Casey Mize rehabs with Toledo while Gage Workman stays hot for the SeaWolves

Iowa Cubs 5, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (Fri)(box)

Toledo Mud Hens 5, Iowa Cubs 3 (Sat)(box)

Iowa Cubs 4, Toledo Mud Hens 2 (Sun)(box)

The Hens rode a solid outing by Casey Mize to victory on Saturday, but otherwise this home set didn’t go too well for. The Cubs won on Sunday to take the series 4-2.

On Friday, the Cubs jumped on Lael Lockhart Jr., putting up five runs in the first two innings and knocking him out after three innings.

Akil Baddoo led off the bottom of the first with a walk and then advanced to third on a wild pickoff throw. He eventually scored on an error on a Justice Bigbie ground ball to shortstop to get the Hens on the board.

In the fifth, Andrew Navigato led off with a single. He advanced to second on a Baddoo ground out and scored on a Bligh Madris single to make it 5-2. Garrett Hill and Andrew Vasquez each tossed three scoreless frames to keep the Hens in the game, but the offense just couldn’t put together a rally. Justice Bigbie doubled in the eighth and scored on a Drew Maggi single, but that was as close as they’d get.

Bigbie: 2-4, R, 2B

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

On Saturday, Casey Mize made his last rehab appearance. He allowed a run in the first, and then settled in for three innings. He left with two on in the fifth, and Andrew Magno allowed them both to score, so Mize’s line wasn’t too pretty. But he allowed just three hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts, looking ready to go. He racked up 10 whiffs on the splitter and topped out at 96.5 mph.

With the Cubs up 1-0 after the top of the first, the Hens got to work. Justyn-Henry Malloy singled with one out in the bottom half of the inning, and Madris was hit by a pitch. Eddys Leonard struck out, but Bigbie singled in Malloy. Anthony Bemboom walked, and Ryan Vilade singled in Madris. A wild pitch brought Bigbie home, and it was 3-1 Hens. Eddys Leonard doubled in Madris in the second to expand the lead to 4-1.

Mize’s final two runs in the fifth made it 4-3, but in the sixth, Navigato doubled in Riley Unroe to make it 5-3, and the bullpen did the rest. Ricky Vanasco spun two scoreless innings with three strikeouts to lead the way for the pen.

Vilade: 1-3, RBI, BB, K, SB

Unroe: 1-3, R, BB

Mize: 4.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K

On Sunday the offense just couldn’t get anything going. Austin Schulfer spun three scoreless innings, but Chase Lee ran into trouble, giving up three earned in the top of the fourth.

Devin Sweet took over from Lee and allowed a run in the top of the eighth that made it 4-0 Cubs.

Finally, in the bottom of the eighth, the Hens broke through but it was too little too late. Malloy came up with a one-out single and Bligh Madris tripled to right field. The Cubs Owen Caissie misplayed it, and Madris came all the way around to score on a triple with a one-base error charged to Caissie. 4-2 Cubs.

That was as close as they’d get to the lead, however. Stephen Scott, Oscar Mercado, recently signed to a minor league deal, and Drew Maggi, went in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Leonard: 2-4, 2B, 2 K

Malloy: 1-3, R, BB, 2K

Scott: 1-3, 2B, BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens head to Massachusetts to tangle with the Worcester Red Sox next week.

Erie SeaWolves 4, Bowie Baysox 3 (Fri)(box)

Bowie Baysox 2, Erie SeaWolves 1 (Sat)(box)

Erie SeaWolves 8, Bowie Baysox 6 (Sun)(F/10)(box)

The SeaWolves put together a solid weekend to rally back and take two of three to split the series. Despite a host of injuries, the SeaWolves continue to hang in there. It’s going to be interesting to see if the Tigers get Gabe Alvarez any help come playoff time.

On Friday, the SeaWolves got out to a lead and held on the rest of the way. Gage Workman got things started with a two-out double in the first. Liam Hicks followed with a two-run shot, his first with the SeaWolves. In the second inning, Brady Allen walked with two outs, and Carlos Mendoza tripled him in to make it 3-0.

Austin Burhenn was cruising in the early going but came undone in the fourth and the fifth inning, allowing three runs that tied the game.

Gage Workman was the deciding factor, and it’s worth noting that after a lot of fits and starts the past two seasons, Workman has now been on a roll for almost two months. They’re going to need him with Hao-Yu Lee rumored to be out for the rest of the year. Workman mashed a solo shot to right field for his 14th homer of the season in the seventh inning, and the bullpen did the rest.

Workman: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, K

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

Burhenn (W, 6-1): 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Jackson Jobe led the way for the SeaWolves on Saturday, but the offense just couldn’t get anything going.

Jobe still had some signs of his recent trouble commanding his slider in this one, and he walked three batters. Still, he allowed just one run on three hits and three walks over six innings, with five strikeouts.

The SeaWolves managed just three hits in the game. In the eighth, Danny Serretti walked with one out, and Brady Allen singled him to second. Carlos Mendoza walked to load the bases, and an Austin Murr sacrifice fly scored Serretti for the SeaWolves only run.

Hicks: 2-3, 2B, BB

Jobe (L, 3-2): 6.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K

After a slow week, the SeaWolves’ offense finally broke out on Sunday. Eliezer Alfonzo launched a two-run shot in the second inning, and Austin Murr followed with a three-run shot later in the inning for a 5-0 lead.

Wilkel Hernandez put together a solid outing in this one, but did crack a bit in the third inning. He surrendered a pair of runs that made it 5-2 Erie at that point. Eric Silva took over after five innings, and he gave up a run in the sixth.

In the seventh, Carlos Mendoza singled with one out and he eventually scored on a Gage Workman double to make it 6-3, but Trevin Michael gave up a run in the bottom half to make it 6-4. The Baysox ultimately tied this game in the bottom of the ninth against Joel Peguero.

In the top of the tenth, Workman led off with a fly out that got Austin Murr to third base. Chris Meyers walked, and Ben Malgeri doubled to left. An error on the Baysox allowed two runs to score, and Tim Naughton slammed the door on Bowie in the bottom of the tenth.

Allen: 2-3, BB

Murr: 1-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, K

Hernandez: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves welcome in the Richmond Flying Squirrels for six this week.

Lake County Captains 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (Fri)(box)

Lake County Captains 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 3 (Sat)(box)

Lake County Captains 5, West Michigan Whitecaps 3 (Sun)(box)

The Whitecaps won the first two games in this series to gain a little ground on first place Dayton, but the Captains took them apart over the final four games to win the series four games to two, and probably snuff any hopes of a playoff berth.

Colin Fields put together a decent outing on Friday, but the offense didn’t have much going on with both Max Clark and Thayron Liranzo out of the lineup.

The Whitecaps struck first, when Roberto Campos and Izaac Pacheco doubled in the first to make it 1-0. Fields allowed a run in the third to tie things up and departed after four innings.

Jake Miller took over in the fifth, and the lefty allowed a run in the sixth. The ‘Caps fought back in the bottom half when Campos doubled again and was wild pitched to third, where he scored on a ground out. So it was 2-2 at that point, but Miller allowed a pair of runs in the eighth as the Captains took the lead and held on to win.

Pacheco: 2-3, RBI, 2B, BB

Campos: 2-4, 2 R, 2 2B, K

Fields: 4.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Saturday featured another pretty miserable offensive performance from the Whitecaps. Joe Miller gave up three runs in his outing. Robert Campos singled in Josh Crouch in the third to make it 3-1 Lake County, but the ‘Caps only managed one other hit in the game, though they did draw eight walks.

Marco Jimenez allowed a run in relief in the seventh, and it was 4-1 at that point.

In the bottom of the ninth, Luke Gold was hit by a pitch with one out, and John Peck followed with a walk for their first real threat of the game. Jim Jarvis struck out, but Josh Crouch came through with a two-out RBI single to score Gold. Dom Johnson pinch ran for Crouch, and Seth Stephenson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Peck, and the Captains intentionally walked Max Clark to re-load the bases. Unfortunately Max Anderson struck out to end it.

Crouch: 1-3, R, RBI, BB

Clark: 0-3, 2 BB

Miller (L, 3-4): 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, K

On Sunday the Whitecaps got a really good start from Carlos Marcano, and still couldn’t take advantage. For five innings, Marcano shut down the Captains offense while getting no run support. He finally cracked a little in the sixth, surrendering two runs.

In the bottom of the sixth, Seth Stephenson singled with one out and then stole second base. Liranzo returned for the first time in the series and drew a walk. Stephenson scored on an Izaac Pacheco single to make it 2-1 Lake County.

In the eighth, Stephenson got things going again with a bunt single to lead off the inning. Liranzo lined out, but Luke Gold stepped up and mashed a two-run shot to left to give the Whitecaps a 3-2 lead.

However, even with a lead they couldn’t get it done. Max Alba walked a batter in the top of the ninth, and then a Max Clark error left two runners on from 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana, who crushed a three-run shot that locked up another victory for Lake County.

Gold: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K

Stephenson: 3-4, 2 R, BB, SB

Marcano: 6.0 IP, 2 R, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps head to Dayton to tangle with the Dragons this week.

Bradenton Marauders 3, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2 (F/8)(Sat)(box)

Bradenton Marauders 4, Lakeland Flying Tigers 3 (F/7)(Sat)(box)

Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Bradenton Marauders 2 (box)(Sun)

The Marauders fought back over the weekend, sweeping the doubleheader on Saturday after Friday’s rain out. The Flying Tigers rode a great Rayner Castillo outing on Sunday to earn a somewhat disappointing split in the series.

Wilmer Flores made a rehab appearance to open Saturday’s doubleheader and he allowed a solo shot in the top of the first before going on to wrap up two innings of work.

In the bottom of the second, Jose De La Cruz led off with a walk and Andrew Jenkins followed with a single. Eduardo Valencia dropped a sac bunt to advance the runners, and Jackson Strong lifted a sacrifice fly to score De La Cruz. Nomar Fana doubled to right to score Jenkins, and it was 2-1 Lakeland.

Lefty Andrew Sears took over for Lakeland in the fifth. He allowed a solo shot before settling in to punch out seven hitters in just three innings of work.

The Flying Tigers got a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh, but couldn’t score, and so this went to extra innings. Ronny Chalas allowed a run in the top of the eighth, and the Flying Tigers couldn’t match them in the bottom half.

Fana: 2-3, RBI, 2B

Penney: 1-3, BB, SB

Sears: 3.0 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 7 K

Hayden Minton got the start in Game 2, and it was a similar story as the Flying Tigers just couldn’t break through for a big inning.

Minton allowed two runs in the top of the first, and then settled in for three more scoreless innings, striking out seven hitters along the way. Lefty Ethan Sloan, the Tigers eighth rounder back in July, made his Low-A debut in the fifth. It didn’t go great, as he allowed a pair of runs. Sloan’s breaking ball and changeup showed out pretty well, but he’s still sitting around 90 mph.

In the bottom of the fifth, Archer Brookman singled with one out and took second on an error. Ricardo Hurtado was hit by a pitch, and a wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet. Cristian Santana drew a walk, and the bases were loaded for Franyerber Montilla. Unfortunately, Montilla struck out, and David Smith drew a walk to force a run in, but that was all they’d get.

So it was 4-1, and that held until the bottom of the seventh. David Smith walked with one out and Jose De La Cruz smoked a two-run shot to right field to make it 4-3 Flying Tigers. That was as close as they’d get.

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

Smith: 1-2, R, RBI, 2 BB

Minton (L, 4-5): 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K

The Flying Tigers finally got back in the win column on Sunday. Rayner Castillo was great, spinning five shutout innings with just two hits and no walks allowed.

The offense wasn’t really in better form that any other game in the series, but the strung the hits together better in this one.

Eduardo Valencia led off the seventh with a walk, but was forced by a Samuel Gil ground ball. Jackson Strong singled to right for his first pro hit, and Peyton Graham walked to load the bases. A passed ball scored Gil, and a David Smith sacrifice fly brought home Strong. Jack Penney singled to score Graham, and it was 3-0 Flying Tigers.

LHP Micah Ashman made his pro debut in the sixth. The Tigers’ 11th rounder back in July struck out the side and looked very in control in doing so.

In the eighth, Valencia led off with a walk, and Gil singled. Strong struck out, but Graham walked yet again to load the bases, and that forced Bradenton back to the bullpen. David Smith greeted the new reliever with a two-run double to make it 5-0.

Eiker Huizi allowed two runs, one earned, in the top of the ninth, but they hung on for the victory.

Strong: 2-4, R, K

Briceno: 1-4, BB, K

Castillo: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers head to Dunedin for six with the Blue Jays this week.