Toledo Mud Hens 9, Rochester Red Wings 6 (box)
Sawyer Gipson-Long gave the Hens a decent start, and the offense did the rest. Jace Jung has been running hot in June, and he led the way with a double and a home run.
Gipson-Long allowed three runs, but he went 5.2 innings, striking out seven.
Jung opened the scoring with a blast to center field for his 12th long ball of the season. Max Clark singled and scored on a Ben Malgeri single in the third. From there, Rochester chipped away at Gipson-Long to take a 3-2 lead until the Hens broke through in the seventh.
Jung started things off with an opposite field double and Tyler Gentry was hit by a pitch. Tomas Nido and Andrew Navigato walked, forcing in a run, and after the Red Wings went back to the bullpen, new reliever Zach Penrod walked Max Clark to force in a run. A Max Anderson ground out plated another, and a Gage Workman sacrifice fly brought in Navigato to make it 6-3. Two more walks made it 7-3 in a pretty ghastly display from Red Wingsâ pitching.
In the eighth, Navigato and Clark hit singles with one out, and then they pulled off a double steal that produced a pair of errors that allowed them both to score. 9-3 Hens.
Ricky Vanasco collected four outs in relief of Gipson-Long. Nick Sandlin allowed a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth. Jung walked and scored on a Navigato sacrifice fly in the ninth. Sandlin allowed two more runs trying to put this one to bed, and Konnor Pilkington had to come on to get the final out, which he did.
Jung: 2-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, 3 BB
Clark: 2-4, 3 R, RBI, BB, SB
Malgeri: 1-4, RBI, BB
Gipson-Long (W, 3-3): 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: The Hens have a 2-1 lead heading into a 6:45 p.m. ET start on Friday.
Harrisburg Senators 3, Erie SeaWolves 1 (box)
Lefty Carlos PeĂąa threw a pretty good game, but the Senators pitching kept the SeaWolves in check all evening.
PeĂąa gave up single runs in the first, fourth, and fifth innings, but he only allowed five hits and no walks. The Senators managed to sequence their hits well, as they also struck out eight times.
Justice Bigbie cracked a solo shot in the seventh inning for the SeaWolves only run.
Bigbie: 1-3, R, RBI, HR, K
PeĂąa (L, 3-3): 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 8 K
Coming Up Next: Itâs a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Friday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 16, Lansing Lugnuts 0 (box)
Itâs been a rough first half for the Whitecaps, but on Thursday they were the hammer.
Ben Jacobs fired four scoreless innings with six strikeouts, though he did walk three and battled his command a little bit. He also spent a lot of time waiting between innings as his teammates piled up the runs. Lucas Elissalt was rained out this week, so he was about to get in four innings as well, and he looked great, showing off some good sliders and curveballs as well as a pretty dominant heater. He struck out six, allowing just two hits and a walk.
Of course, the story was the offense. Bryce Rainer and Garrett Pennington led the way as they each homered and collected three hits in this one. Everything Rainer hit seemed to be 112 mph or better, including a pair of screaming singles.
Ricardo Hurtado homered and had two hits. Woody Hadeen had two hits and two walks, while Jackson Strong had two hits and a walk of his own. The Whitecaps piled up 16 hits and four walks, scoring four in the first, two in the second, and then eight runs in an endless bottom of the third in which the Lugnuts also made a couple of errors.
Pennington: 3-6, 3 R, 5 RBI, 2B, HR, 2 K
Rainer: 3-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, K
Hadeen: 2-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB
Hurtado: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2 K
Jacobs: 4.0 IP, 0 R, H, 3 BB, 6 K
Elissalt (W, 1-4): 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are up 2-0 in the now five-game set, with first pitch set for 6:45 p.m. ET on Friday.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 11, Dunedin Blue Jays 3 (box)
The Flying Tigers bounced back with an impressive showing behind Malachi Witherspoon on Thursday to get back into this series with the Blue Jays.
Witherspoonâs consistency remains an issue, because the stuff remains undeniable. He had everything under control in this one, including his changeup, and the Blue Jays had no answers. The right-hander fired five innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts against three hits and a walk allowed. He racked up 13 whiffs, averaging 95 mph with his fourseamer. He allowed a single and a double in the first to produce the run he allowed, and then was dominant the rest of the way.
The Flying Tigers took control in the second when Carson Rucker led off with a walk and Anibal Salas blasted his sixth home run. Salas remains interesting with plus raw power, plate discipline, solid speed, and a strong throwing arm.
In the fourth, Nick Dumesnil, Rucker, and Salas singled in order to produce a run. Zach MacDonald smoked a line drive single to left to plate Rucker, and then Jack Goodman singled in Salas. Beau Ankeney and Edian Espinal got into the act with RBI singles as the inning continued and they batted around with an 8-1 lead.
In the seventh, Espinal led off with a single and Espinal walked. A wild pitch with two outs advanced the runners and MacDonald and Goodman walked to push across another run.
Joe Ruzicka allowed a two-run homer in the top of the eighth, but his teammates came right back for two more in the bottom half as Dumesnil launched a two-run homer.
Salas: 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, K
Dumesnil: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB
Espinal: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, K
Witherspoon (W, 3-2): 5.0 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: Itâs a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Friday.
FCL Blue Jays 15, FCL Tigers 3 (b0x)
Jack Bushell was lit up in a shorter start this time out after punching out 10 last time out. Johnathan Rogers did even worse, and the Blue Jays just poured it on from there.
What was notable in this game was the return of the Tigersâ 2025 competitive balance round A pick, Michael Oliveto, returning from a broken toe to make his pro debut. He walked twice and struck out once in this one.
Cris Rodriguez: 1-3, RBI, K
Santiago Pinto: 1-1, R, rBI, 3B, BB
Oliveto: 0-1, 2 BB, K