Justice Bigbie homers twice in SeaWolves loss

Louisville Bats 10, Toledo Mud Hens 7 (box)

The Hens got off to a good start again on Wednesday, and for five innings Keider Montero had Louisville locked down, but it all fell apart in the sixth and just got worse from there.

After a quiet first inning, the Hens broke loose in the second. Nick Maton led off with a single and Andre Lipcius followed suit with a single of his own. Eddys Leonard then launched a three-run shot to left. Three batters later, Wenceel Perez smacked a solo shot, his eighth of the year, and it was 4-0.

Louisville got one back on a solo shot against Montero in the fourth, but in the top of the fifth, Justyn-Henry Malloy walked, took second on a Tyler Nevin single, and then stole third and scored on an error throw by the pitcher.

Unfortunately, that 5-1 lead was short-lived as Montero ran out of gas in the bottom of the sixth and allowed four runs before departing without an out recorded. Sam Clay quieted things a bit, but Aneurys Zabala gave up four runs as the Bats pulled away.

Tyler Nevin added a solo shot in the seventh, and Colt Keith doubled and scored in the ninth, but they couldn’t mount a big rally to come back in this one.

Perez: 2-5, R, RBI, HR, 2B, K

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

Keith: 2-5, R, 2B

Malloy: 1-3, R, 2 BB, K, SB

Montero: 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: LHP Joey Wentz (2-1, 3.80 ERA) takes on RHP Christian Roa (0-3, 6.89 ERA) at 6:35 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Bowie Baysox 8, Erie SeaWolves 6 (F/10)(box)

The SeaWolves built an early lead, lost it, came back to tie things up, and then lost in extra innings on Wednesday.

Chris Meyers got the SeaWolves started with a leadoff double in the second. Corey Joyce singled him home to make it 1-0, and Luis Santana followed with another single. Unfortunately they went in order from there and would eventually pay for it.

First they did break through in the third. Justice Bigbie got it started, cracking a solo shot to lead off the inning. Jace Jung and Jake Holton followed with doubles to add another run, and a pair of sacrifice flies got Holton home to make it 4-0.

Lefty Adam Wolf kept the Baysox quiet until the fourth, when they broke through for two runs. They got four more in the fifth, teeing off on reliever Tim Naughton.

Meanwhile, the SeaWolves offense was quiet until the bottom of the ninth inning. Ben Malgeri led off with a triple to center field, and Mr. Justice Bigbie went yard again, driving a flyball out to right field to tie the game. Pandemonium in Erie.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the story where the home team comes back and wins the game. This is the story where they thrill you just long enough to let you down again. Still better than getting clobbered…

Andrew Magno allowed a double and a single in the top of the tenth as Bowie scored two runs. A pair of quick ground outs in the bottom half left it up to Daniel Cabrera, who flew out to center field to end it.

Bigbie: 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR

Jung: 2-4, R, 2B, BB, 2 K

Wolf: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, K

Coming Up Next: No starters are announced for Thursday’s 6:05 p.m. ET start.

Peoria Chiefs 8, West Michigan Whitecaps 7 (F/10)(box)

Yes if there was an overall them developing on Wednesday night, it was losing in extra innings. Garrett Burhenn got the start and was fine, tossing five innings of three run ball. The Chiefs scored those three runs in the bottom of the third. The Whitecaps’ offense was pretty quiet after an RBI double from Eliezer Alfonzo gave them a first inning lead, and when Burhenn departed after the fifth it was still 3-1 Chiefs.

Brady Allen opened the sixth inning by pulling a hot grounder for a double, and scored on an Andrew Jenkins single to make it 3-2 Chiefs. Jordan Marks tossed a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth, and the ‘Caps got right back to work when Austin Murr walked to lead off the seventh. A stolen base and a Peoria throwing error got Murr to third and Luke Gold lifted a sacrifice fly to score him and tie the game. Gold had four hits in the game and continues to put up a lot of good ABs in his first look at High-A.

Gabriel Sequeira surrendered a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-3 Peoria, but Brady Allen led off the eighth with a solo shot to tie things up again. With two outs in the inning, Izaac Pacheco singled and then scored on a Josh Crouch double. Suddenly it was 5-4 Hens, and Elvis Alvarado tossed a scoreless bottom half, helped by his catcher, Crouch, erasing a leadoff single by cutting down the runner trying to steal second.

In the ninth, Carlos Mendoza led off with a walk and Gold singled him to second. Gage Workman drew a walk, and it was bases loaded and no outs. A comebacker off the bat of Allen turned into a 1-2-3 double play, and those hopes were dashed. Eliezer Alfonzo was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases with two outs, but Andrew Jenkins was frozen for a called strike three to complete the squander.

Dario Gardea took over in the bottom of the ninth looking to close it out, but allowed a solo shot instead, tying the game. Singles from Pacheco and Murr plated a pair of runs in the top of the tenth, but Gardea allowed three more in the bottom half as Peoria walked it off on a three-run shot from Alex Iadisernia.

Gold: 4-5, RBI, 2B, K

Allen: 2-5, 3 R, RBI, HR, 2B, BB

Pacheco: 3-5, 2 R

Burhenn: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, BB, K

Coming Up Next: RHP Jackson Jobe (2-1, 5.50 ERA) will look to get dialed back in after a shakier outing last Friday. A solid Cardinals pitching prospect in RHP Ian Bedell (4-2, 2.23 ERA) takes the mound for Peoria.

Clearwater Threshers 5, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2 (box)

With the Florida Complex League schedule completed, the big news around Lakeland on Wednesday was the promotion of Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle over to Publix Field to play for the Flying Tigers the rest of the season. Look for them to debut as soon as Thursday.

Clark and McGonigle won’t be alone either. The Tigers promoted a notable catching prospect in Josue Briceno to Low-A, along with several other recent draft picks.

On the field, the Flying Tigers got a decent outing from Carlos Marcano on Wednesday, but the offense couldn’t make much happen as Clearwater evened the series at a game apiece.

Marcano allowed five runs, four earned, over 5 ²⁄₃ innings of work. He threw plenty of strikes and didn’t give up any home runs, but there were plenty of line drives and extra base hits for the Threshers. He walked just one and struck out five on the day.

The Flying Tigers’ offense only managed three hits in this one. They did walk seven times, so they had some scoring chances, but couldn’t get the big hits as needed. For example, Seth Stephenson led off the bottom of the first with a single and stole second base. Cristian Santana drew a walk, and a Jim Jarvis ground out moved them to second and third with one out. The next two hitters were called out on strikes. So it went.

Finally, in the eighth, Stephenson sprayed a line drive toward the left field corner, and the Threshers couldn’t manage to play it cleanly as the speedy center fielder raced around for an inside-the-park home run. Santana walked and Jarvis got hit by a pitch. Max Anderson lined a single to left to score Santana and make it 5-2 Clearwater. There were no outs and things had some promise, but Mike Rothenberg struck out, and Manuel Sequera grounded into a double play to end the rally.

They went quietly in the ninth after a leadoff walk to Abel Bastidas.

Stephenson: 2-5, R, RBI, HR, K, SB

Santana: 0-2, R, 2 BB

Anderson: 1-4, RBI, 2 K

Marcano (L, 3-5): 5.2 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 8 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Thursday night at Publix Field.