Toledo Mud Hens 5, Columbus Clippers 3 (box)
Jack O’Loughlin gave the Mud Hens a good start on Wednesday. They took advantage, building an early lead and making it hold up late.
O’Loughlin allowed a run in four innings of work, striking out five to three hits and two walks. He got a little wild in the second inning, giving up a single and then walking Eric Haase before plunking Sandy Leon. A ground out scored a run but O’Loughlin shut it down there.
Michael Papierski got the Hens started by leading off the bottom of the third with a triple. A pair of outs followed, but Colt Keith stepped to the dish and mashed his 25th home run of the year. 2-1 Mud Hens.
Colt Keith’s breakout campaign continues with his 25th homer of the season.
The @Tigers‘ No. 2 prospect (MLB No. 25) has 11 homers and is batting .295 in 58 games with Triple-A Toledo. pic.twitter.com/I1z9eb9bXF
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 13, 2023
In the fourth, Nick Maton led off with a walk and Bigbie and Ryan Kreidler followed with singles. Maton was cut down at the plate trying to score on Kreidler’s ground ball single to left, but Donny Sands followed with a three-run shot to left, and it was 5-1 Mud Hens.
The Hens bullpen gave up two runs, one earned, but held on to win, with Aneurys Zabala picking up the save.
Bigbie: 3-4, R, 2B
Kreidler: 2-3, R, BB, CS
Papierski: 2-2, R, 3B, BB
O’Loughlin: 4.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: RHP Spencer Turnbull is scheduled to start on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. ET. We’ll see what happens this time. LHP Joey Cantillo starts for the Clippers.
Richmond Flying Squirrels 6, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box)
The SeaWolves tried to go with an opener, using Trevin Michael, who was just called up from West Michigan. It didn’t go that well, as Michael gave up two runs in the first. R.J. Petit came on to settle things down, and then regular starter Lael Lockhart tossed four innings of one run ball to keep the game tied after the SeaWolves scored three in the second inning.
Jake Holton led off the bottom of the second with a single, and Ben Malgeri followed suit. A batter later Julio E. Rodriguez mashed a three-run shot to left center field. 3-2 SeaWolves.
Lockhart gave up his run in the fourth, and the tie lasted until the eighth. Unfortunately it wasn’t the SeaWolves who broke the tie. They had a good chance in the seventh with two on and one out, but Jace Jung grounded out and Holton popped out to end the inning. Andrew Magno gave up two runs in the eighth as the Flying Squirrels seized control. They added a run in the ninth against Jake Higginbotham, and the SeaWolves went quietly in the final two innings.
Holton: 2-3, R, BB
Rodriguez: 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, K
Lockhart: 4.0 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: RHP Ty Madden (3-4, 3.55 ERA) makes his last regular season start on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. ET. LHP John Michael Bertrand (1-3, 5.28 ERA) goes for Richmond.
A pair of @wmwhitecaps finished 1 and 2 on top of the Midwest League ERA leaderboard.
LHP Carlos Pena posted an 1.75 ERA over his last five starts of the season.
RHP Wilkel Hernandez held batters to a .202 batting average since August 1st. pic.twitter.com/cE8o7nGzkq— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) September 13, 2023
Lakeland Flying Tigers at Clearwater Threshers
The Threshers lead the series 1-0 after taking Tuesday’s Game 1 in Lakeland by a 5-0 margin. So the Flying Tigers have their backs to the wall, needing to win the next two games to advance to the championship round of the Florida State League postseason. The final two games, assuming a third is necessary, will be in Clearwater on Thursday and Friday night, with 6:30 p.m. ET start times.