The Whitecaps win series but lose Kevin McGonigle to a hamate injury

Toledo Mud Hens 7, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 6 (Fri)(box)

Toledo Mud Hens 8, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 7 (Sat)(F/10)(box)

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 7, Toledo Mud Hens 6 (Sun)(box)

The Mud Hens took two of three games over the weekend to split this home series with the Miami Marlins affiliate.

On Friday, they held off the Shrimp despite having to go with a bullpen game. They pounded out 11 hits and drew seven walks, eventually winning on a walkoff single from Stephen Scott.

Miguel Diaz surrendered two runs in the first as an opener, and Garrett Hill gave up two more in two innings of relief. So it was 4-0 Jacksonville entering the bottom of the third.

Spencer Torkelson led off with a double off the wall in right center field that was misplayed, allowing him to reach third. Jace Jung sprayed a single the opposite way to score him, and Akil Baddoo doubled in Jung to cut the lead in half.

Austin Schulfer took over on the mound in the fourth and gave up a run, but a walk to Kerry Carpenter was followed by singles from Torkelson and Jung to make it 5-3 Jacksonville. The two teams exchanged runs again in the sixth, but in the seventh, and Hens finally ran them down.

Baddoo led off with a walk and Ryan Kreidler singled. With one out, Riley Unroe drew a walk to load the bases. A wild pitch and then a throwing error scored Baddoo and Kreidler to tie the game 6-6.

Sean Guenther spun a clean ninth, and in the bottom half, Kreidler tripled to right field, and Scott’s line drive into center field won the ballgame.

Torkelson: 3-4, R, 2B, BB, K

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

Schulfer: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K

Another bullpen game on Saturday led to another walk off victory for the Mud Hens.

It was already 7-2 Jacksonville when the Hens rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning. Trey Sweeney walked with one out, and Kreidler reached on an error. Anthony Bemboom doubled them both home, and then scored on an Eddys Leonard triple. A Stephen Scott grounder scored Leonard, and it was 7-6 Jacksonville.

Jace Jung led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and Sweeney drove him in as the game tying run with a single up the middle.

Devin Sweet spun a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, but the Hens went in order in the bottom half to send this to the 10th inning. Andrew Magno had a fine outing, striking out two in retiring the side in order.

In the bottom half, Kreidler reached on a sacrifice bunt attempt, and the Shrimp walked Bemboom to load the bases. Leonard flew out to shallow right field, but Scott lined another single to center field for his second straight walk off hit.

Bemboom: 3-4, R, 4 RBI, 2 2B, BB

Sweeney: 2-4, 3 R, RBI, BB, K

Kreidler: 2-4, 2 R

On Sunday, the Hens built an early lead, but couldn’t hold it.

Lael Lockhart Jr. got the start, and he gave up two in the top of the first, but the Hens fought right back. Kerry Carpenter led off the bottom half with a single and Torkelson doubled to left field. Jung lifted a sacrifice fly to score Carpenter, and Torkelson scored on a Justice Bigbie ground out. Tie ballgame.

Lockhart allowed another run in the second, but the Hens answered again as Scott led off with a double and Riley Unroe walked with one out. Carpenter doubled them both home to make it 4-3 Toledo.

Unfortunately, Lockhart couldn’t stop the Shrimp, and they piled on four more runs despite the lefty going seven innings, striking out eight without a walk, and saving the bullpen a bit. A very all or nothing sort of outing in which he threw 107 pitches. Bigbie singled in Torkelson in the fifth, and in the eighth, Sweeney singled, stole second, and scored on a Leonard single to make it 7-6. The rally went no further.

Torkelson: 1-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB

Carpenter: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, K

Lockhart Jr. (L, 2-5): 7.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 8 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens will face another less seen opponent this week as they travel to Charlotte for six with the Knights, the Chicago White Sox affiliate.

Erie SeaWolves 10, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 4 (Sat)(Gm1)(box)

New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3, Erie SeaWolves 0 (Sat)(Gm2)(box)

Erie SeaWolves 19, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1 (Sun)(box)

With two rain outs during the series, they ultimately settled for five games. The SeaWolves took two of three over the weekend to win the series 3-2.

On Saturday in Game 1 of the makeup doubleheader, Troy Melton gave Erie a good start and the offense poured it on late to win easily in seven innings.

Melton spun five innings of two-run ball without a walk, and he struck out six on the day.

Erie was down by two runs in the fifth, when Ben Malgeri tripled with one out, and scored on a ground out from Brady Allen. Carlos Mendoza and Hao-Yu Lee followed with singles, and an infield hit from Gage Workman scored Mendoza to tie the game 2-2.

In the sixth the SeaWolves seized control. Trei Cruz led off with a double and Eliezer Alfonzo reached on an error. An infield single from Liam Hicks scored Cruz, and an error allowed the baserunners to advance to second and third with no outs. Malgeri smoked a two-run double to center field, and Hao-Yu Lee eventually singled in Malgeri to make it 6-2 Erie.

Eric Silva allowed a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, but in the top of the seventh, Cruz led off with a single and Alfonzo launched a two-run shot to right field. Malgeri and Mendoza added solo shots in the inning to make it 10-4 where it ended. Tyler Owens was pretty wild in relief, but hung on to throw a scoreless bottom half of the inning.

Cruz: 3-4, 2 R, 2B, K

Malgeri: 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2B, 3B, HR, K

Lee: 2-5, RBI, K

Melton (W, 7-6): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K

Game 2 did not go so well. Carlos Pena gave up three runs in four innings of work, and the SeaWolves managed just four hits in this one.

Hao-Yu Lee had a pair of hits, and Luis Santana doubled and walked in the game, but there wasn’t much else to report from the offense. RJ Petit struck out two in an inning of perfect relief work.

Lee: 2-3

Pena (L, 6-5): 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 4 K

Sunday’s matchup turned into a pretty epic laugher as the SeaWolves pounded out 14 hits and drew four walks plus a hit batsmen, and managed to score 19 runs.

We’ll just hit the highlights. Garrett Burhenn two-hit the Fisher Cats for five innings, striking out seven to two walks issued.

Gage Workman hit three home runs and racked up seven RBI in this contest to take player of the game honors. Austin Murr and Chris Meyers also homered. Catcher Liam Hicks reached base four times and scored three runs. Carlos Mendoza and Trei Cruz, hitting at the top of the order, had four extra base hits between them and reached base a combined six times.

Workman: 3-6, 3 R, 7 RBI, 3 HR, 2 K

Mendoza: 2-5, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2B, 3B, BB, K

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

Burhenn (W, 5-1): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves will welcome in the Akron RubberDucks on Tuesday for six. Unfortunately, Jake Holton has suffered a season ending injury and was moved to the 60-day IL. That’s a shot to the SeaWolves postseason chances as Holton has been one of their few reliable power threats.

West Michigan Whitecaps 8, Beloit Sky Carp 0 (Fri)(box)

Beloit Sky Carp 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 0 (Sat)(box)

West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Beloit Sky Carp 1 (Sun)(box)

These two clubs traded beatdowns all week until the Whitecaps won on Sunday to take the series four games to two.

On Friday, it was a Thayron Liranzo party while the Sky Carp hit into tons of bad luck. Starter Joe Miller didn’t strike out a batter over six innings of work but still shut the Carp down with just four hits and a walk allowed.

Liranzo got things started for the offense with a two-run shot with Kevin McGonigle aboard after an error. 2-0 Whitecaps.

Patrick Lee walked to open the bottom of the third. Seth Stephenson reached on a bunt, but was erased on a fielder’s choice on Max Anderson’s ground ball. A wild pitch scored Lee from third, and McGonigle walked. Liranzo singled to load the bases, and a Roberto Campos single scored Anderson and McGonigle to make it 5-0 ‘Caps.

In the fifth, McGonigle walked with one out and Liranzo singled him to second. Campos then unleashed a thunder bolt to right center field for a three-run shot that made it 8-0.

Max Alba and Tanner Kohlhepp blanked the Carp in relief, and they cruised to victory.

Liranzo: 4-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR

Campos: 2-4, R, 5 RBI

Miller (W, 3-3): 6.0 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 K

On Saturday the bats just could not get anything going. Meanwhile Jaden Hamm was knocked around for four runs.

Patrick Lee had the only hit for the Whitecaps. They drew six walks, but couldn’t come up with the hits despite only eight strikeouts on the day.

Hamm walked four and while he was squeezed a bit, he just doesn’t didn’t have much control in this one.

Lee: 1-3, BB

Hamm (L, 5-4): 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 K

Carlos Marcano gave the Whitecaps a really good outing on Sunday to lead them to victory. The right-hander allowed just one run over six innings of work with nine strikeouts.

It was 1-0 Carp headed into the bottom of the fourth, but Jim Jarvis singled and stole second with one out. Danny Serretti walked, and Seth Stephenson singled in Jarvis to tie the game.

In the seventh, Max Anderson led off with a single. Thayron Liranzo flew out and Luke Gold struck out, but Brett Callahan drew a walk and a Jarvis single scored Anderson to take a 2-1 lead.

In the eighth, Josh Crouch led off with a single. Patrick Lee pinch ran for him and stole second base, scoring on a Stephenson double down the right field line. Max Clark flew out, but Max Anderson singled and an error on a Gold ground ball allowed Stephenson to score and make it 4-1, where it ended.

Tanner Kohlhepp and Marco Jimenez each struck out two in an inning of relief work, with Jimenez earning his fourth save.

Jarvis: 2-4, R, RBI, 2 SB

Stephenson: 3-4, R 2 RBI, 2B, K

Anderson: 3-4, R, BB

Marcano: 6.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecap head to Lansing for six with the Lugnuts. There was some bad news after the game, however. Kevin McGonigle fractured his hamate bone on a swing in Saturday’s game and is headed to the injured list. That might end his season, though perhaps a stint in the Arizona Fall League is in order.

Clearwater Threshers 5, Lakeland Flying Tigers 3 (Fri)(box)

Lakeland Flying Tigers 8, Clearwater Threshers 3 (Sat)(box)

Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Clearwater Threshers 1 (Sun)(F/6)(box)

The Flying Tigers fell behind 3-1 to the Threshers, but won on Saturday and Sunday to split the series.

Mason Englert made a rehab appearance on Friday night, allowing two runs, one earned, in a 1 ²⁄₃ innings outing. Garrett Apker allowed a run in the third, and the Flying Tigers were down 3-0.

In the bottom of the third, John Peck launched a solo shot to make it 3-1, but Cole Patten leaked a pair of runs as well. It was 5-1 Clearwater after seven innings.

In the eighth, Izaac Pacheco struck out on a wild pitch, but reached first. Two more wild pitches brought him all the way around to score. In teh ninth, Nomar Fana, recently up from the Complex League, walked to lead off and Archer Brookman also drew a walk. Dom Johnson flew out, but Fana scored on a David Smith ground out. It was 5-3 and Peck was then hit by a pitch to bring the game winning run to the dish, but Franyerber Montilla struck out to end it.

Peck: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, 2 K

On Saturday, the Flying Tigers built an early lead and poured it on to take this one without much trouble.

Nomar Fana reached with one out in the second inning, and Eduardo Valencia walked. Fana scored on a ground ball off the bat of Clayton Campbell. Cristian Santana then mashed a two-run shot to make it 3-0.

Hayden Minton only had a short outing set for this one, and he spun two scoreless innings but then game up two runs before departing after the third.

The Flying Tigers wouldn’t be denied though, and they pulled away with emphasis in the bottom of the fourth. Valencia doubled with one out and Campbell singled him to third. Santana walked to load the bases, and John Peck walked to force in a run. Dom Johnson then smoked a line drive single to center, driving in two runs to make it 6-2.

Johnson broke for second base with Andrew Jenkins batting and Peck stole home in the process to make it 7-2. Andrew Jenkins would add a solo shot to their tally in the seventh. Carlos Lequerica allowed a run in relief.

Jenkins: 2-4, R, RBI, HR

Peck: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B, BB, SB

Johnson: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, 2 SB

Minton: 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, K

Rayner Castillo came through with a decent outing on Sunday, and the offense had just enough to earn the victory.

The right-hander spun five innings of one run ball, though he struck out just two against two walks allowed. Clearwater pushed across a run against him in the fourth, but the Flying Tigers fought back quickly.

Dom Johnson led off the fifth with a single and then stole second base. A Cristian Santana single scored him to tie the game.

In the bottom of the sixth, Franyerber Montilla led off with a 102.6 mph line drive single to center field and then stole second base and took third on a throwing error. Jose De La Cruz pulled a grounder to third, and they were late trying to get Montilla at the plate, so everyone was safe. 2-1 Lakeland. De La Cruz promptly stole second base, and a Clayton Campbell single scored him.

At that point the rains poured in, and the game was eventually put in the books as a Flying Tigers’ win.

Montilla: 1-3, R, SB

Johnson: 1-2, R, BB, SB

Castillo: 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers head to Fort Myers for six this week.