SeaWolves take Game 1 of the Eastern League championship series

Erie SeaWolves win divisional series with a 2-1 victory (box)

On Friday, Gabe Alvarez and his Erie SeaWolves earned their third straight trip to the Eastern League championships, and a chance to repeat as champions, with a 2-1 victory over the Akron RubberDucks.

This was a pitching duel all the way, and the SeaWolves basically had to use a bullpen game to win. They bullpen did a heck of a job, allowing just a run on five hits and three walks, striking out eight.

Jake Higginbotham was the opener, striking out two in a clean first. Starter Garrett Burhenn took over from there as Alvarez took a page from A.J. Hinch’s book as the bulk reliever. Burhenn allowed a solo home run in the fifth, but was otherwise very good. Joel Peguero, C.J. Weins, Brandon Seelinger, and Tyler Owens took it from there.

The SeaWolves struck first in the second inning as Liam Hicks singled and scored on a Max Anderson double. The RubberDucks got their run on a Milan Tolentino solo shot in the top of the fifth against Burhenn, but the SeaWolves came right back.

Austin Murr walked with one out in the bottom of the fifth. A wild pitch moved him to second and the RubberDucks absolutely refused to pitch to Gage Workman in this game with runners on base and put him on first. He was intentionally walked three times in this game, which tells you all you need to know about the second half he’s had. Liam Hicks came through with an RBI single. 2-1 SeaWolves.

The pitching did the rest, but they needed an assist at the end.

Tyler Owens came on in the top of the ninth for the save, but gave up a leadoff single to Joe Lampe. The one-run lead looked pretty light at this point. A sacrifice bunt moved Lampe into scoring position, but Tolentino drove a sinking liner to left and Chris Meyers made a great play to make the catch, and he fired to second to catch Lampe trying to get back to tag to end the game in exhilarating fashion.

The SeaWolves and their home crowd went nuts, and it’s on to the championship series against the Somerset Patriots.

Congratulations to Gabe Alvarez, Greg Gania, Sam Lebowitz, and the 2024 Erie SeaWolves players and coaches on another great year. Go win that title again.

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

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

Workman: 0-1, 3 BB

Burhenn: 3.2 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K

Erie SeaWolves 9, Somerset Patriots 5 (Sun)(box)

After taking down Akron, the SeaWolves and the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees’ Double-A affilate, squared up on Sunday to begin their best of three Eastern League championship series. It went well for the good guys.

It didn’t start off so great, however. Wilkel Hernandez got the start and he allowed a solo shot in the top of the first. The SeaWolves pushed a run across in the bottom half, but Hernandez allowed a run in the top of the second and two more in the third before departing without recording an out in the third inning.

Brady Allen doubled with one out in the bottom of the second and scored on a Carlos Mendoza single, so it was 4-2 Somerset after three innings.

Eric Silva, a right-hander acquired from the Giants for Mark Canha, spun two excellent frames to get the SeaWolves through four without any more damage. Kind of funny to be talking about the prospects we acquired from teams who aren’t in the playoff picture anymore.

In the bottom of the fifth, the endlessly pesky Mendoza smoked a triple to center field and then scored on a Gage Workman single. Chris Meyers stepped to the plate and cranked a two-run shot to right center field for his second homer in four postseason games. 5-4 Erie.

Tim Naughton, Joel Peguero, and RJ Petit got Erie through the eighth inning with no further trouble, and then the offense finally broke it open in the bottom of the eighth.

Max Anderson got them started with a one out single and then catcher Liam Hicks, acquired in the deal that sent Carson Kelly to the Rangers, drew a walk. Ben Malgeri singled in Anderson, but Eliezer Alfonzo’s fly out to center didn’t advance the runners. It didn’t matter, as Allen was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Mendoza cleared them with another deep drive to left center field for a double. 9-4 Erie.

Matt Seelinger came on in the ninth, and got knocked around a bit for one run, but shut it down eventually.

The SeaWolves need to win one of the next two in Somerset on Tuesday and Wednesday if necessary, to take the championship for the second straight year.

Mendoza: 4-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, 3B, SB

Meyers: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 K

Hernandez: 2.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Toledo Mud Hens 10, Columbus Clippers 4 (Fri)(box)

Columbus Clippers 13, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (Sat)(box)

Toledo Mud Hens 5, Columbus Clippers 2 (Sun)(box)

After dropping two of the first three at home to Columbus in their final series of the year, the Hens bounced back on ‘84 Tigers Celebration Night with a 10-4 victory, and then split the two weekend games and the series.

On Friday, Jackson Jobe put together a solid start and the bats capitalized on most of their opportunities.

Jobe continues to fill up the zone with four plus or better offerings, but he still gets a little loose, or perhaps just overconfident, pumping hard stuff down the middle when he’s ahead too often rather than putting the finishing touches on his game by spotting high quality chase pitches. He struck out four and a two-run shot in the fourth he allowed to Dom Nuñez was the only damage against him. That AB is pretty instructive toward where Jobe needs to polish his game a bit more.

He fired a 97.3 mph heater down the middle for a foul to get ahead in the count, then jammed the left-handed hitter with a fastball up and in for a whiff. However, ahead 0-2, the next fastball was right down the middle in a swing count and he was fortunate it was fouled off. The next was a cutter over the middle at the top of the knees, and Nuñez swatted it just over the right field wall. Jobe has got to become a bit more artful in putting hitters away.

Other than that ongoing issue, Jobe was in control for five innings, scattering a couple of hits and walking three with four strikeouts, and a lot of weak contact as usual. He did have a huge lead to work with by the time he gave anything up, so perhaps he was just content to pump strikes over the middle and try to get quick outs. At least he’s finally being challenged and forced to work on some things rather than just overpowering everyone.

The Hens struck first when Ryan Vilade singled and Ryan Kreidler doubled him to third to open the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Navigato singled them both in for a 2-0 lead.

Kreidler and Akil Baddoo started the bottom of the third with singles, and Navigato walked to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Kreidler, and then a balk scored Baddoo. Eddys Leonard was hit by a pitch, and the Cleveland affiliate turned to Triston McKenzie to get out of the jam. However, McKenzie was hit by the pitch clock, allowing Navigato to score to make it 5-0. Bligh Madris struck out, but Justice Bigbie walked, and recent acquistion Tomás Nido, a defensive specialist catcher who has been around the league a while, doubled in Leonard and Bigbie. Oscar Mercado walked, and a Vilade sacrifice fly made it 8-0 before the inning ended.

Jobe gave up two runs in the top of the fourth, but in the bottom half Eddys Leonard destroyed a McKenzie fastball with Drew Maggi on base. The shot left the bat at 108.5 mph as Leonard remains scorching hot to end the season after returning for myriad injuries that kept him out or rehabbing most of the summer.

Chase Lee allowed a pair of runs in the eighth, but this was long over.

Leonard: 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 3 K

Kreidler: 2-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 K

Jobe (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K

On Saturday, things just did not go the Hens way. The Clippers bombed on them for 13 runs and won easily.

Bryan Sammons got the start, but a couple of errors sunk his outing as he allowed six runs, three earned over four innings of work. Jack Anderson took over in the fifth and gave up six runs in a brutal relief appearance, and this one was over.

On the plus side, Eddys Leonard crushed two more home runs, both of them rockets. Too bad they were both solo shots. The Hens had eight hits and three walks in this one, but there was just no way to overcome a tough day on the mound and in the field.

Leonard: 4-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, K

Sammons (L, 6-7): 4.0 IP, 6 R, 3 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K

On Sunday, the Hens bounced back to split the series. Matt Manning put together a very good rehab appearance, and the offense did the rest.

Eddys Leonard was at it yet again in this one. Playing second base, Leonard mashed a towering shot to left center in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. That’s four homers in three games, and seven in the month of September.

Meanwhile, Manning was dealing. He came out throwing more 95-96 mph than we’ve seen in a while, and was more aggressive with the split-change he’s been working to develop over the past year, using it quite a bit in the zone and below against left-handed hitters. Manning went 3 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings, allowing just four singles and no walks, striking out five on the day. Pretty good stuff.

Columbus tied the game 1-1 in the fifth, but in the bottom of the sixth Ryan Kreidler walked, and Akil Baddoo cranked a two-run oppo shot to left center field. 3-1 Hens.

Devin Sweet allowed a run in the seventh, but in the eighth the Hens put a capper on their season. Drew Maggi led off with a walk and Vilade singled him to third. Akil Baddoo doubled them both in, and that was the ballgame.

Baddoo: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR, K, CS

Vilade: 2-4, R

Leonard: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, K

Manning: 3.2 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K

The Tigers problems have, of course, been the Mud Hens problems, and they’ve really had very little pitching to work with over the past two months. They held it together though, finishing with a 69-80 record on the year.