Dillon Dingler is red hot, while Kevin McGonigle homers in Lakeland victory

Toledo Mud Hens 10, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 0 (box)

Dillon Dingler and Parker Meadows remained red hot in this one as a quarter of the Detroit Tigers’ bullpen started this one and the Hens staff overall had their way with the RailRiders.

Shelby Miller began his rehab assignment with a bit of a shaky first where he allowed a hit and a walk, with one strikeout. Alex Lange struck out the side in the second inning. Brenan Hanifee took over for a pair of hitless innings, and the rest of the bullpen just continued to dominate all game long. Perhaps word of room in the Tigers’ pen for those who can claim it has spread…

Other than a walk and a single in Dillon Dingler’s first two at-bats, the Hens didn’t get anything going until the fifth. Keston Hiura led off with a walk and with one out, Buddy Kennedy doubled him home to make it 1-0. Andrew Navigato slapped a ground ball through the right side for an RBI single to make it 2-0.

In the sixth, Justyn-Henry Malloy drew a walk and then stole second base. He moved to third on a Jace Jung ground out, and Dingler then smoked a hard ground ball down the right field line for an RBI double. Akil Baddoo struck out, but Hiura launched a two-run shot the opposite way off the Fricker’s building to make it 5-0.

Navigato led off the seventh with a solo shot, his fifth homer with the Hens. Parker Meadows followed with a 431 foot blast to straightaway center field, and now holds a 1.021 OPS so going down to Toledo. Malloy followed with a walk and Jung doubled him to third. And then Dingler stepped to the dish and did this.

After a few seasons in which Dingler’s defense got better and better, but his offensive profile didn’t change, he’s finally caught fire in recent weeks. He currently holds an .868 OPS and has really cut his strikeout rates down significantly. We’ve seen him using all fields and hitting the pitches where they are to a much better extent than any point in his pro career. And a couple of massive homers to straightaway center has illustrated that the raw power remains abundant.

We need a little more of this consistently to be sold but there’s definitely a breakout underway. It’s a question of how far he can take it in translating it to MLB. Either way his high end defensive work is going to earn him a career’s worth of time to put it together. Pretty exciting to see the offense come together after a few rough seasons without much progress.

So it was 10-0 Hens at that point, and this one was over.

Dingler: 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, BB

Hiura: 1-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB

Meadows: 2-5, R, RBI, HR, K, CS

Sweet (W, 3-3): 2.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: It’s an 11:05 a.m. ET start set for Wednesday as it’s School Education Day.

Erie SeaWolves 5, Richmond Flying Squirrels 0 (box)

Austin Burhenn had a rough go in this one, but did punch out nine hitters along the way, continuing a pretty impressive campaign so far. He didn’t get much help, as Richmond’s Hayden Birdsong throttled the SeaWolves offense in this one.

The SeaWolves only hit the first three innings was a Trei Cruz single that opened the game. Burhenn held serve for three innings, but in the fourth he got out of rhythm for a few hitters, issuing a walk and hitting a batter before Jairo Pomares doubled home both baserunners. A solo shot in the fourth put the SeaWolves behind 4-0 and ended Burhenn’s night.

The SeaWolves last chance to get back in the game came courtesy of Jake Holton and Gage Workman singles to open the fifth inning. Ben Malgeri grounded into a double play and they got nothing. Cruz and Hao-Yu Lee singled in the sixth, but that too led nowhere. Richmond didn’t issue a single walk, so it was hard going all game long.

Cruz: 2-4

Burhenn (L, 1-1): 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 9 K

Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening.

West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Great Lakes Loons 0 (box)

The Whitecaps managed to scratch out a few runs in the middle of what was otherwise a quiet game from both offenses to win on Tuesday.

Carlos Marcano got the start, but came out of the game during a long second inning, despite not allowing any runs. Jack Anderson and Zack Hess got them through the sixth, and by then the ‘Caps had broken through for four runs.

In the bottom of the fifth, Peyton Graham led off with a walk and Danny Serretti singled. Bennett Lee struck out and Seth Stephenson popped out, but Dom Johnson landed the decisive blow of the game with an RBI double to score Graham. Max Anderson singled in Serretti and Johnson, and it was 3-0.

In the sixth, Graham walked again, this time with one out. He then stole second, and advanced to third and home on two wild pitches to make it 4-0.

That was about it for this one, although Robert Campos did take a fastball of the helmet in the fourth inning. He left the field under his own power, so hopefully it was a glancing blow and he’ll be alright.

Johnson: 1-3, R, RBI, 2B, K

Graham: 0-1, 2 R, 2 BB, K, SB

Hess (W, 1-0): 2.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, K

Coming Up Next: It’s a School Day 11:00 a.m. ET start on Wednesday.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Clearwater Threshers 2 (box)

The first of six showdowns between these Florida State League rivals went to Lakeland on Tuesday as they closed the Threshers lead in the West division to two games with a close fought victory.

Joe Adametz got the start, and despite issuing four walks, limited the Threshers to just a run on one hit, with five punchouts.

Kevin McGonigle opened the scoring in the fourth by launching his second home run of the season.

The Threshers answered back with one of their own in the bottom half, but the Flying Tigers scored in each of the next two innings to put Clearwater on their back foot.

Daneurys De La Cruz doubled with one out in the fifth and scored on a David Smith single. In the sixth, Clayton Campbell walked with one out and stole second base. He scored on a Jim Jarvis single.

Cam Brown locked down the fifth and sixth innings as Lakeland built their slim lead. Thomas Bruss allowed a run in the seventh, but Eiker Huizi overpowered the Threshers in the ninth to earn his third save.

McGonigle: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB, K

Jarvis: 1-4, RBI, SB

Adametz: 4.0 IP, ER, H, 4 BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Wednesday as the Flying Tigers look to cut Clearwater’s divisional lead to one game.