Eduardo Rodriguez dominates in his first rehab start for Toledo

Toledo Mud Hens 1, Iowa Cubs 0 (Gm 1)(F/7)(box)

Well Eduardo Rodriguez’s return to action went pretty darn well in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader. The left-hander’s velocity was up near the mid-90’s as he punched out nine Cubs in four innings of work, allowing just two hits. Jose Cisnero followed with a scoreless inning of work with one walk and one strike out, so the rehab team was shining in this one.

There wasn’t a whole lot of offense out of the Mud Hens either. Akil Baddoo and Riley Greene each walked once, and neither struck out, but they went hitless as the Hens managed just three hits of their own.

The decisive blow was a Victor Reyes solo shot to right center field in the fourth inning. Drew Carlton threw a perfect sixth inning with a strikeout, and Derek Law did the same, picking up his ninth save on the year.

Reyes: 1-2, R, RBI, HR, BB

Garneau: 1-2, 2B, SO

Rodriguez: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 9 SO

Toledo Mud Hens 3, Iowa Cubs 2 (Gm 2)(F/7)(box)

Garrett Hill put together his best outing in three tries at the Triple-A level, and a third inning rally carried the Hens to a sweep of the doubleheader.

Hill allowed two run in the top of the second inning, but was otherwise dominant, striking out seven and allowing just four hits and two walks in six innings of work. The Cubs used a single, a fielder’s choice to Zack Short, who couldn’t record an out, and a hit batter to load the bases with two outs. A single to right scored two, but Riley Greene cut down Carlos Sepulveda trying to go first to third to snuff the rally.

In the third, Greene’s two out single sparked the Hens comeback. Trayce Thompson followed with a double to score Greene from first, Josh Lester doubled in Thompson, and Ryan Lavarnway ripped a single to left to score Lester. 3-2 Hens, and that was all the scoring in this one. Miguel Del Pozo picked up the save by coming in to record the final out after Ricardo Pinto was wild in the inning.

Thompson: 1-3, R, RBI, 2B, SO

Greene: 1-3, R

Hill (W, 1-1): 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 SO

Coming Up Next: RHP Logan Shore (2-1, 3.41 ERA) gets the start for the Mud Hens on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. EDT. The Cubs haven’t announced a starter yet.

Richmond Flying Squirrels 6, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)

Markus Solbach had a rough start and the SeaWolves’ offense couldn’t mount much of a comeback in this one. Solbach allowed five runs on five hits, including three solo shots, in four innings of work.

Erie got on the board in the fourth. Andre Lipcius led off with a walk, and Quincy Nieporte and Dane Myers followed with back-to-back home runs. Myers had a two hit game, but overall it was a quiet night from the offense.

Nieporte: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, SO

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

Solbach (L, 0-4): 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 SO

Coming Up Next: RHP Austin Bergner (2-2, 2.59 ERA) looks to continue his stellar 2022 campaign on Friday night as he battles LHP Jake Dahlberg (3-1, 3.55 ERA).

Lansing Lugnuts 16, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)

Dylan Smith melted down in the second inning of this one, and the Lugnuts went on to absolutely pummel the Whitecaps’ bulllpen on Thursday night. Smith balked and also had a throwing error as a brutal second inning unfolded for five Lugnuts runs, knocking the right-hander from the game early. It was pretty academic from there.

Bryce Tassin settled things down for a few innings in relief, but Jack Anderson gave up two more in the fifth, and the Lugnuts exploded for an eight-run seventh inning that made this a laugher.

The only move the Whitecaps’ offense really made came in the sixth when it was already 7-0. Wenceel Perez walked with one-out, and Josh Crouch hit an automatic double to right center field. Perez scored on an Ulrich Bojarski ground ball, with Lansing getting Crouch, the lead runner, at third base. Trei Cruz followed with a walk and Ben Malgeri singled to score Bojarski.

The key piece of news in this one is Colt Keith injuring his right arm diving back to first base on a pickoff throw. No details are available yet, but Keith left the game in the first inning.

Crouch: 3-4, 2B

Malgeri: 1-3, RBI, 2 SO

Smith (L, 5-4): 1.1 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 SO

Coming Up Next: The two clubs play a doubleheader on Friday evening starting at 5:35 p.m. EDT. RHP Jeff Criswell (2-2, 3.38 ERA) starts Game 1 for Lansing. The Whitecaps have yet to announce.

Dunedin Blue Jays 12, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (box)

The Blue Jays beat up on starter Nick Davila and then poured it on against the Flying Tigers’ bullpen to win easily on Thursday. Davila gave up six runs, five earned, in just 3 ¹⁄₃ innings of work.

Lakeland actually scored first when Izaac Pacheco led off the game with a single, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on a Roberto Campos single. They got one more run in the fifth when Alvaro Gonzalez led off with a walk, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a Carlos Mendoza single. In the top of the ninth, they made things look at little better as Kingston Liniak and Alvaro Gonzalez led off with walks, and Pacheco mashed a three-run shot to right field for his seventh long ball of the season.

Cristian Santana returned to the Flying Tigers in this one and walked twice and struck out once..

Pacheco: 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR

Mendoza: 1-4, RBI, BB

Gonzalez: 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB

Davila (L, 3-5): 3.1 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, SO

Coming Up Next: No starters have been announced for Friday night’s 6:30 p.m. EDT start in Dunedin.