Indianapolis Indians 6, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (Fri)(box)
Indianapolis Indians 9, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (Sat)(box)
Indianapolis Indians 9, Toledo Mud Hens 5 (Sun)(box)
This series did not go well for Toledo. Indy took the final three games to win the series five games to one.
On Friday, starter Zach Logue was knocked around for four runs, and the offense didn’t get anything going until late in the game. Justyn-Henry Malloy took the ol’ golden sombrero with four strikeouts, which was a bit of a shock. Parker Meadows tripled and scored a run, while Michael Papierski and Donny Sands each doubled in the contest, with Sands driving in two of the Hens’ three runs. Andrew Magno allowed a run late, but also struck out four along the way. The lefty reliever is one more notch of consistency from finding his way to Detroit’s bullpen this season.
Papierski: 2-3, 2B
Sands: 1-3, 2 RBI, 2B
Meadows: 1-4, 3B, SO
Logue (L, 1-2): 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 4 SO
Saturday’s contest was just a beatdown. Brenan Hanifee was knocked around for four runs in his five innings of work, and recent waiver claim Braden Bristo collapsed in the seventh innings to allow four more runs as Indy ran away with this one. Veteran right-hander Matt Wisler spun 1 2⁄3 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts. It’s a decent bet that the MLB veteran will be called up shortly if he can string together one or two more outings.
Shortstop Corey Joyce, up from Erie with Zack Short in Detroit and Ryan Kreidler injured, smacked a solo shot in the third inning for the Hens only scoring in this one. He also added a double on the day. Malloy turned in a more typical performance with a single and two walks drawn.
Malloy: 1-2, 2 BB
Joyce: 2-3, R, RBI, HR, 2B
Hanifee (L, 0-1): 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, 3 SO
On Sunday the Hens had to scramble a bit with Alex Faedo’s call-up to Detroit making this a bullpen game. They actually built a lead in the first inning courtesy of singles from Meadows and Andre Lipcius. Malloy then appeared to have struck out, but challenged the strike call under the new automated strike zone challenge rule, and as he usually is with regard to the strike zone, Malloy was correct that the pitch was a ball, drawing a walk. Indy starter Kent Emanuel proceeded to walk in a run, and another scored on a ground out before he was able to shut the door without allowing the big hit. 2-0 Hens.
Justyn-Henry Malloy challenges another pitch. But this time he loses…by about one stitch of the baseball. He struck out swinging on the next pitch. pic.twitter.com/U6lpYlT4a1
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 7, 2023
Unfortunately, Garrett Hill allowed four runs in his 2 2⁄3 innings of work. It was 4-2 Indy when Tyler Nevin and Jonathan Davis came up with RBI hits in the bottom of the third to tie things up. The Hens got a solo shot from Michael Papierski in the fifth, but reliever Brendan White allowed a pair of solo shots plus an unearned run, and Layne Henderson allowed two more while the offense was out of steam for the day.
Lipcius: 2-3, 2 R, 2B, BB
Nevin: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, SO
Meadows: 1-4, R, BB, SB
Hill: 2.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 SO
Coming Up Next: The Mud Hens head to Iowa to take on the Cubs this week. First pitch on Tuesday night is set for 7:38 p.m. ET.
Erie SeaWolves 7, Bowie Baysox 4 (Fri)(box)
Erie SeaWolves 10, Bowie Baysox 4 (Sat)(box)
Bowie Baysox 7, Erie SeaWolves 6 (Sun)(box)
The SeaWolves got off to a good start in this best-of-six, and took the Baysox down on Friday and Saturday to earn a 4-2 series win.
On Friday, Sawyer Gipson-Long kept the Baysox off the board other than one run in his five innings of work, while the offense kept adding on to pull away. The SeaWolves got a solo shot from Diego Rincones to lead off the third inning. Luis Santana singled and Andrew Navigato reached on an error before Colt Keith plated Santana on a ground out to make it 2-0. RBI singles from Keith and catcher Julio E. Rodriguez made it 4-1 SeaWolves in the fifth.
The Baysox fought back with two in the sixth off of reliever Bryce Tassin, but the SeaWolves weren’t done. In the seventh, a one-out double from Keith started things off. Wenceel Perez singled him home and then stole second base. The Baysox then proceeded to issue three straight walks, forcing in one more run. A Ben Malgeri single made it 7-3 Erie, and the Baysox could only manage a run in the eighth the rest of the way.
Keith: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B
Perez: 3-4, R, RBI, 2B, BB, SO, SB
Rodriguez: 2-4, R, RBI, BB, SO
Gipson-Long (W, 3-3): 5.0 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 2 SO
Starter and top pitching prospect entering the season, Wilmer Flores has had a rough go to start the year. His velo has been down and the whiffs have been somewhat absent. He put together a better outing on Saturday, but still doesn’t look himself. Flores tossed five innings of two-run baseball in this one as his team built a huge lead.
Bowie got to him for two runs, including a solo shot in the first, and Flores settled in from there to blank them over the next four frames.
Jake Holton started the scoring with a solo shot in the second inning. A Colt Keith two-run shot in the third gave the SeaWolves the lead, and they proceeded to score four more times in the innings with RBI hits from Grant Witherspoon, Ben Malgeri, and Daniel Cabrera.
In the fifth, the SeaWolves loaded the bases courtesy of a couple walks and a hit by pitch, and Dillon Dingler cleared the bases with a 3-run double that made it 10-2 and put this one on ice.
Dingler: 2-4, 3 RBI, 2B, BB, SO
Keith: 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, 3 SO
Holton: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB, SO
Flores (W, 1-2): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 SO
On Sunday, the SeaWolves built an early lead but starter Brant Hurter finally had a bad outing, surrendering consecutive three-run innings in the fourth and fifth to lose the lead. The SeaWolves fought back late but couldn’t complete the comeback.
Gage Workman opened the scoring with a two-run shot to right in the second inning, his third homer of the season. Hurter melted down to lose that lead, but they got a run back in the sixth on Luis Santana’s first home run in the Tigers’ organization. The solo shot made it 6-3 Bowie.
Reliever R.J. Petit gave that run back in the seventh, which was too bad as the SeaWolves got a run on Trei Cruz’s fifth home run of the season in the eighth. Cruz, who had absolutely languished with few appreciable notes of development during his first two years in the organization, seems to be getting the message. The shortstop is now playing some center field as well, and finally appears to have made some adjustments to put a few balls in the seats.
In the ninth, trailing by three, Dillon Dingler led off with a walk, and after a ground out from Grant Witherspoon than forced Dingler at second, Rodriguez singled and Malgeri was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Workman lifted a sacrifice fly to score Witherspoon, and Daniel Cabrera grounded one back through the box to score Rodriguez, but that was as close as they got.
Cruz: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, SO
Rodriguez: 2-4, 2 R, SO
Dingler: 1-3, BB, 2 SO
Hurter (L, 1-1): 4.2 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves welcome in the Richmond Flying Squirrels for six starting at 6:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.
West Michigan Whitecaps 5, Beloit Sky Carp 3 (Fri)(box)
Beloit Sky Carp 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 0 (Sat)(box)
West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Beloit Sky Carp 2 (Sun)(box)
The Whitecaps went into Beloit and took four of six courtesy of a wins on Friday and Sunday.
On Friday, right-hander Wilkel Hernandez put together a really nice start, spinning five innings of one-hit, scoreless ball with six strikeouts. That’s one of his best since returning from Tommy John. The offense jumped out to an early lead, and the bullpen just managed to hang on in the end.
In the first inning, Eliezer Alfonzo singled home Jace Jung, and then got another run in the second when Austin Murr scored on an error on a Luis Garcia ground ball. The big blow came in the third when Chris Meyers smashed a three run shot to right field with both Jung and Alfonzo aboard. The bullpen leaked a run in each of the last three innings, but Chavez Fernander finally slammed the door in the ninth.
Meyers: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, 2B
Jung: 1-3, 2 R, 2 BB
Alfonzo: 2-2, R, RBI, 2 BB
Hernandez (W, 1-2): 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
Sky Carp starter Zach King had the Whitecaps’ number on Saturday. He allowed just three hits, striking out seven along the way. The Whitecaps’ starter, lefty Carlos Pena, has been excellent this year and he was good again in this one. Pena allowed two runs in 4 1⁄3 innings, striking out eight along the way. The offense just had nothing to offer, and the bullpen leaked a pair of runs as Beloit pulled away late.
Crouch: 2-3, SO
Jung: 1-4, 2B, 2 SO
Serretti: 1-4, 2B
Pena (L, 0-1): 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO
On Sunday, Garrett Burhenn allowed an early run, but it was all Whitecaps the rest of the way. It was 1-1 in the fourth when Danny Serretti launched a solo shot, his third homer of the year. Roberto Campos followed an inning later with a solo shot of his own, also his third on the year.
Roberto Campos with a missile over the wall in left center to give the Whitecaps a 3-1 lead. It’s his 3rd home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/NImfMIHytG
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 7, 2023
The Whitecaps bullpen took over in the fifth and they locked down the Sky Carp until the offense put this one away with a four-run eighth inning. One out walks to Izaac Pacheco and Josh Crouch started things off. Steele Walker followed with a ground ball single to load the bases, and a wild pitch scored Pacheco. Beloit reliever Kyle Crigger then plunked Colin Burgess to re-load the bases and was replaced. It didn’t matter as Chris Meyers lined an RBI single to right. A walk to Jace Jung later forced in a run, and Serretti singled in Meyers to compete the four-run rally.
Serretti: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, HR
Walker: 4-5, 2B
Jung: 1-4, RBI, BB, 3 SO
Burhenn: 4.0 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, SO
Coming Up Next: LHP Jack O’Loughlin (0-3, 4.67 ERA) gets the ball on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. ET as the Whitecaps welcome in the Lansing Lugnuts for six.
Clearwater Threshers 6, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (Fri)(box)
Clearwater Threshers 6, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (F/10)(Sat)(box)
Clearwater Threshers 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers 7 (Sun)(box)
The Lakeland Flying Tigers have been rather depressing so far. Top prospects like Cristian Santana and Peyton Graham are struggling, and the lack of prospect talent around them remains pretty bleak. The Flygers got swept by Clearwater, dropping five of the six in one-run losses.
On Friday, Lakeland built a nice lead early only to watch the bullpen blow it. One bright spot for them has been outfielder Lazaro Benitez, and he launched a solo shot in the first inning to open the scoring. Benitez was at it again in the third, singling home Dom Johnson and Seth Stephenson to make it 3-0.
Left-hander Jake Miller allowed two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Lakeland came back with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 5-2 lead. The bullpen couldn’t hold it, allowing a run in the seventh, and then Connor Holden surrendered three runs in the bottom of the ninth as the Threshers walked this off with a two-run double by Bryan Rincon.
Benitez: 3-4, R, 3 RBI, HR
Graham: 1-4, R, BB, 3 SO
Sequera: 1-4, RBI, 2 SO
Right-hander Ulices Campos was knocked around for five runs on Saturday. The Flying Tigers mounted a comeback attempt and tied things up only to be walked off again in the tenth inning.
Campos allowed two runs in the first, but the Flying Tigers got one back with Luke Gold singled in Dom Johnson in the second inning. After Campos allowed three more runs before departing after five innings, Lakeland’s back was against the wall.
In the sixth, Adinso Reyes lined a single off the pitcher and Peyton Graham doubled to left. Benitez lifted a sacrifice fly to score Reyes, but the next two batters lined hard-hit balls to the center fielder to end the minor threat. Finally, in the eighth they tied it up.
Sergio Tapia led off with a single. Reyes flew out, and Graham grounded into a force of Tapia at second. But once again it was Benitez coming up with a big hit, singling Graham to third where he scored on a wild pitch. Manuel Sequera doubled in Benitez, and Johnson dumped a single to center to score Sequera and tie the game.
Lakeland failed to mount a threat in the top of the ninth, and Seth Stephenson threw out a runner at home in the bottom half to preserve the tie. Clearwater loaded the bases in the tenth with a bunt single and a walk, and an error on first baseman Moises Valero allowed them to score the walkoff winner.
Benitez: 2-4, R, RBI
Johnson: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B, SO
Campos: 4.2 IP, 5 ER, BB, 3 SO
Starter Carlos Marcano got blown up on Sunday for six runs. The Flying Tigers mounted a comeback, but were once again walked off in this one.
After Clearwater took a 1-0 lead in the first, Lakeland came back with a run in the third courtesy of a Dom Johnson RBI single, and then took the lead on Manuel Sequera’s second home run of the season in the fourth. However, in the bottom half of the inning Marcano got lit up for five runs, and the score was 6-2 Clearwater.
Finally, in the seventh, Lakeland roared back, though the four walks and a hit batter allowed by the Threshers had a lot to do with it. Luke Gold led off with a walk, Moises Valero doubled, and Seth Stephenson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Johnson walked. Peyton Graham walked, and Alvaro Gonzalez came up with a two-run single to tie the game. A walk to Manuel Sequera followed, and it looked like Lakeland might blow this game open. Unfortunately, Mike Rothenberg and Adinso Reyes struck out. A wild pitch scored Graham from third and gave Lakeland a 7-6 lead, but they needed more.
Max Alba allowed two runs in the bottom of the ninth as the Threshers walked off again and completed the sweep.
Sequera: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, BB
Johnson; 1-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, SO
Graham: 1-4, R, BB, SO, SB
Marcano: 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers hope to have more luck as they travel to Bradenton to take on the Marauders. First pitch Tuesday night is set for 6:30 p.m ET.