Toledo Mud Hens 9, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 2 (box)
It’s hard not to feel a bit somber watching this one without Jim Weber calling the game. Still, it is nice to see a fresh opponent in the Miami Marlins Triple-A squad. Trey Sweeney stayed hot and other than newly traded second baseman Connor Norby, the pitching staff held the Shrimp in check.
The Hens jumped out quickly as Akil Baddoo led off the bottom of the first with a walk. Carpenter grounded out, but Jace Jung walked as well and Spencer Torkelson pulled a double to left to score them both. Sweeney drew a walk and Ryan Kreidler flared a single to load the bases. Anthony Bemboom lined a double to right field. Eddys Leonard flew out to end the innings, but it was 4-0 Hens.
In the second, Andrew Navigato led off with a walk. Baddoo doubled and after Carpenter struck out, Jung singled in Navigato. Torkelson lifted a sac fly to score Baddoo, and then Sweeney singled to move Jung to third. Jung scored as the Shrimp tried to cut down Sweeney at second, and it was 7-0. Baddoo doubled, Carpenter singled, and Sweeney singled in a run in the fourth, and they had an 8-0 lead.
Lael Lockhart Jr. put together a quality outing and finally basked in plenty of run support. He allowed two runs in the fifth but otherwise held the Shrimp at bay. Sean Guenther handled the sixth and seventh, and Troy Watson struck out five to close out the final two frames.
Sweeney: 2-3, R, RBI, 2 BB
Baddoo: 2-4, 3 R, 2 2B, BB, K
Lockhart (W, 2-4): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Erie SeaWolves 12, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 8 (F/12)(box)
This one turned into a big of a slugfest that went 12 innings before the SeaWolves put together a huge rally to finally pull away for good.
They started off well. Carlos Mendoza led off the game with a double, and two batters later Gage Workman hit a two-run homer. Jake Holton followed with a solo shot, his 14th on the year and it was 3-0 Erie.
Wilkel Hernandez allowed a run in the second inning, and another in the third, but otherwise he had the Fisher Cats under control. Meanwhile, Trei Cruz smacked a solo shot in the third and it was 4-2 Erie after four innings.
Workman singled in Ben Malgeri in the fifth, but in the bottom of the seventh Michael Bienlien gave up three runs, and the game was knotted at 5-5.
Eliezer Alfonzo doubled in Jake Holton in the eighth, and the SeaWolves were two outs from victory when Trevin Michael gave up a solo shot that sent this to extras. Both teams scored a run in the 10th, and failed to score in the 11th. In the 12th? After a walk and a hit batter, Austin Murr singled in a run, and then Ben Malgeri came up big, crushing a grand slam to left center field.
Malgeri: 2-6, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, K
Workman: 2-5, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, 3 K
Hernandez: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 6 K
West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Beloit Flying Carp 1 (box)
Joe Adametz tossed a good game, and the Whitecaps took advantage of Flying Carp pitching for a five run fourth inning that was the big difference in this one.
The Whitecaps opened the scoring in the third when Seth Stephenson led off with a double and later scored on a Max Anderson ground out. In the fourth, Thayron Liranzo drew a leadoff walk and then Robert Campos flew out to center field. And then the Flying Carp crashed to earth. Luke Gold walked, Jim Jarvis singled in Liranzo, and then a balk moved both runners into scoring position. Patrick Lee reached on an error, scoring Gold, and then stole second base. Stephenson was hit by a pitch. Lee and Stephenson stole second and third. Max Clark was called out on strikes but Max Anderson smoked a two-run single to right field, and it was 6-0 Whitecaps.
Adametz allowed just a run in five innings of work, striking out five. Matt Merrill and Chris Mauloni each tossed a pair of scoreless innings. Patrick Lee, who continues to impress with his speed and power, took an absolute hack, crushing a 109.6 mph solo shot to left field in the sixth.
Patrick Lee: 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 SB, K
Anderson: 2-4, 3 RBI
McGonigle: 1-3, 3B, BB, K, SB
Adametz (W, 1-2): 5.0 IP, ER, 6 H, BB, 5 K
Lakeland Flying Tigers 11, Clearwater Threshers 5 (box)
Lefty Gabriel Reyes was pretty electric again, and the Flying Tigers’ offense went off on Tuesday night, pounding out 15 hits to crush Clearwater.
Mason Englert, working his way back from some elbow inflammation, gave up a single and a walk in the first, but Eduardo Valencia threw out both runners trying to steal. Gabriel Reyes took over from there, and continued to look like one of the organization’s best A-ball level pitching prospects.
The left-hander has a quick, lively arm and solid control alread. He’s also racking up strikeouts at a 35.2 percent clip. He spun five innings of one run ball with a walk and four strikeouts in this one. He was up to 94.5 mph with his high spin fourseamer, and his slider was lethal. He doesn’t command his changeup that well yet but it’s intermittently good. He collected 10 whiffs and plenty of foul balls along the way. There’s a lot of potential here, particularly if Reyes can refine the changeup a little more.
He had plenty of help, however, as the Flying Tigers gave him a three-run lead in the bottom of the first. Dom Johnson and Izaac Pacheco singled, and Jose De La Cruz lifted a towering fly ball that drifted over the right field wall. 3-0 Lakeland.
In the third, Valencia single in Jose De La Cruz to make it 4-0, and in the fourth, Clayton Campbell singled to lead off, and a John Peck double and a Johnson single made it 5-0. In the fifth, they put the game away.
Andrew Jenkins led off the inning with a solo home run. With two outs, Clearwater made a pitching change, and it didn’t go well. Samuel Gil beat out an infield single, Campbell walked, and David Smith doubled them both in. 8-0 Lakeland.
Reyes allowed a run in the top of the sixth but in the bottom half Pacheco walked with one out and scored on a Jenkins double. A wild pitch got him to third, where De La Cruz lifted a sacrifice fly. Valencia followed with a solo shot to left at 104.3, and this one was in the bag.
Quinn Gudaitis got knocked around in relief to make the Threshers score more acceptable.
Valencia: 3-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
Jenkins: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, 2 K
Johnson: 2-5, R, RBI, K
Reyes (W, 1-1): 5.0 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 4 K