St. Paul Saints 5, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (F/6)(box)
Ty Madden was hit hard in this one by the Twins’ affiliate, and hopes for a comeback were washed away by rain that ended this one after six innings.
The Hens struck first when Parker Meadows started the game with a single. Spencer Torkelson flew to center, but Jace Jung ripped a double to right field to make it 1-0 Hens.
Madden allowed a single, but struck out three in the bottom of the first inning. Then the Hens struck again. Eddys Leonard led off the second inning with a single and moved to third on a double off the bat of Justice Bigbie. Andrew Navigato struck out, but Meadows came to the dish again and smoked an Adam Plutko changeup to the wall in right field for a two-run double. 3-0 Hens.
Madden took the mound and quickly got the first two outs before everything fell apart. Madden allowed a solo shot, a walk, a single, and a walk to Edouard Julien before Brooks Lee came to the plate and killed a high fastball for a grand slam. Madden’s struggles with left-handers continue, and he would walk the next hitter before getting yanked for Bryce Tassin, who did a nice job in relief to keep the Hens in the game.
Eddys Leonard mashed a solo shot in the top of the sixth, but by then the skies opened up and the game eventually called.
Meadows: 2-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B
Leonard: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, HR
Madden (L, 0-3): 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Somerset Patriots 6, Erie SeaWolves 1 (box)
The SeaWolves playoff hopes may have slipped away for good on Tuesday night as the Yankees affiliate kept Hao-Yu Lee in check and otherwise had no issues with Erie’s offense. The SeaWolves dropped their fifth straight game while Harrisburg won, and are now three games back in the division with five games left in the first half standings.
Garrett Hill got the opener duty in this one, allowing a run in two innings of work. Carlos Peña took over in the third and for a few innings the left-hander had things under control. Catcher Stephen Scott returned from the IL and in the fifth inning spanked a double to left field with one out. Austin Murr struck out, but Carlos Mendoza lined a single to center field to tie the game.
Unfortunately, Peña allowed a run in the bottom half, and then two runs in each of the next two innings. The SeaWolves struggled with the Patriots’ bullpen and that was it.
Mendoza: 2-3, RBI, BB, K, SB
Lee: 1-4, SB
Scott: 1-3, R, 2B
Pena (L, 1-3): 4.0 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Dayton Dragons 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)
Jackson Jobe returned to action with a brief rehab start in this one, but again the lack of pop from the offense was really their undoing.
Jobe started off well in his return from the hamstring injury suffered at the beginning of May. He popped up the first two batters he faced and struck out the third. In the second he gave up a single and a walk to start the inning, and the Dragons used a sac bunt to move the runners over. A ground out and then a double plated both runners before Jobe got out of the inning. As expected, the Tigers didn’t let him throw many pitches, though I expected more like 45 pitches than 29. We’ll see if they give him another rehab start or recall him to Erie for his next outing.
Colin Fields took over and allowed a run in the fourth and another in the fifth. Finally in the seventh, Luke Gold walked with one out and a Danny Serretti single moved Gold to third where he scored on a Josh Crouch ground out. Dom Johnson singled in Serretti, and the Whitecaps were on the board, but that was all they’d get. The bullpen pitched well, but the offense couldn’t capitalize again despite getting a runner to second in each of the last two frames.
Jarvis: 2-5, 2B, K
Anderson: 2-3, BB
Serretti: 2-4, R
Jobe (L, 0-1): 2.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB, K
Bradenton Marauders 6, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (F/10)(box)
The Flying Tigers lost in 10 innings, falling a half game back of the streaking Clearwater Threshers, who have won five straight.
19-year-old Reyner Castillo continues to be on of the brightest young pitchers in the system this season. Castillo comfortably sat 95-96 mph with his sinker and fourseamer, breaking off a lot of good sliders and threw 56 of 80 pitches for strikes. He spun five innings of one run ball with five strikeouts to two walks in this one.
The Marauders got to Castillo for a run in the third, while the offense got a one-out double from Max Clark in the first, a walk and a stolen base with one out for Patrick Lee in the second, and overall had a baserunner on in every inning but the fourth without scoring. Finally in the seventh they broke through.
Archer Brookman singled with one out in the top of the seventh and singles from David Smith and Kevin McGonigle loaded the bases. Max Clark did the job, lifting a sacrifice fly that ended up scoring two runs with the help of a Bradenton throwing error from the outfield as the Flying Tigers took a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately, after two good innings, Connor Holden allowed a solo shot in the eighth that tied the game and eventually sent it to extras. Eiker Huizi cleaned up the eighth for Holden, and spun a perfect ninth inning to give his club a chance to win it, but they couldn’t get it done.
The Flying Tigers scored three runs in the tenth on a Jose De La Cruz RBI single, and later a two-run double from Samuel Gil. They led 5-2, but in the bottom half, Luke Stofel walked two batters and then left a middle-up sinker to Shalin Polanco, who crushed an absolute laser of grand slam to walk it off.
Clark: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B
Lee: 1-3, R, 2 BB, SB
Castillo: 5.0 IP, ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K