Toledo Mud Hens 5, Indianapolis Indians 2 (box)
Patient at-bats from the Hens along with excellent work from the bullpen carried them to victory on Thursday.
Bryan Sammons started this game, but left after slipping and hitting the dirt while pitching to the first hitter. Matt Seelinger took over and cleaned up the inning.
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In the bottom half, Max Clark singled with one out, and after Max Anderson struck out, Eduardo Valencia singled and Corey Julks walked to load the bases. Jace Jung reached on an error as two runs scored, and Tyler Gentry singled in Julks for a 3-0 lead. In the second, Ben Malgeri led off with a double, and deep fly balls from Clark and Anderson moved Malgeri around to score and make it 4-0.
Seelinger did a nice job blanking Indy through the third. Beau Brieske got the first two outs on the fourth but was lifted for Tanner Rainer after only two outs. Rainey handled the rest and then tossed a scoreless fifth inning.
Drew Sommers allowed a run in the sixth to make it a 4-1 Hens lead, but they answered back when Clark doubled in Max Burt in the bottom half to make it 5-1.
Ricky Vanasco allowed a run in the seventh, but Woo-Suk Go tossed a perfect eighth, and Yoniel Curet pitched around a pair of walks in the ninth to get the save.
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Clark: 2-5, R, RBI, 2B, 2 K
Malgeri: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, 2 K
Seelinger (W, 2-1): 3.0 IP, 0 R, H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The Hens lead the series 2-1 heading into a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday.
Altoona Curve 7, Erie SeaWolves 6 (F/10)(box)
The SeaWolves built an early lead and swung the bats well again, but they cost themselves with some sloppy defense, and then the bullpen blew this one in extra innings.
In the top of the second, Thayron Liranzo and Justice Bigbie reached on errors, as Altoona had their own defensive issues. Chris Meyers walked to load the bases, but they only scored one run on a ground out. Peyton Graham cracked a solo shot in the third inning, his third of the season, and it was 2-0.
Starter Max Alba allowed a run in the bottom of the third, but Bigbie launched a two-run shot with Liranzo aboard in the fourth to make it 4-1 SeaWolves. Alba gave up a solo shot in the bottom half, but Liranzo answered back with a solo shot in the fifth, his fourth in 18 games with the SeaWolves this year. So it was 5-2 when Alba wrapped up his outing in the bottom of the fifth.
Johan Simon handled the rest of the fifth and then the sixth inning. Moises Rodriguez tossed a 1-2-3 seventh, but in the eighth he hit the leadoff hitter. A lineout followed, but a ground ball was thrown away by Graham from shortstop, and a swinging bunt single loaded the bases. The next hitter bounced one back to Rodriguez and he fired to Liranzo to get the lead runner, but Liranzo’s throw to third trying to turn a double play went a little wild and a run scored. Luke Taggart took over on the mound and quickly gave up a two-run double that tied the game.
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This eventually went to extras, and with John Peck on second base, Liranzo led off the inning with an RBI single. Unfortunately, that was all they’d get, and Trevin Michael quickly allowed the game tying run on a single in the bottom half. A catcher’s interference on Liranzo allowed the runner to reach, and Michael walked back-to-back hitters to blow it.
Liranzo: 3-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB
Bigbie: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Graham: 1-5, R, RBI, HR, K
Alba: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: Altoona leads the series 2-1 heading into a 6:00 p.m. ET start time on Friday.
The Tigers also signed a hard-throwing reliever, 29-year-old RHP Edwar Colina, to a minor league deal on Thursday. He seems bound for Erie or possibly Toledo.
South Bend Cubs 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (box)
Lucas Elissalt was knocked around in this one, while the offense just couldn’t get much going on Thursday.
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The Whitecaps got out to a decent start when Andrew Sojka led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second, and took third on a throwing error on the play. A Garrett Pennington swinging bunt saw Sojka beat the throw home to make it 1-0.
That was all they’d get, and from there the Cubs did a great job grinding out at-bats and putting the ball in play against Elissalt, with good results. He allowed two in the third, one in the fourth, and two more in the fifth. Carlos Lequerica took over in the fifth and allowed two runs of his own, and it was 7-1.
The Whitecaps swung the bats decently but didn’t string anything together. Note Bryce Rainer’s more upright stance and higher setup as he lined this double today. Still some work ahead but it’s a pretty marked improvement already.
Sojka: 1-2, R, BB, SB
Rainer: 1-4, 2B
Ellisalt (L, 0-3): 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Friday night.
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Bradenton Marauders 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers 7 (box)
Malachi Witherspoon had a rough outing, but the Flying Tigers fought back to take control only for the bullpen to blow this one in the ninth.
Witherspoon was a little wild in the first inning, and that along with several seeing eye singles cost him two runs in the first. In the second, he still was struggling to locate and issues a pair of walks that turned into a three run inning. After a pair of good outings, this one was a minor step back, and we really need to see Witherspoon string together some more consistent outings to start advancing to match his advanced stuff.
Javier Osorio got the Flying Tigers on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning. In the fourth, Bradenton walked three hitters and the Flying Tigers stole three bases and still came up empty. Finally in the bottom of the fifth, Jude Warwick and Trei Cruz walked to start the inning, and Nick Dumesnil returned to the lineup with an RBI double to make it 5-2 Bradenton.
Again in the sixth the first two Flygers hitters reached and Carson Rucker singled in Anibal Salas to make it 5-3. Edian Espinal singled to load the bases, and Zach MacDonald walked to force in a run. A wild pitch tied the game, but the effectively wild Gavin Adams escaped any further damage with the game tied up.
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Donye Evans allowed a run in the top of the seventh, but in the bottom half, Salas walked and stole second, and Hunter Dobbins mashed a two-run shot to take a 7-6 lead.
That’s where things stood when Jan Carabello took over for Lakeland in the top of the ninth hunting the save. Instead, he allowed a one-out walk, and Josh Tate blasted a two-run shot to take the lead. The Flying Tigers couldn’t answer back in the bottom half.
Warwick: 1-4, R, 2 BB, CS
MacDonald: 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, K, 2 SB
Dobbins: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Osorio: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, BB
Witherspoon: 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers have a 2-1 lead in the series heading into a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Friday.
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FCL Tigers 13, FCL Yankees 5 (F/7)(box)
Angel De Los Santos: 3.5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 K, SB
Cris Rodriguez: 2-5, R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 2 K
Danandres Colon: 3-3, 4 R, 2B, 2 SB
Jack Bushell: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K
