Max Clark and Eliezer Alfonzo power walkoff victories

Toledo Mud Hens 4, Louisville Bats 0 (box)

Lael Lockhart Jr. was brilliant on Thursday evening in Toledo. The lefty collected 14 whiffs, at least three with each of his fourseam, slider, curveball, and splitter, striking out nine while one-hitting the Bats over six innings of work.

The Hens built an early lead for Lockhart Jr. when Spencer Torkelson walked with one out in the first inning and Ryan Vilade followed with a single. Justice Bigbie stepped to the dish and drilled an opposite field double down the right field line to score them both. 2-0 Hens.

In the third, Akil Baddoo led off with a walk and Torkelson hammered a double to left field to get Baddoo to third, where he scored on a wild pitch. Tork was stranded but it was 3-0. Singles from Drew Maggi and Baddoo in the seventh led to another run on a Torkelson sacrifice fly.

PJ Poulin, Brenan Hanifee, and Sean Guenther were all good in relief to lock this one down. Jace Jung and Dillon Dingler got the night off.

Maggi: 2-3, R, 2B, K

Torkelson: 1-2, R, RBI, 2B, BB

Lockhart (W, 1-3): 6.0 IP, 0 R, H, 2 BB, 9 K

Erie SeaWolves 5, Altoona Curve 4 (F/10)(box)

The SeaWolves made it 3-0 over the Curve in this six-game set, with heroics from catcher Eliezer Alfonzo putting the cherry on top of the a pretty fun game. They also ran their overall winning streak to five games.

Things didn’t start off that well. Wilkel Hernandez threw away a comebacker on the first play of the game, and Tsung-Che Cheng then scored on a sacrifice fly. Hernandez redeemed himself in the second after allowing two singles to start the inning. He fielded a sacrifice bunt and fired to third to get the lead runner, then punched out the next two hitters to strand runners on first and second.

In the bottom of the second, Jake Holton was hit by a pitch and Chris Meyers singled him to third. Eliezer Alfonzo pulled a ground ball through the left side of the infield to tie the game 1-1.

A set of pretty soft singles led to another run for Altoona in the fourth, but despite allowing eight hits, Hernandez was able to limit the damage, didn’t issue a walk, and struck out eight in five innings of work.

Joel Peguero allowed a run in the sixth, and the SeaWolves couldn’t get any offense going in the middle and late innings, finally entering the bottom of the ninth down 3-1.

Gage Workman led off the frame with a single, and stole second as Jake Holton struck out. A wild pitch got Workman to third, but Chris Meyers struck out and they were down to their final at-bat. Eliezer Alfonzo then launched a two-run shot deep to left field, and the game was tied. Huge knock for the SeaWolves’ catcher.

The Curve plated the Manfred runner in the 10th, but Tim Naughton stopped the bleeding there. In the bottom half, Carlos Mendoza was hit by a pitch and Hao-Yu Lee drew a walk to load the bases for Gage Workman, who slapped a hot grounder right back through the box into center field, scoring both runners in a walkoff victory.

Alfonzo: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR

Workman: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, K, SB, CS

Hernandez: 5.0 IP, 2 R, ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 8 K

West Michigan Whitecaps 5, Lansing Lugnuts 4 (box)

The Whitecaps got their first win of the Clark-McGonigle era, and Max Clark played a starring role.

Joe Adametz got the start, and he was pretty solid. Lansing scored two in the second, one unearned due to a Jim Jarvis throwing error, and one in the third, but Adametz locked things down in the fourth and fifth.

The ‘Caps got on the board when Bennett Lee and Seth Stephenson drew two out walks in the bottom of the second. Clark singled up the middle to plate Lee.

The offense on both sides dried up despite a couple opportunities for Lansing, and they eventually broke through against reliever Erick Pinales in the seventh to take a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Danny Serretti doubled to lead off, and scored on a Clark single to make it 4-2.

Still, this came down to Marco Jimenez shutting down the Lugnuts in the eighth and ninth and a rally just in the nick of time. In the bottom of the ninth, Serretti was hit by a pitch with one out. Bennett Lee singled him to second and the Lugnuts went back to the pen, while Patrick Lee came on to pinch hit for Bennett Lee. Lee’s all over the place. Stephenson struck out and the Whitecaps were down to their final out when Max Clark lashed a triple into the right field corner to plate both runs and tie the game. Clark was then balked home, for a rare balk-off victory.

Clark: 3-5, R, 4 RBI, 3B, 2 K

Bennett Lee: 1-2, 2 BB, K

Adametz: 5.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 H, BB, 4 K

Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Bradenton Marauders 3 (box)

The Flying Tigers took a 2-1 series lead in Bradenton on Thursday.

Cole Patten and lefty Jake Miller split the start. Patten struggled for four innings, while Miller was nearly unhittable for five frames, striking out 10. I like Miller. He seems really hard for hitters to pick up and has a good pair of breaking balls to go with a 93 mph sinker and fourseam fastball. Maybe a reliever there if Miller can build up a little more juice and tighten his control.

Enmanuel Terrero of the Marauders hit a solo shot in the bottom of the second to open the scoring. In the top of the third, with two outs, Dom Johnson singled, Samuel Gil reached on an error, and Brett Callahan walked to load the bass. Eduardo Valencia reached on a comebacker that the Marauders starter couldn’t handle, scoring Johnson. A wild pitch scored Gil, and it was 2-1 Lakeland.

However, the Marauders came right back for two runs in the bottom of the third to recapture the lead.

Miller took over in the fifth for Lakeland walking four, but allowing just two hits against the 10 punch outs. With the Marauders locked in place, the comeback came in the sixth inning.

Valencia walked with one out, and a rehabbing Izaac Pacheco doubled to right field to get Valencia to third. Jose De La Cruz then drove a missile to the wall in straightaway center field, scoring both runners and ending up on third with a triple. A Clayton Campbell sacrifice fly scored De La Cruz and it was 5-3 Lakeland. Jake Miller did the rest.

Jose De La Cruz: 1-3, R, 3 RBI, 3B, BB, 2 K

Valencia: 1-3, R, RBI, BB, K

Pacheco: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, 2 K

Miller (W, 8-1): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 4 BB, 10 K