Worcester Red Sox 3, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)
Toledo couldn’t finish off the sweep and dropped its first game in a week, 3-1, against Worcester on Sunday.
After 15 runs on Saturday, there wasn’t much offense to speak of for the Mud Hens in this one. Toledo had only five hits, none going for extra bases. Two of those came in the second inning from Eduardo Valencia and Brett Callahan. Tyler Gentry grounded into a double play for the only Mud Hens run of the day.
Callahan had the only multi-hit day, singling again in the fifth. Andrew Navigato hit safely in the eighth, and Max Anderson got his in the ninth. The WooSox only walked two batters, so it was a pretty boring day on that side of the ball.
It’s a shame because the pitching staff was solid for most of the afternoon. Troy Watson got the start, going five inning and allowing one run on two hits and a walk — a first inning homer was the only real issue. Watson struck out five and left with the score tied 1-1.
Ricky Vanasco took over in the sixth and gave up three singles to break the tie. The third drove in both runs and ricocheted off his foot. The training staff checked him out, but Vanasco stayed in the game.
Woo-Suk Go got the seventh and worked around a pair of singles. Jack Little went 1-2-3 in the eighth, but the bats couldn’t make it a competitive finish.
Anderson: 1-4, K
Callahan: 2-4, K
Valencia: 1-2, R, 2 BB
Watson: 5.0 IP, 2 H, R, ER, BB, 5 K,HR
Coming Up Next:The Mud Hens are at home next week against the Iowa Cubs, starting on Tuesdayat 12:05 p.m. ET.
(F/10) Erie SeaWolves 6, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 1 (box)
Erie won in walk-off fashion 6-5 in the 10th inning to finish the series with Binghamton 5-1.
Things got off to a rocky start with Lael Lockhart on the mound. The Rumble Ponies took the lead three batters in thanks to a leadoff double and single through the left side. Lockhart also balked in the first, but he didn’t give up any more runs.
The command was in and out for Lockhart. He plunked the leadoff man in the second, balked again and threw a wild pitch. Again, no runs scored, but it’s not a pretty inning by any means.
Binghamton got to him again in the third with a leadoff walk and an RBI double. Lockhart came back out for the fourth, but he finally got the hook after hitting another batter with two outs.
Fortunately, Chris Meyers tied the game up with a two-run homer. Thayron Liranzo drew the walk right before that.
Meyers had three of Erie’s nine hits on the day, including a go-ahead double in the fifth. This time, the bases were loaded, so Binghamton had to pitch to him. Credit to E.J. Exposito and Seth Stephenson for singling earlier in the inning. Liranzo was hit by a pitch for his second free pass of the day, loading the bags.
Yosber Sanchez and Johan Simon got the SeaWolves through the sixth, recording four and three outs, respectively. Both walked a batter, and Simon gave up a hit. Simon also had two strikeouts to Sanchez’s one, though.
Exposito homered in the sixth to give Erie some valuable insurance. Without that bomb, the SeaWolves don’t make it to extras.
Wandisson Charles got the seventh. He gave up a leadoff double, the runner stole third and Charles went too far inside for a wild pitch and an easy score. Charles was better in the eighth, striking out the side in order.
Tyler Owens couldn’t convert the save — his first blown save of the season. After the first out, Binghamton went single, walk, RBI single to make it a one-run game. Owens got a short chopper to third base, but Exposito didn’t have time for a play at home. He traded a run for an out instead. Tie game.
Erie had the winning run in scoring position in the ninth, but Stephenson and Peyton Graham couldn’t follow up on Joe Campagna’s one-out double.
Eric Silva took the mound in the 10th and almost gave up the go-ahead run, but a great throw from Meyers got to home plate in time for the tag.
Meyers basically won this one for Erie single-handedly. Of course, it was him who came up clutch in the bottom of the 10th with a one-out single to drive Graham in from third base. Walk-off wins are always sweet.
Meyers: 3-5, 2B (16), HR (5), R, 5 RBI, K
Exposito: 2-4, HR (11), R, RBI, K
Lockhart: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 4 K
Charles (H, 3): 2.0 IP, H, R, ER, BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves are on the road next week against the Akron RubberDucks, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Dayton Dragons 10, West Michigan Whitecaps 4 (box)
A rough day on the mound for West Michigan led to a lopsided 10-4 loss against Dayton on Sunday. The Whitecaps and Dragons end the series tied, 3-3.
The day started off nice, with Woody Hadeen walking and Bryce Rainer blasting a two-run homer. Clayton Campbell singled to give the Whitecaps three straight hits, but West Michigan only found four more hits the rest of the game.
Rayner Castillo didn’t have it today. He walked the first three batters he faced to load the bases, and that got the bullpen up and working. Castillo struck out a batter and induced a popout, but the decision was already made to pull him. Jalen Evans took over and immediately gave up a two-run single to tie the game.
Dayton took the lead in the second off Evans, who was arguably worse than Castillo. After getting the first out, Castillo allowed a single, walked two batters and gave up a two-run double. He walked one more before getting out of the inning.
Inohan Paniagua got the third. A bad pickoff attempt turned into a run, and a throwing error from the catcher made it 6-2.
Stephen Hrustich gave the Whitecaps new life in the fourth, hitting a two-run homer to cut the four-run deficit in half.
Eliseo Mota was next out of the bullpen. He worked around a two-out single in the fourth but gave up a leadoff homer int he fifth. Luke Stofel faced the minimum in the sixth, inducing an inning-ending double play to erase a single. He came back out for the seventh and worked around a two-out single, giving the best performance for any Whitecap pitcher on the day.
CJ weins had a rough ninth, walking the bases loaded before recording the first out. A pair of singles brought all three of those baserunners home, and the Whitecaps went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth.
Rainer: 1-3, HR (8), R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K
Hrustich: 1-4, HR (3), R, 2 RBI
Campbell: 2-4, 2 K
Stofel: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are at home next week against the Lake County Captains, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Daytona Tortugas 1 (box)
Despite losing the series, 4-2, the Lakeland Flying Tigers ended the week in Daytona on a good note, with a 3-1 win over the Tortugas.
Connor Fenlong made his organizational debut after being signed on Friday out of the American Association Independent League. He previously pitched in the Kansas City farm system, making it up to High-A in 2024 before being released.
Fenlong gave Lakeland 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, working around five hits and a walk while striking out eight. It’s a shame he couldn’t get one more out to qualify for the win, but the numbers are solid.
The Flying Tigers only had one hit through the first three innings, but they broke through in the fourth to score all three of their runs. Edian Espinal led off with a single, Nick Dumesnil also singled and Hunter Dobbins crushed a three-run homer.
Xiomer Guacache finished out the fifth for Fenlong, stranding the bases loaded. Guacache worked around a two-out double in the sixth before turning it over Luke Hoskins in the seventh. Hoskins walked a batter, but there was no harm done.
Bryce Alewin went 1 2/3 innings, but Lakeland brought in Jan Caraballo with two on and two outs in the ninth. Caraballo gave up the first run of the day and walked a batter before getting the final out.
Great work from the bullpen today, but it was kind of a boring game. Still, a W is a W.
Yost: 0-4, BB, 2 K
Dobbins: 1-4, HR (5), R, 3 RBI, 2 K
Espinal: 2-4, R, K
Fenlong: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, BB, 8 K
Coming up Next: The Flying Tigers are at home next week against the Palm Beach Cardinals, starting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.