St. Paul Saints 14, Toledo Mud Hens 10 (box)
It may look like a football score, but Toledo fell to St. Paul 14-10 on Sunday. The Mud Hens drop the series against the Saints, 5-1, with five straight losses.
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The good news is Max Clark had a three-hit game, as did Ben Malgeri, who was a triple shy of the cycle. Jace Jung also went deep, and Eduardo Valencia had a multi-hit game despite striking out three times.
The Mud Hens led after each of the first four innings and held an 8-6 lead until back-to-back four-run frames in the seventh and eighth.
Beau Brieske got the start and gave up three hits, including two doubles, in the first. Matt Seelinger was next and struggled through 1.1 innings, allowing a pair of home runs. Nick Sandlin came out of the bullpen next and delivered a strong four-strikeout performance over the next 1.2 frames.
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Ricky Vanasco struggled out of the gate in the fifth, walking the leadoff man and giving up a pair of singles for a run. He picked off a runner for the second out, but a walk and a wild pitch brought in another run. Vanasco walked the leadoff man again in the sixth, but he retired the next three batters in order.
Scott Effross allowed four of the six batters he faced to reach base in the seventh, although one of those came on catcher interference. Still, Effross hit two batters, the second coming with the bases loaded. The second out came on a game-tying sacrifice fly, so that’s not really a net positive either.
Brennan Hanifee entered the game and promptly gave up the lead with a two-run single. Both runs were charged to Effross. Hanifee gave up four runs on five hits in the eighth, making it a 14-8 game.
Toledo got a little two-out rally going in the ninth, starting with a four-pitch walk that needed a challenge to confirm. Gage Workman and Malgeri delivered back-to-back singles, the second scoring a run, and Valencia doubled in another run. Tha wasn’t enough, though. Trei Cruz popped up to the catcher to end the game.
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Clark: 3-4, 2 R, RBI, BB
Anderson: 0-3, 2 R, 2 BB
Malgeri: 3-5, 2B (17), HR (9), 2 R, 4 RBI, K
Coming Up Next: The Mud Hens are on the road next week against the Rochester Red Wings, starting Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. ET.
Canceled: Erie SeaWolves vs. Akron RubberDucks
Erie and Akron got through three innings, but rain canceled this game before it could reach the minimum required to be official. Erie takes the series, 4-1.
The SeaWolves led 4-0 before the rain came. Seth Stephenson led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single, and John Peck singled him in two batters later. Chris Meyers led off the second with a solo home run.
In the second, Andrew Jenkins singled softly into right, and Stephenson bunted safely again — what is the defense thinking? Peyton Graham doubled in both runners off the wall in left.
Kenny Serwa had a 1-2-3 first. He worked around a dropped third strike and a double off the left-field wall in the second. Serwa struck out the next batter and fielded his position to catch the runner in a pickle between third and home for the second out. Another grounder to the right side led to a scoreless frame. Serwa went 1-2-3 again in the third, and that’s where things ended.
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Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves are on the road next week against the Harrisburg Senators, starting at noon ET on Tuesday. A special shout-out to my guy Devin Fitz-Gerald, the son of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School head coach Todd Fitz-Gerald, who was recently promoted to Double-A Harrisburg.
Canceled: West Michigan Whitecaps vs. Lake County Captains
Another rain-canceled game. West Michigan drops the series, 3-2.
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are back home next week against the Lansing Lugnuts, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 9, Clearwater Threshers 3 (box)
Jake Miller went three full innings in his third rehab start as the Lakeland Flying Tigers defeated the Clearwater Threshers, 9-3, to end the series tied at three games apiece.
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Miller was excellent, allowing one hit and a walk while striking out three batters. His slider and sweeper were on point, drawing eight combined called strikes and whiffs on 12 pitches (66.6%). The velocity hasn’t returned yet, as he’s still sitting 90-91 mph, but it’s pretty early in the rehab process.
The offense gave Miller some early run support, scoring seven runs before he came out of the game. Beau Ankeney was on an absolute tear. He got things going with a solo homer in the first, singled in the third and hit a three-run homer in the fourth.
Edian Espinal went deep in the third to drive Ankeney and himself in, making it 3-0.
Zach MacDonald led off the fourth with a single and stole second and third. Jack Goodman doubled him in, and Jordan Yost kept things going with a single before Ankeney’s second homer.
Charlie Christensen took over for Miller in the fourth and struck out nine batters over the next 4.2 innings. He induced 13 whiffs, which is good for the third most of any Single-A pitcher today. Eight came on the slider, three on the sinker and two more on the cutter.
Clearwater was a little more comfortable with his arm angle the second time through the order and got to Christensen for a pair of runs in the sixth with a string of hits, but Lakeland got those runs back in the top of the seventh. MacDonald drove in Espinal on a sacrifice fly, and Yost walked with the bases loaded.
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A leadoff double led to a third Clearwater run in the eighth. Pedro Garcia took over for Christensen and got the final four outs of the game. He allowed just one hit and threw a wild pitch, but everything else was good.
Yost: 1-4, RBI, BB
Ankeney: 3-5, 2 HR (7), 3 R, 3 RBI, K
Miller: 3.0 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 3 K
Christensen (W, 2-0): 4.2 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 K
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers are back at home next week against the Dunedin Blue Jays, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
