Max Clark homers in Flying Tigers victory

Columbus Clippers 5, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (box)

On a bullpen day, the Hens needed offense and just couldn’t muster up enough of it. The Clippers got a run off of lefty Andrew Vasquez in the second, and three more against Michael Bienlien in the third.

The Hens got on the board in the fourth. Ryan Vilade drew a leadoff walk and then stole second base, advancing to third on the throw. Dillon Dingler struck out, but Spencer Torkelson spanked a fastball down and away into the right field corner for a double. 4-1 Clippers.

Mason Englert allowed a solo shot in relief in the sixth. In the bottom half of the inning, Riley Unroe led off with a walk and stole second base. Dillon Dingler singled him in the make it 5-2. Torkelson followed with a chopper that the Clippers Tanner Burns couldn’t make a play on. Bligh Madris struck out, but Justice Bigbie walked to load the bases. However, Stephen Scott flew out to center field to end their best chance at getting back in the game. Bigbie singled and scored on an Alvaro Gonzalez single in the bottom of the ninth.

Torkelson isn’t tearing it up in Toledo, but I did note that he now holds a .394 wOBA there against 95+ mph stuff. That’s only 55 pitches, because you don’t see tons of good major league velo down there, but that is somewhat encouraging. If his timing is coming around they may have something to build on.

Parker Meadows had the night off.

Torkelson: 2-4, RBI, 2B, 2 K

Bigbie: 2-3, R, BB, K

Akron RubberDucks 4, Erie SeaWolves 3 (F/12)(box)

After winning Player of the Week, Austin Bergner had a very odd and uncharacteristic start on Monday night. The right-hander walked seven batters in five innings, and yet allowed only a run on three hits. The strike zone was pretty bad, but still that was an odd one from Burhenn, who is starting to look like a potential depth starter or middle reliever, potentially.

The SeaWolves tied things at 1-1 in the third when Brady Allen singled and Carlos Mendoza was hit by a pitch. A Gage Workman ground out advanced the runners and Allen scored on a wild pitch. A Chris Meyers leadoff homer in the fourth made it 2-1 Erie but there was a long way to go yet in this 12 inning odyssey.

PJ Poulin replaced Burhenn in the sixth and allowed a double and an RBI single with two outs that tied the game 2-2.

And that’s where things stayed for a long time. Trevin Michael put up two dominant innings of relief and Matt Seelinger spun a scoreless 10th. The SeaWolves scratched out a run in the 11th, but Seelinger gave up a run in the bottom half to tie it, and Garrett Hill would ultimately take the loss as the SeaWolves couldn’t score in the top of the 12th.

Murr: 2-4, K, SB

Meyers: 1-6, R, RBI, HR, K

Burhenn: 5.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 7 BB, 2 K

Some news from the SeaWolves camp. Manager Gabe Alvarez will coach in the MLB Futures Game in two weeks. Meanwhile, he’ll be even happier about getting his ace back on the mound.

Great Lakes Loons 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)

Carlos Marcano’s control was absent in this one, and he had a really rough outing on Monday. The right-hander gave up four runs in the first and couldn’t get out of the inning. Tanner Kohlhepp and Matt Merrill did a nice job getting them through the fourth without any further trouble, but the offense didn’t have a comeback in them.

The Whitecaps finally scored a run in the sixth when Luke Gold singled to lead off the inning and Roberto Campos walked. A Patrick Lee single scored Gold to make it 4-1. However, Marco Jimenez allowed two runs in the seventh. Bennett Lee opened the bottom of the seventh and scored on a Max Anderson double, but it was 6-2 at that point, and the Loons would get one more before claiming the victory.

Gold: 2-5, R, 2 K

Campos: 2-3, BB

Bennett Lee: 2-4, R, 2 2B, K

Patrick Lee: 2-4, 2B, RBI, SB

Lakeland Flying Tigers 7, Tampa Tarpons 1 (box)

Kevin McGonigle finally went hitless in a game, and he picked the right one as Max Clark, Eduardo Valencia, and Jose De La Cruz each homered. McGonigle did rise way up MLB Pipeline’s updated rankings today. He was the biggest riser, moving up 31 spots to 65th overall. Max Clark is ranked 10th, Jackson Jobe 11th, and Jace Jung 42nd on the new list.

Jace Jung went 0-for-1 with two walks in his rehab with Lakeland.

Reyner Castillo got the start two days after turning 20 years of age. He wasn’t at his best, but his spun five innings of one-hit ball with no walks, allowing just an unearned run and racking up a ton of ground balls on the night.

The Flying Tigers offense was pretty quiet early on. They had two on in the second but couldn’t score. It was the same story in the third and the fourth. Finally, with one out in the fifth Clark launched a solo shot to center field to tie the game 1-1. Jose De La Cruz followed suit in the sixth to give Lakeland a 2-1 lead.

Luke Stofel and Eiker Huizi each spun two scoreless innings of relief work, and in the eighth the offense broke loose.

Valencia started things off with a single and reached third on a pair of passed balls on Tarpons catcher Josue Gonzalez. Samuel Gil singled in Valencia and then took second on another passed ball. The next two batters couldn’t make anything happen, but David Smith and Kevin McGonigle walked to load the bases. Clark walked, forcing in a run. A wild pitch made it 5-1 Lakeland.

In the ninth, John Peck led off with a single, and Valencia launched a two-run shot to cap this one.

Clark: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB

Gil: 3-4, R, RBI, BB

Valencia: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB

Castillo (W, 2-0): 5.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K

A name you’re going to start hearing a lot is that of Franyerber Montilla, a 19-year-old shortstop out of Caracas, Venezuela signed in January of 2022. In 34 games, he has a .931 OPS, four home runs, and 27 walks to 29 strikeouts in the Florida Complex League so far.