Toledo Mud Hens 3, Indianapolis Indians 2 (box)
Reese Olson made a successful rehab outing in this one, and the Hens’ bullpen was inspired to a solid performance behind him as the offense did just enough.
Olson needed 39 pitches to go two scoreless innings, allowing just a single and a walk, with one strikeout.
The Hens struck first when Andrew Navigato and Eddys Leonard led off the bottom of the second with singles. A Bligh Madris grounder forced Leonard at second, but a Justice Bigbie sacrifice fly scored Navigato for a 1-0 lead.
Austin Schulfer allowed a run in the fourth, but Leonard answered back with a solo shot in the bottom half of the inning. Schulfer then allowed a run in the fifth for a 2-2 tie. Jack Anderson and Devin Sweet were great in relief, collecting the final ten outs in order with six strikeouts between them.
Ryan Vilade singled in Bigbie in the seventh for a go-ahead run that held up.
Leonard: 3-4, R, RBI, 2B, HR
Navigato: 2-4, R, 2B
Sweet (W, 9-6): 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Erie SeaWolves 5, Reading Fightin Phils 1 (box)
Jackson Jobe was excellent and the SeaWolves built an early lead and ran away with this one.
After several outings where Jobe battled his command, he was absolutely filling up the strike zone in this one. Jobe allowed a run on three hits and two walks over seven innings of work, striking out eight along the way. That was the first time he’s gone seven innings.
Carlos Mendoza started the game off right with a leadoff solo shot. Ben Malgeri followed with a walk and Gage Workman singled him to second. Chris Meyers struck out, but Corey Joyce was back in the lineup and he singled them both in with the help of a throwing error on Reading’s right fielder.
Jobe allowed a run in the first on a pair of singles, a walk, and then a ground out. From that point on he was nearly unhittable.
In the fourth inning, the SeaWolves made it 4-1 when Mendoza walked and then scored on a rocket of a double off the bat of Gage Workman, who continues to mash. Doubles from Mendoza and Workman made it 5-1 in the eighth, and Eric Silva and Tyler Owens handled the final two frames with no trouble.
Mendoza: 4-4, 3 R, RBI, 2 2B, HR, BB
Workman: 3-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, 2 K
Jobe (W, 4-2): 7.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K
West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Lansing Lugnuts 3 (box)
Lugnuts pitching betrayed them as the ‘Caps collected 10 hits and 10 walks in this one.
Izaac Pacheco, now playing first base most of the time, opened the scoring in the second inning with a solo shot.
Joseph Montalvo ran into big trouble in the third. He surrendered three runs and had to be pulled for Conner Holden, who proceeded to carry them through the sixth inning without further issue.
The Whitecaps were down 3-1, but they stormed back with five in the fourth. Pacheco walked with one out, but Luke Gold flew out. Pacheco stole second, and Jim Jarvis singled him in. A wild pitch and then walks to Seth Stephenson and Max Clark continued the inning. Then the Lugnuts couldn’t handle a Max Anderson pop-up into shallow right field, and all three runners scored on the play. Three more walks forced in another run to make it 6-3.
In the eighth, Clark singled with one out, and three walks followed to force in another run and make it 7-3, where it ended.
Anderson: 3-4, R, 3 RBI, BB
Clark: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, 2 K
Pacheco: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB
Montalvo: 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Lakeland Flying Tigers vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (postponed)
With the Flying Tigers holding a half game lead over Fort Myers in the second half divisional race, they were unfortunately rained out on Thursday. They’ll look to play two starting Friday afternoon. The Flygers need to win two of the last four games to earn a postseason berth.