Erie SeaWolves 11, Richmond Flying Squirrels 1 (box)
I’m still unsure what happened to the Erie SeaWolves pitching staff this season, but it remains a hot mess down there even when a top prospect starter has a good game. Wilmer Flores tossed five innings of one-run ball with only a solo home run as the sole hit allowed. He struck out eight Squirrels. We should be looking at this as a killer start, but Flores walked five batters in this game, an ugly trend that continues to hold him, as well as Ty Madden and Keider Montero back lately.
Anyway, he allowed one run so we’ll take it, but somehow Erie’s pitching department hasn’t gotten the control the strike zone memo yet.
The offense jumped out early in this one, as Trei Cruz led off the game with a walk. Colt Keith popped out, but Wenceel Perez lined a double to right field and Dillon Dingler smoked his fifth homer in just 20 games with the SeaWolves this season.
In the fourth, Erie blew this one wide open with a seven-run inning. Ben Malgeri’s two-run double to score Andrew Navigato and Gage Workman got it started. Trei Cruz singled with one out, and Keith doubled the opposite way to score Malgeri and Cruz. Perez singled Keith to third, where he scored on a Dillon Dingler ground ball that forced Perez at second. And then Jake Holton smacked his fifth home run to cap off the barrage.
Little else needs be said about the game, but what was really notable was the move of Colt Keith from third base to second base. He’s played second some in the past, but my guess is that this is prepping him, and his .975 OPS, for a move to Toledo in the very near future.
Keith: 3-5, R, 3 RBI, 2B, SO
Dingler: 1-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR, SO
Holton: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 SO
Flores (W, 3-2): 5.0 IP, ER, H, 5 BB, 8 SO
Coming Up Next: RHP Landen Roupp (0-0, 2.08 ERA) starts for Richmond on Wednesday, while the SeaWolves have yet to announce for the 6:35 p.m. ET contest.
Dayton Dragons 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)
Carlos Pena didn’t have a great outing, but he kept the Whitecaps in this one. The offense just couldn’t get anything going after the early innings. Jace Jung went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, as he, Ryan Kreidler, and Izaac Pacheco went a combined 0-for-11 out of the first three spots in the ‘Caps lineup.
The Whitecaps struck first in this one when Brady Allen led off the second inning with a solo shot, his fifth on the year. Danny Serretti walked, and after Roberto Campos struck out, Eliezer Alfonzo and Dillon Paulson singled back-to-back to drive in Serretti.
However, that was about it for the offense. Pena allowed a run in the bottom of the second, and then gave up a solo shot in the fifth that tied things at 2-2. Reliever Dario Gardea had no idea where the ball was going in the seventh. He issued a walk and hit two batters in the frame though he was able to escape without giving up the go-ahead run. However, an error on first baseman Dillon Paulson gave the Dragons a baserunner in the eighth, and Ruben Ibarra followed it with a two-run shot that decided the game.
Allen: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, SO
Serretti: 1-3, R, BB, SO
Pena: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 SO
Coming Up Next: A 7:05 p.m. ET start in Dayton will feature RHP Garrett Burhenn (2-2, 3.48 ERA) taking on RHP Chase Petty (0-0, 0.75 ERA) on Wednesday.
Jupiter Hammerheads 11, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (box)
The Flying Tigers had this one well under control until the late innings, when Jupiter teed off on the bullpen to blow them away.
Chance Kirby got the start and surrendered a run in two innings of work. Cole Patten then came on for five innings with only a walk allowed.
On the other side of the ball, the Flying Tigers offense was doing fine letting Jupiter’s pitching staff blow the game. Three walks and then Cristian Santana getting hit with a pitch forced in the tying run in the fifth inning. Jupiter went back to their pen, but immediately a wild pitch scored the second run of the inning. Peyton Graham reached on a ground ball to second that became a blown play due to a throwing error and another run scored. Jose De La Cruz walked, and the bases were loaded again. Yet another wild pitch scored Santana before Jupiter could get out of the inning.
In the seventh, Graham tripled and then scored on wild pitch to make it 5-1 Lakeland. That was as good as it got, as Jupiter piled up 10 runs over the next two innings to turn this into a rout.
Graham: 1-5, R, RBI, 3B, 2 SO
Santana: 0-2, R, RBI, 2 BB, SO
Johnson: 1-3 R, 2B, BB
Patten: 5.0 IP, 0 ER, BB, 3 SO
Coming Up Next: First pitch on Wednesday night is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.