Parker Meadows and Justyn-Henry Malloy hit their 17th homers as Hens sweep doubleheader

Toledo Mud Hens 9, Iowa Cubs 8 (Gm1)(F/7)(box)

Toledo Mud Hens 11, Iowa Cubs 4 (Gm2)(F/7)(box)

Starter Sawyer Gipson-Long struggled in this one, but the big bats were there to pick him up in Thursday night’s Game 1.

Colt Keith ripped a double with two outs in the top of the first, and Tyler Nevin followed with a walk, but Ryan Kreidler, back from his rehab assignment, grounded out to end the inning.

No matter, Wenceel Perez led off the second with a single and took second base on an error on Alexander Canario, Iowa’s right fielder. With two outs, Andrew Knapp singled him home to take an early 1-0 lead.

Justyn-Henry Malloy led off the third with a single, and Keith followed with another drive to center for a double. Ryan Kreidler followed with singles, and Joe Rizzo doubled to left to plate Kreidler, and it was 4-0 Hens. Perez was cut down trying to score on a Nick Solak ground out, but Knapp came through again with a two-out single to drive in Rizzo. 5-1 Hens.

Gipson-Long then got torched for four runs in the bottom half of the inning, allowing a pair of home runs. Malloy led off the fourth with a single and later scored on a Kreidler single to widen the lead again to 6-4.

They widened it further in the fifth when Knapp singled and rode home on a 440 foot blast from Meadows, his 17th on the year. Malloy, not to be out done, then cranked his 17th homer of the season right after Meadows.

Look, I don’t get too worked up about this generally, but it’s going to add to the recent frustration if we don’t see Meadows in Detroit down the stretch. Yes it’s complicated. I’d love to see Keith and Malloy but neither is on the 40-man yet, and that’s probably bad for their odds.

Anyway, 9-4 Hens.

The Cubs fought back with three in the bottom half of the fifth, and then scored again in the sixth off Rony Garcia, but Miguel Diaz slammed the door in the seventh.

Malloy: 3-4, 3 R, RBI, HR, K

Keith: 2-3, R, 2 2B, BB, K

Meadows: 1-5, R, 2 RBI, HR, K

Perez: 2-3, R, RBI, BB, K, CS

Gipson-Long: 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 6 K

Zach Logue got the start in Game 2, and struggled a bit. The lefty surrendered three runs in five innings of work, but by the time he left the game the offense had completely seized control.

The Hens scored first when Parker Meadows tripled to lead off the first inning. A Colt Keith single scored him for an early lead, but Logue allowed a three-run shot in the bottom of the second inning. 3-1 Cubs.

However, in the top of the third, Tyler Nevin led off with a walk and took second on a Wenceel Perez ground out. Eddy Leonard singled Nevin to third, and Michael Papierski singled him home. Grant Witherspoon followed by drawing a walk to load the bases. Corey Joyce grounded into a force of Leonard at home, but Meadows walked to force in another run. Justyn-Henry Malloy did likewise, drawing a walk to force in the third run of the inning, and it was 4-3 Hens. They never looked back.

Nevin and Perez doubled back-to-back to open the fourth, scoring Nevin, and a batter later Papierski went yard. The two-run shot made it 7-3 Hens. Four straight walks drawn in the fifth made it 8-3, and a Meadows pop-up was misplayed into a bases clearing double. 11-3.

We’ll take it but just give someone an error for crying out loud. Make it a team error on these. But I digress…

Blair Calvo allowed a run to the Cubs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 11-4.

In the top of the seventh, Grant Witherspoon, Corey Joyce, and Malloy all walked to load the bases with two outs for Colt Keith. Iowa brought in a position player to mop up, and Keith took a hack at a 50 mph lollipop and…popped out to end the inning. That was kind of an amusing moment in a blow out. Calvo closed it out from there.

Meadows: 2-4, R, 4 RBI, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, 2 K

Papierski: 2-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, HR, BB

Perez: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, 2 BB

Malloy: 0-2, RBI, 4 BB, K

Logue (W, 3-7): 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: No starters are announced for Friday night’s 8:08 p.m. ET start.

Erie SeaWolves 12, Harrisburg Senators 4 (box)

Keider Montero survived a rough third inning to put together a decent outing, and the offense knocked out 18 hits to crush Harrisburg on Thursday.

The SeaWolves struck first in this one. Trei Cruz reached on an error to leadoff the bottom of the first, and Justice Bigbie singled him to second, and Donny Sands loaded the bases with a single of his own. Jace Jung dropped a single into center field, scoring Cruz, but that’s all they’d get.

So Montero had a one-run lead to work with, but in the third he allowed a leadoff walk and the wheels fell off for a bit. He collected the first out on a fly ball, but then allowed an RBI double to Jacob Young. Young stole second base while Montero punched out Robert Hassell III, and a single scored him. Montero grooved a 2-2 pinch to the next hitter, James Wood, and he lifted a two-run shot to right center. Four of the five hits Montero allowed, along with the only walk, as well as all four runs, came in that inning. For the other five frames he was pretty much untouchable. Maybe a little still to learn about shutting down a big inning there, but he closed out his night with three perfect frames.

The SeaWolves closed the deficit with a two-run fourth inning, and then took over in the fifth. Jung was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Chris Meyers followed with a two-run shot that made it 5-4 Erie. In the sixth Bigbie led off with a single and Jung walked with one out. RBI singles from Julio E. Rodriguez and Daniel Cabrera made it 7-4.

A four-run seventh inning for Erie finally put this one out of reach. Cruz and Bigbie walked with one out and Sands singled in Cruz. Jung followed with a line drive single to left that loaded the bases, and a Meyers sac fly scored Bigbie to make it 9-4. Rodriguez got it done again at that point, driving a two-run single to center. Ben Malgeri hit a solo shot in the eighth for a little emphasis.

Bigbie: 3-5, 2 R, RBI, BB, K

Jung: 2-3, 3 R, RBI, BB

Rodriguez: 3-5, 3 RBI, 2B

Malgeri: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, K

Montero (W, 10-2): 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, 8 K

Coming Up Next: They’ll have a 6:35 p.m ET start on Friday night. No starters have been announced.

West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Lake County Captains 3 (box)

Garrett Burhenn and Williander Moreno combined for six innings of two-run ball in a piggy back effort, while offense came up with some clutch hits to down Lake County on Thursday.

The duo held the Captains scoreless until Moreno allowed a pair of solo shots, one to Khalil Watson, in the sixth inning. In the bottom of that inning Dom Johnson led off with a single. Hao-Yu Lee grounded out, moving Johnson to second, and Andre Lipcius drew a walk. Luke Gold doubled in Johnson, while Gage Workman singled in Lipcius and Gold. Workman advanced on a pickoff attempt and later scored on a Brady Allen ground out. 4-2 Whitecaps.

Crithian Tortosa allowed a run in the seventh, but in the eighth, Gold led off with a walk and Workman singled him to third. Gold scored on a wild pitch and Allen drew a walk. Roberto Campos grounded into a double play, moving Workman to third where he scored on a wild pitch for the game’s final run.

Lee played second base as expected in this one, and had an infield single in the seventh for his first knock in the Tigers’ organization.

Workman: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, K

Gold: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB

Crouch: 1-2, 2 BB, K

Burhenn: 3.0 IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: If you like pitching prospects, this is the one for you in West Michigan this week. RHP Jackson Jobe (0-0, 7.20 ERA) takes on RHP Ethan Hankins (0-5, 9.00 ERA) at 6:35 p.m ET.

Clearwater Threshers 5, Lakeland Flying Tigers 4 (box)

Joe Miller put together a solid start in this one, and Cristian Santana remained red hot on Thursday. Unfortunately the bullpen blew a two-run lead in the late innings.

Miller tossed 5 ¹⁄₃ innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts. Lakeland struck first in the third inning when J.D. McLaughlin led off with a single and stole second base. Santana doubled him home and Max Anderson followed with a single. Santana scored on a Dillon Dingler double play ball, and it was 2-1 after Miller allowed a run in the bottom half of the inning.

In the sixth, Andrew Jenkins was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Abel Bastidas doubled him to third, and he scored on a Carlos Pelegrin single. 3-1 Lakeland.

The Threshers got a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to make it 3-2, but in the seventh, Santana led off with a single and stole second base. Anderson walked, and Sergio Tapia got hit by a pitch to load the bases. An Andrew Jenkins ground out brought Santana home and it was 4-2 Lakeland.

Unfortunately, Tanner Kohlhepp issued a walk with one out in the bottom of the eighth, and an error on Jenkins put two on. A pair of doubles later, Clearwater had the lead and they’d hold onto it in the ninth.

Santana: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB, K

De La Cruz: 2-4

Anderson: 1-4, BB, 2 K

Miller: 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m ET start on Friday night in Clearwater.

Kevin McGonigle debuts in FCL action

The Tigers comp A pick in the 2023 draft made his debut in the Florida Complex League on Thursday. He went 1-for-3 with a single. SS John Peck, the Tigers seventh rounder out of Pepperdine also debuted in this one, going 0-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Peyton Graham began what we assume is a rehab assignment with one AB in this one before Samuel Gil took over.