Toledo Mud Hens 7, Iowa Cubs 4 (box)
The Hens bounced back with a solid victory on Wednesday night.
The Hens jumped out to a big lead in the bottom of the first. Max Clark led off with a walk, and Max Anderson doubled him to third. Eduardo Valencia walked to load the bases, and Corey Julks drew a walk to force in the game’s first run. Trei Cruz singled in Anderson, and Tyler Gentry drew a walk to force in the third run. Tomas Nido reached on an error to score another run, and the Cubs wild pitched in one more before the inning ended.
Nido would double in the bottom of the third, and score on an Andrew Navigato single for a 5-0 lead.
Sawyer Gipson-Long cruised for three innings, but allowed a pair of runs before wrapping up the fourth. Enmanuel de Jesus allowed a two-run homer in the sixth to make it a 6-4 game, but in the bottom of the sixth, Valencia launched his 15th home run to make it 7-4.
Scott Effross was good out of the pen in the seventh and eighth, striking out four. Woo-Suk Go continues to dominate out of the pen, and he picked up his second save in this one.
Anderson: 2-5, R, 2B
Clark: 1-4, R, 2B, BB
Nido: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B, K
Gipson-Long: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start in Toledo on Thursday.
Erie SeaWolves 18, Akron RubberDucks 9 (box)
The SeaWolves pounded out 22 hits and drew six walks to crush Akron on Wednesday.
Max Alba got the start, and he gave up a run in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the third, the SeaWolves tore the RubberDucks apart. E.J. Exposito, Seth Stephenson, and Peyton Graham singled to start the inning, loading the bases for Thayron Liranzo. The catcher smoked a one-hopper through the right side for an RBI single.
Chris Meyers then singled in two runs. Garrett Pennington singled to load the bases, and there were still no outs as Justice Bigbie walked as well, forcing in a run. A disengagement violation pushed across the fifth run of the inning, and then Andrew Jenkins followed with a two-run single. Max Burt singled as well, this was just a parade of singles, when finally Exposito struck out for the first out in the frame. Peyton Graham would single in Jenkins before the inning ending, stealing his 44th base of the season before Liranzo finally grounded out to end the inning.
So it was 8-1 SeaWolves, but Alba allowed four runs in the bottom half to make it 8-5 SeaWolves.
Stephenson singled in Burt and Exposito in the top of the fifth. Two more walks and a Pennington double made it 12-5.
Reliever Yoniel Curet allowed two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Peyton Graham doubled in Stephenson in the sixth. Tanner Kohlhepp allowed two runs in relief in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Bigbie tripled and scored on a Burt sacrifice fly. That got us to 14-9 SeaWolves.
They’d add on four more in the top of the ninth, with Graham’s sixth hit on the day plating their 17th run. Graham has nine hits and four doubles in the past two games. Bennett Lee’s RBI single completed the scoring.
Graham: 6-7, R, 3 RBI, 2B, SB
Stephenson: 3-7, 4 R, 2 RBI, 2B, K
Jenkins: 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI
Liranzo: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB
Alba: 4.0 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 7 H, BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday night.
West Michigan Whitecaps 10, Lake County Captains 7 (box)
Ben Jacobs was knocked around badly in this one, but the offense stormed back with a late rally to win on Wednesday.
Jacobs wasn’t wild in this one, but everything seemed to find a hole as he surrendered four runs on 10 hits, without allowing a walk. He did punch out five along the way, but couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
The ‘Caps got a run back when Stephen Hrustich led off the bottom of the third with a single, and Bryce Rainer smashed a double to right field to plate him. In the bottom of the fourth, Clayton Campbell led off with a single. With two outs, Andrew Sojka launched a two-run homer. That made it 4-3 Captains.
A Sojka sacrifice fly in the sixth scored Campbell after he’d singled to lead off the inning.
Unfortunately, that 4-4 tie didn’t survive long. Preston Howey allowed two runs in the seventh, and Jalen Evans allowed one in the eighth.
So it was 7-4 Captains heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Luke Shliger led off the frame with a walk, but was erased on a fielders choice as Samuel Gil reached first. Sojka walked and Hrustich was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Juan Hernandez struck out, but Jackson Strong, Rainer, and Ricardo Hurtado all walked to force in runs and tie the game. Campbell came up and singled in two runs, knocking the second Captains reliever out of the game. The new reliever walked Shliger for the second time in the inning, and it was on a wild pitch, scoring Hurtado to make it 10-7.
Evans locked down the ninth, earning the victory.
Campbell: 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI
Rainer: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
Sojka: 1-2, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB
Jacobs: 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday, with the series tied up 1-1.
Lakeland Flying Tigers vs. Palm Beach Cardinals (postponed)
They’ll play two on Thursday, starting at 4:00 p.m. ET after they were rained out on Wednesday.
FCL Yankees 9, FCL Tigers 8 (box)
For the second straight start, Jhonan Coba was mauled on Wednesday as he struggled to find the strike zone. He gave up eight runs between the first and the second inning, and didn’t make it out of the latter.
Marco Jimenez tossed a perfect inning of relief with two strikeouts in his rehab assignment.
Cristian Perez and Enderson Delgado each homered for the Tigers.
Perez: 2-4, R, 5 RBI, HR, BB, 2 K
Madero: 2-5, R, RBI, K
Cris Rodriguez: 0-2, 2 R, 3 BB, SB
Coba (L, 0-3): 1.1 IP, 8 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 2 K