Jaden Hamm cruises, while McGonigle and Clark continue to rake for the Flying Tigers

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 11, Toledo Mud Hens 2 (box)

Ty Madden’s introduction to the Triple-A level has been rough, and he was rocked in this one for seven runs, six earned. The Hens were down big early and never got back in the game.

A pair of walks started Madden’s outing, and a three-run shot with two outs, sealed the kind of outing ahead. The RailRiders scratched out single runs in the second and third innings, and then two more in the fourth, ending his outing. Walks played a central role in those innings as well.

The Hens were down 7-0 when Justyn-Henry Malloy launched a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth, his sixth home run of the season. Keston Hiura followed by drawing a walk, and singles from Bligh Madris and Justice Bigbie plated Hiura for the Hens second and final run of the contest.

Malloy: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, K

Bigbie: 2-4, RBI, K

Madden (L, 0-2): 3.2 IP, 7 R, 6 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: With the series tied 1-1, they’ll get back in action on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Erie SeaWolves 8, Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 (box)

A long first inning doomed Troy Melton’s outing, but the bullpen held it down pretty well the rest of the way. They had plenty of help, as the SeaWolves bats were howling all night to pretty comfortably chase the Flying Squirrels on Wednesday.

Trei Cruz set the tone by leading off the game with a walks. A Carlos Mendoza triple followed, and Hao-Yu Lee did the job, lifting a fly ball to center field for a sac fly. Two batters later, Chris Meyers launched a solo shot to make it 3-0 Erie.

Melton took the mound and struck out the first hitter he faced. A single followed, but Melton bounced back to strike out Grant McCray. It all went downhill from there as Melton allowed another single and then got squeezed on the next two hitters and issued walks. He should’ve been out of the inning with a clear strike three on Jimmy Glowenke but it was called a ball, forcing in a run. He punched out the final hitter of the inning, but having thrown 31 pitches in one inning, was pulled from the game per Tigers’ policy.

Brady Allen doubled home Eliezer Alfonzo in the top of the second, but Adam Wolf allowed a solo shot in the bottom half. 4-2 SeaWolves.

Jake Holton singled in the top of the third and Julio E. Rodriguez doubled to left. A Gage Workman single scored Holton. and then in the fourth Lee launched a two-run shot, his sixth of the year. 7-2 SeaWolves.

Wolf allowed another solo shot in the fourth, but the bullpen allowed just two hits and a walk the rest of the way. The SeaWolves got one more when an Allen sacrifice fly scored Rodriguez from third with the game’s final run.

Lee: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, K

Mendoza: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 3B, K, SB

Rodriguez: 2-3, R, 2B, BB

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

Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET on Thursday with the series tied at a game apiece.

West Michigan Whitecaps 2, Great Lakes Loons 0 (box)

Jaden Hamm was again untouchable, dropping his ERA to a cool 0.96 on the year with three no-hit innings of work. The ‘Caps offense didn’t do much better than the Loons’ would, but Luis Santana came through with the decisive blow of the game.

Hamm is really begging for a move to Erie at this point. The right-hander cruised for three innings, allowing a walk while striking out four. He holds the lowest ERA in the Midwest League, and an outrageous K-BB% of 31.1 percent. The second best mark is 23.7 percent. He is also one of the younger starters in the league at 21 years of age. The secondary pitches are coming along but still need work. The fastball is just dominant, more because of his angle and movement than pure velocity.

The Whitecaps struck in the second inning. Luke Gold doubled to lead off the bottom half, and Luis Santana pulled a fly ball into the seats for a two-run shot. Danny Serretti doubled with two outs and was wild pitched to third, but Josh Crouch struck out to strand him.

The ‘Caps didn’t get too many other chances as they were held to just five hits and a walk in this one. However, the Loons were one-hit, with only Hamm’s walk allowed.

Santana: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR

Gold: 1-2, R, 2B, BB

Hamm: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, 4 K

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

Lakeland Flying Tigers 9, Clearwater Threshers 8 (box)

Once again, it was the McGonigle/Clark show in this one, as the teenagers led the Flying Tigers to batter Threshers pitching all game long.

McGonigle opened the game with a double and was wild pitched to third. Max Clark smoked a line drive into right field, and it was 1-0 Lakeland. Clark advanced on a poor pickoff throw and took third on an Eddys Leonard fly out. However, Clark was cut down trying to score on a Ryan Kreidler ground ball.

Blake Pivaroff was sort of an opener in this one. A Leonard error led to a two-run bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead, but the Flying Tigers tied it up in the third when Clark led off with a walk and scored from first on a Leonard double.

Lefty Jake Miller took over in the third and dominated for five innings, allowing just a hit and two walks, striking out six. In the fourth, David Smith walked and stole second, and he scored on a line drive single from McGonigle to make it 3-2 Lakeland.

Leonard was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a Clayton Campbell single in the fifth. In the sixth they finally blew this one open.

It started with Alonzo Rubalcaba getting hit by a pitch to start the inning. Smith, McGonigle, and Clark all singled in order. Clearwater went to the bullpen and Samuel Gil pinch-hit for Leonard. Gil smoked a triple into the right field corner to clear the bases. Gil later scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-2 Lakeland.

It almost wasn’t enough. Quinn Gudaitis spun a scoreless third but loaded the bases on a hit batter and a pair of walks. Luke Stofel walked in a run and then allowed a grand slam that made it 9-7. Stofel hit a batter and was lifted for closer Yosber Sanchez, who dug a hole of his own before a pair of swinging strikeouts got him out of there with his fifth save.

Clearwater scored 6 runs in the 9th and had the bases loaded before Yosber Sanchez got this strikeout to end the game and secure a 9-8 win for Lakeland. pic.twitter.com/HoLWyBREzx

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) May 30, 2024