Toledo Mud Hens 3, Columbus Clippers 2 (b0x)
Ty Madden and Sawyer Gipson-Long split this Memorial Day start and the Hens rallied late to walk off the Clippers.
Madden started things off firing three clean innings before giving up a double and an RBI single in the fourth. Drew Sommers took over to finish the fifth and then it was Gipson-Long’s turn. Eduardo Valencia launched a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth to tie things up 1-1. It was Valencia’s ninth homer of the season.
Gipson-Long struck out CJ Kayfus and Stuart Fairchild to start the sixth, and got a good young Guardians infield prospect in Angel Genao to ground out. He cruised through the seventh before giving up a one-out double in the eighth and then walking Kayfus. Gipson-Long bore down and got Fairchild to fly out and Genao to slap a routine grounder to second base to escape.
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In the ninth, the Clippers got a leadoff single from Kody Huff, who stole second base. A ground out from Milan Tolentino moved Huff to third where he scored on a sac fly for a 2-1 lead.
However, Max Clark drew a leadoff walk from Tanner Burns in the bottom half and took second on a wild pitch. Valencia and Jace Jung both drew walks as well, with Max Burt pinch-running for Valencia. Corey Julks struck out but Burns then hit Tyler Gentry to score Clark. Cal Stevenson stepped in and drilled a ball to right field that was dropped as the right fielder leapt against the wall to pull it in. That scored Burt and sent the Hens home crowd home happy.
Valencia: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, BB
Stevenson: 1-3, RBI, BB, K, SB
Madden: 4.1 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Gipson-Long: 4.0 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, K
Coming Up Next: The usual Monday off day is moved to Tuesday to play on Memorial Day. The series will resume on Wednesday at 11:05 a.m. ET.
FCL Tigers 8, FCL Phillies 1 (F/7)(box)
20-year-old lefty Carlos Rodriguez led the way with a solid outing for the Tigers in this one. Along with right-hander Jhonan Coba, Rodriguez is the other young international free agent pitcher most likely to join Kelvis Salcedo with the Lakeland Flying Tigers, although it may wait until Salcedo, Malachi Witherspoon move up to West Michigan. Rodriguez allowed a run on two hits and two walks, punching out three over 4 1/3 innings of work.
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Rodriguez allowed his lone run in the top of the second. In the bottom of the third, Tigers’ first baseman Martin Tamara led off with a walk and took second on a wild pickoff throw. Angel de los Santos, another key name to watch down here, struck out, as did Jack Penney who began a rehab assignment on Monday. Another wild pitch advanced Tamara, and Cris Rodriguez walked and stole second base. A rehabbing Woody Hadeen singled in both runs and Cristian Perez doubled in Hadeen to make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, Rodriguez and Hadeen singled and advanced to second and third. Catching prospect Enderson Delgado singled them both in to make it 5-1.
Johnathan Rogers took over from Carlos Rodriguez with one out in the fifth. Rogers was the Tigers’ 20th rounder back in 2023. He actually showed potential before an injury shut him down and he eventually left the organization before re-signing last week. Rogers is just stretching out so he cleaned up the fifth before turning things over to the bullpen.
The bullpen had a pretty easy time of it as the Tigers tacked on three more runs in the sixth. Cris Rodriguez and Hadeen both doubled with two outs, and Cristian Perez, playing right field in this one, jumped on the first pitch he saw and smashed a three-run shot to left field. That 8-1 lead held up.
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Rodriguez and Perez continue to lead the FCL Tigers with an .873 and 1.129 OPS respectively. Hadeen should be back to West Michigan pretty soon.
Hadeen: 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI
Perez: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR
C. Rodriguez: 2-3, 3 R, 2B, BB, K, SB
Carlos Rodriguez: 4.1 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
