Toledo Mud Hens 8, Columbus Clippers 3 (box)
The Mud Hens made it three in a row over the Clippers on Thursday afternoon. Starter Ashton Goudeau put together a strong start and the power from the Hens offense was plentiful.
The Hens started building a lead in the top of the second. Donny Sands walked with one out and Jonathan Davis followed with an RBI triple. Davis scored on an Andrew Knapp ground out, and the Hens were up 2-0. A two-out, two-run line drive single from Ryan Kreidler doubled the lead in the third, scoring Zack Short and Justyn-Henry Malloy after they’d each walked earlier in the inning. Knapp made it 5-0 with a solo shot in the fourth.
In the meantime, Goudeau was cruising. He scattered four hits over five innings, allowing just one run while striking out eight. Lefty Andrew Magno took over in the sixth and got five outs without allowing a hit, surrendering two walks against two strikeouts. Jace Fry got the next four outs, also in hitless fashion. Miguel Del Pozo allowed a pair of earned runs in the bottom of the ninth but this was out of reach.
The final big blow for the offense came in the seventh. Zack Short doubled with two outs, and Malloy crushed a deep home run to left center field, his second on the year. Old friend Daniel Norris had a rough outing. Malloy also flashed a bit of leather along the way.
Brendon Davis added a solo shot in the ninth, his third long ball on the year.
Justyn-Henry Malloy smashes a 439-foot bomb off former Tigers pitcher Daniel Norris. It’s Mallory’s 2nd home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/LSeg5Jy8mZ
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 20, 2023
Malloy: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB
Short: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, 2 SO, SB
Meadows: 2-5, 2 SO
Goudeau (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 8 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Alex Faedo (0-1, 3.27 ERA) gets the start on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. ET. The Clippers have yet to announce a starter.
Richmond Flying Squirrels 10, Erie SeaWolves 7 (box)
The SeaWolves got a solid outing from lefty Brant Hurter and were in control all game long until the bullpen absolutely collapsed in the seventh inning. Richmond is now up 3-0 in the series heading into the weekend.
Hurter tossed four innings, allowing just one hit and one run. He did walk three along the way, while striking out four.
His teammates staked to a lead as Trei Cruz and Corey Joyce each launched solo shots against Squirrels starter Nick Zwack, in the first and second inning respectively. Richmond got a run back in the bottom of the second, but Erie started to pull away in the third.
Grant Witherspoon led off the third with a walk, and Jake Holton was hit by a pitch. Catcher Julio E. Rodriguez followed by launching a three-run shot off of reliever Matt Frisbee to left center field. 5-1 SeaWolves. They added another run in the fourth as Cruz walked and stole second base. Colt Keith singled Cruz to third and he scored on a Diego Rincones ground out.
The Squirrels got a run back in the fifth to make it 6-2, and then flipped the game over in the bottom of the seventh. Reliever Angel De Jesus allowed three runs, and Chance Kirby took over with one out and did even worse. He issued four walks, giving up five runs in the inning and just like that it was 10-6.
Colt Keith led off the eighth with a triple to right, and he scored on a Rincones sacrifice fly to reach the final score. The SeaWolves went quickly in the ninth.
Keith: 3-3, R, 3B, 2 BB
Cruz: 1-5, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB, SO, SB
Rodriguez: 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, SO
Hurter: 4.0 IP, ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Ty Madden (0-0, 1.80 ERA) takes on RHP Mason Black (0-0, 4.50 ERA) on Friday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
West Michigan Whitecaps 2, Dayton Dragons 0 (F/8)(box)
Keider Montero and the Whitecaps bullpen dominated this one. The right-hander had good fastball command and was ahead of hitters most of his outing, carving up seven Dragons in his four innings of one-hit work.
The right-hander set the tone early after a brief rain delay. Montero overpowered the Dragons with well located fastballs to strike out the side in the first. He racked up quick outs on routine grounders and a flyball to left field for a brisk second inning. The feel for his breaking ball got better as he settled into his outing, and there were few good swings against him. Montero struck out the side again in the third, and closed out the fourth with relative ease.
The ‘Caps got on the board in the third as outfielder Austin Murr led off with one of his three doubles on the day. Murr moved to second on a Carlos Mendoza ground out, and was then balked home. This led to Dragons manager Bryan LaHair getting his money’s worth out of the umpiring crew before he was ejected.
In the fifth, Justice Bigbie singled with one out and Murr doubled him home. The Whitecaps wouldn’t get any more, but they didn’t need any more offense.
Ty Mattison took over in the fifth and spun a pair of perfect innings with three strikeouts. Chavez Fernander followed with two scoreless innings to earn his first save of the year.
The game ended in the bottom of eighth as thunderstorms entered the area.
Murr: 3-3, R, RBI, 3 2B
Jung: 1-3, 2B, BB, 2 SO
Montero: 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 7 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Garrett Burhenn (0-1, 14.73 ERA) take on Dragons’ RHP Thomas Farr (0-2, 1.80 ERA) at 6:35 p.m. ET on Friday night.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, St. Lucie Mets 3 (box)
The Flying Tigers got a solid outing from starter Troy Melton and took it to the Mets late in the game to grab a 2-1 lead in the six-game series.
Melton allowed one run over four innings of work, scattering five hits and a walk with four strikeouts. The teams exchanged single runs in the second, the Flying Tigers scoring when Moises Valero doubled and scored on an error. In the sixth, they briefly had the lead again when Lazaro Benitez singled, Seth Stephenson doubled, and Peyton Graham reached on an error. However, Cleiverth Perez allowed a run in the bottom half of the inning as the Mets tied it back up.
In the seventh, another error allowed Andrew Jenkins to reach first to lead off the inning. He was erased on a fielders’ choice on a Mike Rothenberg ground ball, and Adinso Reyes followed with a walk. Valero singled in Rothenberg, and Benitez doubled in Reyes. Valero was cut down at home trying to score, but the Flying Tigers were up 4-2.
Again, the Mets came back as Cameron Brown allowed a run in the bottom half of the frame to make it 4-3 Lakeland. Stephenson manufactured a run in the top of the eighth after being hit by a pitch. He stole second and advanced to third on a Graham line out to right field, then scored on a Andrew Navigato ground out to make it 5-3. Brown locked down the bottom of the eighth, and the Flygers mustered another rally in the top of the ninth, though they only pushed one run across despite loading the bases with one out.
Aaron Haase locked down the bottom of the ninth for his second save.
Valero: 2-5, R, RBI, 2B
Stephenson: 2-4, R, RBI, 2 2B, SO, 2 SB
Melton: 4.0 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: LHP Felipe De La Cruz (0-0, 4.05 ERA) starts for the Mets at 6:10 p.m. ET on Friday night. Lakeland has yet to announce a starter.