St. Paul Saints 3, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)
The Saints made it two in a row over the Hens at home in a low scoring game on Wednesday night.
Right-hander Troy Watson got the start for Toledo and he was outstanding. Watson one-hit the Saints for five innings, striking out nine while walking one. He didn’t allow a run and racked up 18 whiffs along the way, mostly on his cutter and sweeper. His fourseamer maxed out at 96.4 mph, and Watson’s high spin breaking stuff gave the Saints a lot of trouble.
However, while they weren’t striking out as much as the Saints, the Mud Hens lineup had just as much trouble with Saints’ starter Kendry Rojas, who blanked them on four hits and a walk for four innings. The Saints bullpen was almost as effective.
The first inning summed things up well. Parker Meadows started his rehab assignment by hammering a ball to the center field wall for a leadoff triple. Hao-Yu Lee was hit by a pitch, but a pop-out, strikeout, pop-out combo stranded them both and set the tone for the evening.
Meadows later singled as well, getting three plate appearances and playing center field for five innings before he was lifted.
The Hens managed to break through first in this pitching duel. Gage Workman dropped down a bunt single to open the bottom of the seventh inning, and Hao-Yu Lee doubled him in. A wild pitch moved Lee to third, but Justyn-Henry Malloy struck out, Max Anderson popped out, and Akil Baddoo grounded out to strand him. Pretty frustrating night for the offense.
The Hens had a 1-0 lead, but it didn’t last long. Bailey Horn took over in the seventh inning, but in the eighth he ran into trouble. Carson McCusker led off the inning with a double, and Jose Miranda mashed a two-run homer to take a lead the Saints wouldn’t surrender.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. launched a solo shot off of Alex Lange in the top of the ninth, and in the bottom half Workman and Malloy drew walks, but Anderson and Baddoo made unproductive outs to squander their last shot at a comeback.
Watson: 5.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 9 K
Erie SeaWolves 3, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2 (box)
Andrew Sears pitched another good game and the SeaWolves rallied late to take down the Fisher Cats on Wednesday.
Sears still isn’t punching out too many hitters, but he is effective. The left-hander allowed seven hits, but other than a two-run homer allowed in the four he was able to wiggle out of trouble repeatedly.
The SeaWolves offense wasn’t doing much of anything for most of this game. They squandered hits from John Peck and Josue Briceño in the first, and didn’t break through to score until the seventh.
With one out, Jake Holton drew a walk, and Seth Stephenson lined a single into center field. Robeto Campos struck out, but Eliezer Alfonzo lined a two-run double and then scored on a Danny Serretti single. With that they seized a 3-2 lead and they wouldn’t give it up.
Travis Kuhn took over from Sears in the bottom of the seventh, and promptly walked leadoff hitter Dasan Brown. Fortunately, he got a double play ball to erase him before giving up a double and then getting out of the inning.
Trevin Michael had to ipitch around a Kevin McGonigle error in the eighth and a walk issued in the ninth, but he was up to the task, earning his first save of the year with the SeaWolves.
Alfonzo: 1-2, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB
Sears: 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, 3 K
Great Lakes Loons 6, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)
Rayner Castillo struggled in his start and the Whitecaps didn’t have much going at the plate on Wednesday night.
Castillo has been a little better lately, but he reverted in this one, giving up three runs in the first and one more before getting lifted in the fourth. Duque Hebbert took over and cleaned up the inning, but he gave up two more runs in the fifth and that was all the Loons needed in this one.
The Whitecaps got a two-out walk to Izaac Pacheco and then a Garrett Pennington single in the first, but Austin Murr lined out. They had one baserunner in each of the next four innings, but couldn’t do anything with those opportunities either.
Finally in the sixth, Pennington was hit by a pitch with one out, and Murr doubled him to third. The Loons went back to the bullpen, but Brett Callahan spanked a single back through the box to plate both runs. The Loons still led 6-2, but there was a glimmer of hope.
In the eighth, Murr walked with one out and was wild pitched to second. Callaham walked, and a wild pitch put baserunners on second and third. Unfortunately, Jackson Strong struck out, and Patrick Lee grounded out back to the pitcher to end the inning, and essentially, the game.
Freddy Pacheco tossed two innings of scoreless relief with a walk allowed against three strikeouts, and appears to finally be rounding into better form after struggling to come back from a litany of injuries the past few years. Haden Erbe had a little in the eighth, but escaped a little jam to keep the door open for his team.
The offense just couldn’t string anything together or land a big blow in this one.
Callahan: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB
Castillo (L, 4-6): 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, St. Lucie Mets 1 (box)
There wasn’t much offense in this one, but Flying Tigers pitching won out as they evened the series at a game apiece on Wednesday.
A pair of Jack Goodman errors at shortstop led to the Mets scoring a run in the bottom of the first, but otherwise the Flying Tigers pitching was too much for them. Gabriel Reyes made a short start, tossing three innings with two hits and two walks allowed, striking out three. His day ended poorly when he was smoked by a 105 mph line drive back at him. He appeared to block it from hitting his head with his pitching hand, and he would have to leave the game.
Ignacio Briceno and Eliseo Mota each threw a pair of scoreless frames in relief of Reyes, with Mota punching out three hitters. Neither pitcher allowed a walk.
The Flying Tigers lineup threatened in the third and the fourth innings with multiple baserunners, but couldn’t score in either case. They finally broke through in the sixth. Jesus Pinto led off with a single, and after Carson Rucker struck out, Junior Tilien doubled Pinto to third. Samuel Gil reached on a swinging bunt but Pinto held at third. That worked out when Cristian Santana doubled in all three runs with a scorched line drive to left.
Jatnk Diaz made a relief appearance, tossing a scoreless eighth, while Ethan Sloan spun a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his third save.
Santana: 2-2, 3 RBI, 2B, 2 BB
Dumesnil: 0-2, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 SB
Reyes: 3.0 IP, R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K