Toledo Mud Hens 4, St. Paul Saints 2 (box)
The Hens built an early lead and held on in a contest that featured a lot of traffic on the bases, but not a whole lot of run scoring.
The Hens missed an opportunity in the second, but in the third they opened the scoring in this one. John Peck drew a walk with one out and stole second. Trei Crus doubled him in and Max Anderson launched a two-run homer to center field for a 3-0 lead. That shot was Anderson’s 14th of the season to go with his .894 OPS and improved plate discipline. Hopefully we’ll see him up in September.
Austin Gomber got the start, and he was pretty solid, allowing just a run in the fourth before leaving the game in the fifth. Enmanuel de Jesus gave up a solo shot to Walker Jenkins in the sixth, But Brant Hurter, Ty Madden, and Luke Taggart locked it down the rest of the way, with Taggart earning his first Triple-A save.
They got a little help in the eighth, when Bennett Lee was hit by a pitch and Cal Stevenson, pinch-hitting for Peck, singled. Cruz stepped to the dish for another RBI double to make it 4-2 where it ended.
Anderson: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB
Cruz: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, K
Gomber: 4.1 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s an 8:07 p.m. ET start on Thursday with the series tied up.
Altoona Curve 6, Erie SeaWolves 1 (box)
The bats were quiet in this one, while Lucas Elissalt struggled through a long first inning and was lifted early for pitch count reasons as Altoona cruised to victory.
Elissalt got the first out of the game, but needed 15 pitches for the next two hitters, surrendering a walk and a single. A pair of singles followed to score a run, and then Elissalt punched the next hitters and got a pop-up to end the inning. Unfortunately he was over 30 pitches and the Tigers have a strict policy of shutting down a starter after an inning that long.
Yoniel Curet took over and he was rocked for three runs in the second and one in the third. Meanwhile, veteran lefty Nick Dombkowski was cooking through the SeaWolves lineup with six perfect innings and six strikeouts. He finally left the game in the seventh, and Woody Hadeen and Zyhir Hope singled with one out before Thayron Liranzo ground into an inning ending double play.
In the eighth, E.J. Exposito led off with a double, and a pair of ground outs were enough to score him, but that’s all the SeaWolves could manage.
Exposito: 1-3, R, 2B
Hope: 1-4, 2 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:00 p.m. ET start in Altoona on Thursday with the SeaWolves down 2-0 in the series.
Peoria Chiefs 5, West Michigan Whitecaps 4 (box)
Ben Jacobs was brilliant once again, but the bullpen blew a slim lead in the eighth to lose on Wednesday.
The lefty’s rapid rise toward the top of the Tigers’ farm system didn’t miss a beat in this one, as Jacobs pounded the zone for five innings of scoreless ball. He allowed just two hits and a walk, while punching out seven hitters on the night. He threw 47 of 66 pitches for strikes, and with the ‘Caps fighting for a playoff spot, they should’ve let him keep going.
The ‘Caps opened the scoring in the third. Stephen Hrustich drew a leadoff walk, and Carson Rucker and Jackson Strong drew one-out walks to load the bases. A passed ball scored a run, and then Bryce Rainer was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Beau Ankeney and Edian Espinal struck out to end the threat and that would come back to haunt them.
Lefty Juanmi Vasquez allowed the Chiefs to tie it up in the sixth. Carson Rucker untied it with a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh. Unfortunately, Ryan Harvey gave up four runs, three earned, in the top of the eighth to take a 5-2 lead.
Espinal and Ricardo Hurtado singled with one out in the eighth, and Espinal scored on a wild pitch. Rucker cracked another solo shot in the bottom of the ninth, his third homer since his promotion, but that was as close as they’d get to a comeback.
With the loss, the Whitecaps are now a game behind Great Lakes in the East division. Also, longtime Whitecaps’ play-by-play man Dan Hasty announced on Wednesday that he’ll be leaving the position at season’s end. We’ll discuss this more as the season comes to an end, but for now we wish Dan well in all his future endeavours. He’s been the voice of the Whitecaps for 12 years now.
Rucker: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, BB, K
Espinal: 2-4, R, K
Rainer: 1-4, 2 K, HBP
Jacobs: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start in Comstock Park on Thursday.
Lakeland Flying Tigers vs. Clearwater Threshers (suspended)
Cameron Flukey, the Tigers first round pick back in July, was overpowering in this one before rain suspended play in the fourth inning. They’ll look to finish it at 4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday before playing their normally scheduled game.
Flukey averaged 95.5 mph and a whopping 20 inches of IVB in this one. He got five whiffs on nine swing on the heater, and got a whiff with both curveball and cutter as well. He threw 26 of 44 pitches for strikes, allowing a hit and a walk, but no runs, and striking out four. Flukey hasn’t allowed a run through three short pro appearances.
The Flying Tigers scored three in the first when Jude Warwick singled and Jordan Yost doubled to lead off the inning. Jesus Pinto struck out, but Zach MacDonald walked to load the bases. Cris Rodriguez smoked a two-run double, and MacDonald scored on an Anibal Salas sacrifice fly.
Paul Wilson handled the fourth inning, but his outing, as the Tigers look to finally stretch him out after a pair of injury plagued seasons, was interrupted by the standard August rains in Florida.
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