Toledo Mud Hens 10, Louisville Bats 2 (box)
Lael Lockhart worked through a pair of homers in the first two innings — one being of the inside-the-park variety — and then it was smooth sailing for Toledo’s pitching staff in this one.
Ivan Johnson took Lockhart deep on the very first pitch of the game, and Carlos Jorge got around the bases in about 16 seconds after Javy Baez misplayed a ball in center field. Lockhart was fine after that, retiring 10 of the next 11 batters.
Baez took a decent route to the ball, but it got over his head and bounced off the higher fence that starts to the right of the batter’s eye. Some slight hesitation occurred, as it looked like Baez was expecting a ground-rule double, and that cost Toledo the run. We’ll chalk it up to not knowing the outfield very well at this park, but it’s not a great look for Javy.
The Hens had their chances early, loading the bases in the first and stranding two runners in the second. They finally broke through in the third with a Max Anderson double and RBI single from Corey Julks. Andrew Navigato and Gage Workman had back-to-back singles to tie the game up in the fourth. A fielding error on Workman’s ball helped move things along with two outs.
Three more base hits, courtesy of Julks, Trei Cruz and Tyler Gentry, gave Toledo the lead in the fifth. Another set of consecutive singles from Baez, Anderson and Eduardo Valencia made it 4-2 in the sixth. Toledo had 18 hits on the day, but only four went for extra bases.
Yilber Diaz took over for Lockhart in the sixth. He faced the minimum, erasing a leadoff walk with a pickoff. Andre Granillo got the seventh and eighth, working around a base hit in the former. Nick Sandlin closed things out in the ninth, allowing a one-out double, but not before a big eighth inning for the offense.
Valencia put the game away with a grand slam, and Gentry hit a two-run shot a couple of at-bats later. Cal Stevenson also doubled in the inning, which means three of the four extra-base hits for Toledo came in the eighth.
The Hens take the series, 5-1.
Baez: 2-4, R, K
Anderson: 2-3, 2B (16), 2 R, 2 BB
Valencia: 2-4, HR (17), R, 5 RBI, BB
Lockhart (W, 2-1): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 6 K, 2 HR
Coming Up Next: Toledo wraps up July on the road in Columbus next week, starting Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Chesapeake Baysox 6, Erie SeaWolves 2 (box)
Erie couldn’t claim the series win on Sunday, as the SeaWolves struggled to figure out Chesapeake Baysox starter Luis De Leon, who went 6.1 innings and only allowed one run.
Carlos Pena did his best to match that performance, but a two-run homer in the second put him in line for the loss. Pena made it through 4.2 innings, striking out six and walking none along the way.
Erie only had five hits on the day, but three went for extra bases. Garrett Pennington couldn’t score after doubling in the second, but Bennett Lee found his way home after leading off the third with a triple. Seth Stephenson hit into a fielding error at first base to bring Lee across.
Things stayed pretty quiet for both teams until the sixth. Yosber Sanchez, who came in for Pena to get the last out of the fifth, had some command issues before getting the third out. His struggles continued with a leadoff double in the sixth and a two-out walk, so Erie turned to Johan Simon, who gave up a two-run double to the first batter he faced.
Simon pitched through the seventh, working around a pair of baserunners. Eric Silva was next out of the bullpen, but he couldn’t hold the score at 4-1. A solo homer and two base hits led to two more runs for Chesapeake.
Patrick Lee homered in the ninth, but the SeaWolves needed much more for a comeback. The series ends tied at three games apiece.
Briceno: 0-4, 3 K
Pennington: 1-4, 2B (5), 2 K
Patrick Lee: 2-3, HR (2), R, RBI, BB, K
Pena, C (L, 5-4): 4.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 6 K, HR
Coming Up Next: Erie is back home next week against the Akron RubberDucks, starting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. ET.
West Michigan Whitecaps 13, Peoria Chiefs 6 (box)
Despite the final score, things were closer than they appear in this one. West Michigan trailed halfway through the game and only led by one run going into the eighth. If it weren’t for a massive eighth inning, Peoria’s two runs in the ninth could’ve been a walk-off.
Fortunately, the Whitecaps scored eight in the eighth. Chiefs reliever Dylan Driessen was the victim of four straight hits to start his outing. Andrew Sojka doubled to start things off, Juan Hernandez scored him with a single, Woody Hadeen doubled, and Bryce Rainer brought both runners home with a single.
Clayton Campbell flew out, the first of the inning, and Samuel Gil singled in Rainer. The Whitecaps made it one time through the order, bringing Sojka back up to the plate, and he smashed a grand slam to make it 13-4. West Michigan outscored Peoria in this inning alone.
Campbell and Zach MacDonald both had homers earlier in the game, the former coming with two men on base. Luke Shliger also had an RBI single in the seventh.
Rainer almost had a homer before Campbell, but he was robbed. The ‘Caps had 16 hits on the day and walked six times. That’s good offense.
On the pitching side, Connor Fenlong got the start. He had some control issues in the second, walking the bases loaded and hitting a batter for the first run of the game. A leadoff solo homer in the fourth made it 2-0 at that point, but Fenlong didn’t allow a baserunner otherwise.
Eliseo Mota took over in the sixth. He loaded the bases before recording an out but worked his way out of the jam without giving up a run. Juanmi Vasquez got the seventh. Back-to-back two-run homers made it a one-run game, but we know what happened after that.
Luke Stofel went 1-2-3 in the eighth, and Zack Lee gave up a pair of inconsequential runs in the ninth. West Michigan takes the series, 5-1.
Rainer: 2-6, 2 R, 2 RBI
Sojka: 2-5, HR (6), 2, 4 RBI, K
Campbell: 1-3, HR (7), R, 3 RBI, BB, K
Fenlong (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, 2 ER, H, 3 BB, 3 K, HR
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are back home next week against the Beloit Sky Carp, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Jupiter Hammerheads 16, Lakeland Flying Tigers 15 (box)
So… the pitchers were just kind of there for this one. Lakeland and Jupiter combined for 31 runs on 30 hits and 21 walks, so, yeah…
Owen Hall and Donye Evans gave up six and five runs, respectively, but it’s Jan Caraballo who takes the loss for giving up a three-run homer in the ninth.
Caleb Leys got the start, striking out five over two innings of one-run ball. Jose Guzman went 1-2-3 in the third. That’s when things fell apart. Jupiter scored runs in each of the next six innings, putting a crooked number up in four of them. It was bad…
Lakeland’s runs were a bit more concentrated, with eight coming in the seventh, all with two outs. Nick Dumesnil, Jesus Pinto and Hunter Dobbins strung together consecutive hits to put Lakeland ahead after entering the inning down by one.
Anibal Salas extended the lead with an RBI single, and Jack Goodman took a bases-loaded walk to make it 13-9. Jordan Yost joined the party with a two-run double, and things looked good for a moment.
Evans gave four of those runs right back in the top of the eighth, and Caraballo gave up the deciding blow in the ninth.
Javier Osorio and Jude Warwick both hit homers earlier in the game. Warwick’s was more impactful, coming with two runners on and the Flying Tigers trailing, 7-3, in the fifth.
There’s too much going on to cover every detail here, but the bottom line is pitching bad, hitting good (but not good enough). Classic Single-A ball on a Sunday, really. This is why they say the SEC is comparable to Double-A; even college isn’t this wild.
The series ended in a 3-3 tie.
Yost: 1-4, 2B (11), 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Pinto: 4-6, 2B (14), 2 R, RBI
Warwick: 2-4, HR (8), 2 R, 4 RBI, BB, K
Leys: 2.0 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: Lakeland is in Tampa next week, starting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.