Toledo Mud Hens 11, Louisville Bats 10 (F/10)(box)
Ty Madden once again was absolutely shelled into oblivion in this one. However, the ball was flying and the Hens crushed six home runs to run down the Bats and win in 10 innings.
Madden couldn’t get out of the third, after giving seven runs on 10 hits and a walk.
The teams exchanged home runs in the first inning. Madden allowed a two-run shot, and Spencer Torkelson and Dillon Dingler answered with solo shots in the bottom half. Madden allowed a solo shot to old friend Hernan Perez in the second, but Ryan Kreidler crushed a deep home run to center field to tie things 3-3.
Madden then gave up four runs in the top of the third, and then Dingler cracked his second homer of the game in the fourth. At that point it was 7-4 Curve. In the fifth, the comeback engaged.
Riley Unroe and Andrew Navigato each hit solo shots to kick off the bottom half of the fifth. Akil Baddoo singled, but Torkelson and Jace Jung struck out. Dingler kept things alive with a single, and Ryan Vilade tripled them both home to make it 8-7 Hens.
The Bats got to the bullpen for a run in the seventh and two in the eighth, but Vilade singled in Torkelson in the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth, Navigato led off with a double and scored on a Torkelson single.
Eventually this went to the 10th inning. Devin Sweet kept the Bats off the board, and a pair of walks loaded the bases in the bottom half. Vilade lifted a sacrifice fly and Baddoo raced home with the walkoff game winner.
Dingler: 3-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, 3 BB
Navigato: 3-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, K
Torkelson: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
Madden: 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, BB, 4 K
Erie SeaWolves 8, Altoona Curve 6 (box)
This one was a struggle, but the SeaWolves stormed ahead late and held on to win on Tuesday night.
Troy Melton got the start, and while he was solid, the command is still a little shaky and the home run problems continue. He allowed three runs in five innings, striking out six to three walks.
After Melton allowed a run in the top of the first, Carlos Mendoza tied the game with a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the first. Melton then allowed a single and a two-run shot to start the second inning. Once he settled in, he cruised pretty well the rest of the way.
In the bottom of the second, Ben Malgeri walked with one out and then stole second and third, scoring on a Brady Allen sacrifice fly. So the Curve led 3-2, and the pitchers held sway over the next four innings with no runs scoring.
Reliever Angel Reyes took over for Erie in the seventh and quickly allowed a double and a two-run shot. But the SeaWolves answered back in a big way in the bottom half and took control of the game for good.
With one out, Malgeri drew a walk and Brady Allen launched a two-run shot. Mendoza walked and Gage Workman singled Mendoza to second base. Another walk loaded the bases, and Trei Cruz doubled in Mendoza and Workman to make it 6-5 SeaWolves.
Trevin Michael allowed the Curve to tie the game in the top of the eighth. The SeaWolves had the answer in the bottom of the eighth. Chris Meyers singled and Malgeri launched a two-run shot to take an 8-2 lead, and Michael close it out for the save.
Malgeri: 1-2, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 BB, 2 SB
Allen: 2-3, R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR
Mendoza: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB, K
Melton: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Lansing Lugnuts 5, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (box)
Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle made their High-A debut at LMCU Park on Tuesday, but the offense didn’t benefit in this one. The pitching staff wasn’t bad, but they just leaked a run or two every couple innings while the ‘Caps struggled to build any threats, collecting just three hits in the game.
Austin Bergner made a short three-inning start and gave up one run. Some sloppy play led to Jack Anderson giving up two unearned runs. Cleiverth Perez allowed a run in the top of the ninth.
Luke Gold and Max Clark singled in the bottom of the eighth, and a grounder from Seth Stephenson pushed across Gold to get the Whitecaps on the board. McGonigle went hitless, but drew a walk. Eddy Leonard had the other single for the Whitecaps.
Clark: 1-4, K
Gold: 1-3, R
Bergner (L, 0-1): 3.0 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 2 K
Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Bradenton Marauders 2 (box)
Andrew Sears gave the Flying Tigers a pretty solid outing in this one, and the offense picked up the slack with the top of their order promoted to West Michigan.
Sears allowed two runs over five innings, but struck out eight to one walk. He was also gifted an early lead when David Smith led off the game with a walk, and Andrew Jenkins doubled him home. Eduardo Valencia reached on an error and an Izaac Pacheco grounded into a force at second. But a balk scored Jenkins to make it 2-0. John Peck singled and eventually scored after a pickoff throw that went wild, a passed ball, and an infield hit by Dom Johnson. 3-0 Lakeland.
Sears allowed two in the bottom of the second inning, but Johnson launched a solo shot in the fourth. In the eighth, Alvaro Gonzalez doubled, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Jose De La Cruz ground out. The bullpen did the rest.
Jenkins: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B
Johnson: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
Sears (W, 5-3): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, 8 K