Omaha Storm Chasers 6, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (box)
Dylan File had a rough day on the mound, and the Hens offense just couldn’t string enough runs together as they dropped the series four games to two in Omaha on Sunday.
The Hens took an early lead when Ben Malgeri led off the game with a double. An Eduardo Valencia single and a Jace Jung sacrifice fly made it 1-0, but as it went most of the day, they couldn’t add on runs.
File quickly surrendered the lead as Omaha scored two in the bottom of the firs, but Tomás Nido cracked a solo shot in the second that made it 2-2. Omaha came right back with a three run bottom of the third punctuated by a Brett Squires two-run homer. Luke Ritter led off the fourth with a solo shot to make it 5-3, but that was as close as they’d get.
Pitching dominated the rest of the way. Ricky Vanasco spun a perfect inning with a strikeout in the fourth, and Tanner Rainey worked two innings, allowing a run that made it 6-3. Woo-Suk Go continues to pitch really well and handled the seventh and eighth in perfect fashion with three strikeouts, but no rally by the Hens’ offense was forthcoming.
Nido: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, K
Ritter: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, K
File (L, 1-4): 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The 22-23 Hens come home to welcome in Indianapolis for six starting Tuesday night.
Erie SeaWolves 6, Richmond Flying Squirrels 5 (F/7)(Gm1)(box)
Carlos Peña was knocked around in a short start, but the duo of Brett Callahan and John Peck continue to be the run scoring engine for the SeaWolves and brought them back in the middle innings to win the first of two on Sunday.
Peña gave up a pair of solo shots in the first, and Peck answered back with a solo shot in the bottom of the first. Peña then pitched a scoreless second before giving up two more solo shots to start the third. The Squirrels seemed to have him dialed in and could read what was coming but Peña’s low powered stuff doesn’t play well over the middle of the plate. Uniquely so on this day.
Dariel Fregio took over after Peña allowed a double to follow the homers, and he was able to settle things down.
In the bottom of the third, Andrew Jenkins singled and rode home on Callahan’s seventh home run to make it 4-3, Richmond. Peck followed with a single and stole second base, and Thayron Liranzo walked, but Justice Bigbie flew out to end the inning.
The rest of the comeback didn’t take long. Chris Meyers and Izaac Pacheco doubled to open the fourth. That scored Meyers and tied the game 4-4. Pacheco took third on a balk, and Jenkins walked. Pacheco would eventually scored on a Seth Stephenson ground out and Callahan dropped a ball into left field on an error that brought home Jenkins. 6-4 Erie.
Luke Taggart handled the fifth and sixth, allowing a run that brought the Squirrels within one run. Moises Rodriguez got into a little trouble in the bottom of the seventh. A walk started things, and then a single moved the runner, Scott Bandura, to third base. Parks Harber bounced one back to Rodriguez, who made a nice play to fire home to Liranzo, who dropped the tag and prevented the tying run. Rodriguez shut it down from there to earn his first save of the year.
Peck: 2-3, R, RBI, HR, SB
Callahan: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K
Jenkins: 2-2, 2 R, BB
Peña: 2.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, K
Richmond Flying Squirrels 2, Erie SeaWolves 0 (F/7)(Gm2)(box)
The offense was out of gas for Game 2. The SeaWolves managed just two hits and two walks over seven innings, and never really threatened to score.
Kenny Serwa held the Squirrels down for four scoreless innings in his start, but the offense couldn’t take advantage. Yosber Sanchez allowed a run in the fifth, and Tyler Owens one in the sixth. It wasn’t much of an offensive performance on either side, but the Squirrels came out ahead and split the series.
Serwa: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves head out to Altoona this week with a 20-19 record, while the Flying Squirrels continue to rule the division at 28-10 for the first half.
Great Lakes Loons 4, West Michigan Whitecaps 0 (box)
The Whitecaps lost their 19th game out of their last 20 on Sunday as their brutal May continues.
Gabriel Reyes managed to hold the Loons to just one run over five innings, despite walking five hitters on the day. The Whitecaps didn’t get much of a threat going until Luke Shliger was hit by a pitch and stole second base, and then Cristian Santana and Caleb Shpur walked to load the bases. However, their were already two outs and Ricardo Hurtado struck out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Reyes walked the first two hitters and they pulled off a double steal. Reyes struck out the next hitter, and then a grounder to Santana at third turned into an out at home plate as he fired home in time. Reyes then picked of Jose D. Hernandez off third base to escape.
That was about as interesting as it got in this one. The ‘Caps made a bunch of nice defensive plays, but the offense was lifeless. Sounds familiar. They were still right in it until Ethan Sloan allowed three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Shpur: 1-3, BB, SB
Strong: 1-4, 3B
Reyes (L, 0-3): 5.0 IP, ER, H, 5 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: The 13-26 Whitecaps come home to lick their wounds this week as the South Bend Cubs come to town. Manager Rene Rivera needs to find a way to turn things around.
Clearwater Threshers 7, Lakeland Flying Tigers 6 (box)
The resurgence of young pitching in the Tigers’ system has seen Ben Jacobs and Malachi Witherspoon off to good starts this spring. Kelvis Salcedo is still stretching out after missing time early in this season, but he continues to show off the best stuff in the system. Owen Hall is finally pitching consistently and seems bound to join the Flying Tigers out of rookie ball shortly. We can probably add Charlie Christensen to the list.
The Tigers’ 15th rounder last summer out of the University of Central Arkansas, Christensen features a quick, snappy release from a low arm slot and a good slider-changeup combination. He’ll need to add velocity, as he’s currently 91-92 mph with his sinker, but at 6’4”, 190 pounds, he has the frame to build on. He profiles as a sinkerballer, but the low release also begs for him to develop a riding fourseamer.
The right-hander punched out seven in four scoreless innings of work on Sunday, walking one and allowing two hits. He struck out the side twice, and the slider in particular was just lethal.
The game was scoreless until the Flying Tigers broke through in the top of the fourth. Jude Warwick was hit by a pitch and Jesus Pinto walked to open the inning, and they went on to pull off the double steal of second and third. A Zach MacDonald sacrifice fly scored Warwick, and walks to Carson Rucker and Edian Espinal followed to load the bases. That got starter James Tallon yanked, but his relief immeditaely gave up a bases clearing double to Beau Ankeney. 4-0 Lakeland.
In the top of the fifth, Pinto singled with one out, and after MacDonald struck out, Rucker blasted his fifth home run of the season to make it 6-0 Lakeland.
That was, of course, the high water mark for the Flying Tigers. Preston Howey allowed a run in the sixth and Jan Carabello coughed out three more as the Threshers closed the game to two runs. Pedro Garcia allowed a run in the eighth, and then blew the save as the Threshers walked them off.
Ankeney: 2-4, 3 RBI, 2 2B, K
Pinto: 1-2, 2 R, BB, K, SB, CS
Salas: 2-4, 2B
Christensen: 4.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers head down to Palm Beach on Tuesday to open a series with the Cardinals.
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