza walked, as you’d expect. Hao-Yu Lee grounded into a force of Mendoza at second but Trei Cruz came up big, launching a three-run shot to left center to make it 3-2 SeaWolves.
Carlos Pena went on to spin five scoreless innings. An Allen double led to another run on a Lee sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 4-2. Garrett Hill spun a good eighth inning with two strikeouts, and in the top of the ninth, Ben Malgeri singled and stole second, scoring on a Julio E. Rodriguez single.
PJ Poulin got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the ninth, walking the leadoff man, but it was all on the umpire, whose strike zone was atrocious. Gabe Alvarez let him know about it and was ejected, and Poulin was able to escape unscathed with his third save.
Cruz: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, K
Allen: 3-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, SB
Pena (W, 1-2): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves will look to lock up at least a road split on Thursday with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. ET.
West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 1 (box)
Colin Fields was solid in this one, and the team took advantage of six walks to win on Wednesday.
Wisconsin got their lone run in the second inning when Fields allowed a double. Stephen Scott gave up a passed ball and tried to throw the runner out at third, but instead threw it away to cost the team a two-out run.
Still it was only 1-0, and Fields allowed nothing else in his outing. Matt Merrill, Tanner Kohlhepp, and Michael Bienlien were all good out of the pen as well.
The ‘Caps tied things up at 1-1 in the fifth. Luke Gold led off with a walk and took second on a deep fly ball to center field from Peyton Graham. Danny Serretti lined a single to left to score Gold.
In the seventh, Gold and Graham both walked to lead off the inning. Gold later scored on a Dom Johnson sacrifice fly. In the eighth, Seth Stephenson led off with a walk, and after Max Anderson struck out, Roberto Campos singled Stephenson to third where he scored on a Jose Sibrian ground ball that went for an error. Wisconsin intentionally walked the bases loaded to face Gold, but he lifted a sacrifice fly into foul territory down the left field line. The Wisconsin left fielder made the play, but that allowed Campos to score from third.
Otherwise, it was a pretty bleak night from the ‘Caps offense with just four hits recorded.
Gold: 1-1, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, CS
Fields: 4.0 IP, R, 0 ER, H, 0 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday night with the series even at a game apiece.
Lakeland Flying Tigers at Fort Myers (postponed)
They were rained out again as a ton of water pounded Florida on Wednesday. The doubleheaders are now scheduled for Thursday and Saturday, but there’s almost no chance of playing tomorrow either according to the weather report.