Jackson Jobe twirls a gem while Jace Jung homers again for Erie

Iowa Cubs 7, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)

With Joey Wentz called up for a spot start in Detroit, the Hens went with a bullpen day. It did not go well as the Cubs evened the series at a game apiece.

Rony Garcia got the first two innings, and gave up five runs before getting knocked out of the game with two outs in the second inning. Braden Bristo took over and surrendered another run before finishing the frame.

A pair of walks, a wild pitch, and an Andre Lipcius ground out scored the Hens only run in the second. They collected six walks in this one, but only five hits, while striking out 16 times as the Cubs went with a bullpen day of their own. Wenceel Perez and Justyn-Henry Malloy each struck out three times, which you don’t see very often.

Tyler Nevin stayed hot, picking up two walks and singling twice in the losing effort.

Nevin: 2-2, R, 2 BB

Maton: 1-2, 2 BB, K

Keith: 1-3, BB, K

Garcia (L, 1-1): 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: LHP Zach Logue (3-8, 6.43 ERA) takes on RHP Caleb Killian (7-1, 3.73 ERA) at 6:35 p.m. ET on Thursday night.

Erie SeaWolves 9, Altoona Curve 2 (box)

The SeaWolves quickly built a lead in this one, and Bryan Sammons put together a quality start to help them even the series at a game apiece.

Trei Cruz got the SeaWolves off to a good start when he hit his 14th homer, a solo shot, to lead off the bottom of the first. Justice Bigbie and Jace Jung followed him with singles, but both were stranded.

Jung singled in Mario Feliciano in the second inning, and in the third Luis Santana continued his recent heater with what clearly looked like a leadoff home run. Instead, it was ruled a double after the umpires conferred and Santana blew up and got himself ejected. Gabe Alvarez came out and gave the crew a piece of his mind and earned a trip to the showers as well. Chris Meyers pinch-ran for Santana and scored on a Corey Joyce double to make it 3-0.

Altoona broke through against Sammons in the fifth, scoring two runs on a double followed by a home run, but otherwise the veteran lefty had them in check all night.

So, for a little while it was a close game with Erie holding a 3-2 lead, but in the seventh they broke it open for good. Cruz led off with a double and was wild pitched to third. Justice Bigbie singled him home and Jace Jung followed with his 22nd home run on the year. A series of walks later in the inning pushed across two more runs and it was 8-2 when the dust settled. They’d scratch out another run in the eighth for good measure and cruised to victory.

Jung: 3-5, R, 3 RBI, HR

Cruz: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B, 2 BB

Bigbie: 2-4, R, RBI, BB

Sammons (W, 2-1): 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Thursday. The SeaWolves haven’t announced a starter yet.

West Michigan Whitecaps 5, Lansing Lugnuts 2 (box)

Jackson Jobe led the way in this one, keeping the Lugnuts in check until his offense finally broke through late in the game to make it two in a row over their foes in Lansing.

The Tigers’ top pitching prospect scattered six singles without a walk against nine punchouts in an overpowering performance. Jobe pounded the zone with his full pitch mix and everything was working for him. A line drive single to left, a stolen base on what was really a passed ball, and a very routine grounder that split the shortstop and third baseman for an RBI single in the second inning accounted for the only damage against him in six innings of work.

The Lugnuts offense did not enjoy themselves. Jobe threw first pitch strikes to all but a handful of batters faced and just took it to them with relative ease for the entire outing. He now has 30 innings with the Whitecaps with just three walks allowed against 41 strikeouts.

Jobe didn’t get any run support until the top of the sixth when Brady Allen led off with a single and later scored on an Austin Murr lined single to center field. That tied the game and they added a run in the top of the seventh to take a 2-1 lead.

Reliever Erick Pinales ran into some trouble, giving up the lead with two runs allowed in the bottom of the seventh, and they held that 3-2 lead through the eighth inning. Finally, with only three outs to work with, the top of the Whitecaps’ lineup broke through again.

Seth Stephenson led off with a double to left and took third on a wild pitch. Gage Workman singled through the left side of the infield to tie the game. Eliezer Alfonzo walked, and both scored on an Andrew Jenkins single to make it 5-3.

Gabriel Sequeira collected his fifth save for the Whitecaps with a perfect ninth.

Stephenson: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, K, 2 SB

Workman: 1-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 K

Alfonzo: 0-3, R, RBI, 2 BB

Jobe: 6.0 IP, ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 9 K

Coming Up Next: RHP Dylan Smith continues his rehab assignment after a successful return to action last week. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET on Thursday. The Lugnuts haven’t announced a starter.

Here is Jobe’s complete outing courtesy of Tigers Minor League Report, complete with little bursts of conversation from my guy Chris Brown and others.

Jupiter Hammerheads 6, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (box)

The rain stayed away on Wednesday, but the Hammerheads held off a late charge from Lakeland in this one.

Edgardo Ibarra got the start for Lakeland and started off well three three quick outs in the first. However, the last out came on a fine play by Max Clark on the warning track that got a little scary as he made the catch and went splat against the outfield wall.

Clark was shaken up, but stayed in the game. Tigers fans breathed a small sigh of relief.

Catcher Josue Briceno opened the second inning with a single. A pair of groundouts moved him to third and then Clayton Campbell rocked the yard with a two-run shot to left center field. 2-0 Lakeland.

Ibarra gave back the lead and more in the bottom half as Jupiter plated three runs, and that was how the game ultimately went. Ibarra gave up another run in the fifth and the bullpen allowed two in the seventh. So when Lakeland made a push in the eighth, it wasn’t quite enough.

The inning started with Brett Callahan getting plunked. Bennett Lee singled him over to third for Max Clark, who striped a single into center field to make it 6-3 Jupiter. Jim Jarvis followed with a single back up the middle to score Lee, while Clark went first to third and then scored on a Max Anderson sacrifice fly.

Briceno kept the party rolling with a single, and a passed ball moved Jarvis to third and Briceno to second with only one out, but the rally ran out of gas at that point.

Campbell: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR

Briceno: 2-4, R

Lee: 2-4, R, 2B, K

McGonigle: 1-4, 2B

Ibarra (L, 2-4): 5.0 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a doubleheader scheduled on Thursday to make up for Tuesday’s rain out. First pitch from The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is set for 4:00 p.m. ET.