St. Paul Saints 10, Toledo Mud Hens 9 (box)
Dylan File was mauled in this one, and while the Hens fought back, it wasn’t quite enough on Friday.
File gave up six runs over the first four innings of work to put the Hens behind from the start.
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Max Clark absolutely hammered a solo shot to right center field in the bottom of the first, and a leadoff single from Trei Cruz in the second led to a run on a Tyler Gentry double. In the third, Gage Workman doubled, Ben Malgeri walked, and Hao-Yu Lee smoked an RBI double to plate Workman. A passed ball brought Malgeri home, and it was a 4-4 game after three.
File then allowed two more runs in the fourth, and a three-run inning against Matt Seelinger followed. It was a 9-4 game headed into the bottom of the fifth.
Malgeri and Lee led off the bottom of the fifth with walks, and Eduardo Valencia singled in one run. Gentry singled in Lee and Valencia after a wild pitch allowed them to advance 90 feet. That made it 9-7 Saints, and Max Anderson cracked his fifth home run to the opposite field in the sixth to pull the Hens within a run.
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Unfortunately, Nick Sandlin leaked a run in the seventh with some help from a Valencia passed ball. That would prove the diffference in this one. Valencia singled in Malgeri in the bottom of the eighth, but with two on base, the rally died via a Jace Jung strikeout, and the Hens couldn’t mount another push in the ninth.
Clark: 2-5, R, RBI, HR, BB
Anderson: 3-6, R, RBI, 2B, HR
Lee: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B, BB, K
File: 3.2 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The Saints lead the series 3-1, with a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch set for Saturday night.
Erie SeaWolves 13, Akron RubberDucks 8 (box)
The SeaWolves, err the Flagship City Kitties, pounded out 15 hits to survive a rough game from the bullpen and take down Akron again on Friday.
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Akron jumped on Tanner Kohlhepp for two in the first, beat up on Eric Silva for four runs in the third and fourth innings, and then got to Ryan Harvey for two runs. However, the offense kept up, and Yosber Sanchez and Luke Taggart eventually locked down the RubberDucks over the final four innings as the offense poured it on.
The SeaWolves got going in the third as Izaac Pacheco reached on an error to lead off the inning, and Peyton Graham singled. Aaron Antonini stepped in and crushed a three-run shot. Seth Stephenson’s speed forced an error, and he went first to third on a Brett Callahan ground out. John Peck doubled him in to tie the game 4-4.
In the bottom of the fourth, they had to kickstart another comeback. Graham drilled a two-out double to center and scored on an Antonini single. A wild pitch moved Antonini to second, and Stephenson singled him to third. Callahan kept the line moving with a single to center off the trademark, scoring Antonini.
It was 8-6 Akron in the bottom of the sixth, when Stephenson again reached on an infield error. Callahan walked, and Peck singled in Stephenson. Thayron Liranzo ripped a double into the right field corner to plate Callahan and Peck, and finally they had the lead at 9-8. They wouldn’t look back.
After the Ducks went back to the pen, Andrew Jenkins greeted new reliever Reid Johnston with an RBI single to make it 10-8. A Stephenson leadoff double in the eighth sparked another three-run rally as the SeaWolves pulled away for good.
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Stephenson: 3-5, 3 R, 2B, K
Callahan: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, SB
Peck: 3-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B
Liranzo: 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, K
Graham: 2-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves will look for their six straight victory on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. ET.
West Michigan Whitecaps 8, Lake County Captains 6 (box)
Carlos Marcano was rocked in his start, but the bats heated up and Bryce Rainer came through with a two-run homer in the ninth to win on Friday.
Marcano gave up two-run homers in both the first and the second innings. That was the end of his night, with the Whitecaps down 4-0 early. Luke Stofel and Carlos Lequerica allowed single runs in the fourth and fifth.
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At that point it was 6-2 Captains after the ‘Caps scored two in the top of the third. Samuel Gil led off the inning with a single and Junior Tilien and Juan Hernandez both reached on errors. An Andrew Sojka sacrifice fly scored Gil, and a wild pitch plated Tilien.
Into the seventh it was still 6-2, but in the top of the inning, Tilien singled, and Hernandez and Jackson Strong each walked. A Sojka ground out scored Tilien. Garrett Pennington then singled in Hernandez and Strong. That prompted a call to the bullpen for the Captains, but Bryce Rainer greeted the new reliever with a laser beam the opposite way for a double, and a pair of walks forced in the tying run.
C.J. Weins and Thomas Bruss did a nice job locking down the Captains over the final three innings, and in the top of the ninth, Pennington reached on yet another Captains’ error, and Rainer smoked a two-run shot over the wall in left center field to take an 8-6 lead. Bruss collected his first Double-A save with a quick bottom of the ninth.
Rainer: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR
Pennington: 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB
Marcano: 2.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The series is tied headed into Saturday’s 7:00 p.m. ET matchup.
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Clearwater Threshers 4, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2 (box)
A three-run shot allowed by Ali Tanner was the difference in this one as neither team swung the bats too well.
The Flying Tigers struck first, as Jordan Yost walked, stole second, and scored on a two-out Carson Rucker single. A Zach MacDonald single followed, and Anibal Salas walked to load the bases. Javier Osorio was hit by a pitch, scoring Rucker, but that was all they’d get. 2-0 Flying Tigers.
Meanwhile, Alistair Tanner was cruising for three innings, allowing just a hit batsman. That crumbled in the fourth, as a pair of walks was followed by a three-run homer from Jonathan Hogart. 3-2 Threshers.
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Jatnk Diaz hit a batter and then allowed a double to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth. The Flying Tigers didn’t generate many scoring opportunities, and both bullpens pitched well overall to wrap this one up.
Yost: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, SB
Rucker: 2-4, R, RBI, 2 K
Tanner (L, 3-4): 4.0 IP, 3 ER, H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The series is tied up heading into a 6:30 p.m. ET matchup on Saturday.
FCL Tigers 8, FCL Phillies 4 (box)
Paul Wilson made his second appearance of the season, and while he didn’t have much control, it’s just good to see him back on the mound. He walked three and allowed a pair of runs to the Phillies in a short 1.1 IP outing. RHP Cale Wetwiska, who was fairly impressive early on this season, made a scoreless, two inning rehab appearance in this one as well. RHP Alemain Cruz took over and was great, spinning four innings of one-hit ball without a walk, while punching out seven.
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Cris Rodriguez had a pair of RBI knocks in this one, while Steven Madero and especially Angel de los Santos had good days at the plate.
De los Santos: 3-4, 3 R, 2B, 2 BB, 2 SB
Rodriguez: 2-5, 3 RBI, K, SB
Wilson: 1.1 IP, 2 ER, H, 3 BB, 2 K
Cruz (W, 1-1): 4.0 IP, 0 R, H, 0 BB, 7 K
