Brady Smith leaves start with injury, Rainer goes deep again

Toledo Mud Hens 4, Louisville Bats 3 (box)

The Mud Hens only needed three hits to win this one. Max Anderson’s three-run homer in the sixth was the most impactful. Louisville had a no-hitter up to that point.

Josue Briceno and Jace Jung had the other two hits, both coming in the eighth for the deciding run. Briceno got the RBI single after Jung hit a one-out double.

On the mound, Jackson Wolf was sharp through the first three innings. The only baserunner he allowed in that span came on a wild-pitch third strike, but everything fell apart in the fourth. Wolf gave up five hits in the inning, including three in a row to start. The Bats came out of the fourth leading 3-0.

Tyler Mattison faced the minimum in the fifth. Brenan Hanifee got five outs but came out for Beau Brieske in the seventh. Brieske gave up a double and intentionally walked a batter before ending the inning. He pitched through the eighth, and Dariel Fregio went 1-2-3 in the ninth for the save.

Briceno: 1-3, R, RBI, BB, K

Anderson: 1-4, HR (13), R, 3 RBI

Jung: 1-4, 2B (17), R, 2 K

Wolf: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: Toledo leads the series 3-2 heading into a 1:05 p.m. ET start on Sunday.

Erie SeaWolves 5, Hartford Yard Goats 4 (box)

Max Alba battled it out with Connor Staine to a 1-1 tie through five innings, but both starters had a shaky sixth. Thayron Liranzo broke the tie with a two-run double, but Hartford responded with four straight hits to take the lead in the bottom half. Erie’s earlier run came on an E.J. Exposito home run — his team-leading 21st of the season.

Alba may not have been able to get the win or quality start, but he was sharp for those first five frames. He struck out six and walked two before that. Eric Silvagno got the last two outs of the sixth and pitched through the seventh.

Two late runs in the eighth got Erie the win on Saturday. A pair of wild pitches brought the first one around, and Roberto Campos lined a single into left field to score Izaac Pacheco.

Hayden Minton struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth, earning his second hold of the season. Yosber Sanchez got the save despite walking the leadoff man and allowing his pinch runner to steal second and third.

Exposito: 1-4, HR (21), R, RBI, 2 K

Liranzo: 1—5 2B (9), 2RBI, 3 K

Hope: 0-4, R, BB, 2 K

Alba: 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 1:10 p.m. ET start on Sunday with the SeaWolves holding a 4-1 lead in the series.

West Michigan Whitecaps 10, Lansing Lugnuts 6 (box)

The good news is that West Michigan scored 10 runs and won the game. The bad news is that Brady Smith, who came over from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tarik Skubal trade, left the game in the second with an apparent arm injury. It’s not worth speculating now, but while he didn’t appear to be in any extreme pain, it didn’t look great either…

The Whitecaps piled up runs in a hurry, scoring nine of their 10 in the first three frames. Bryce Rainer got things going with a solo homer in the first. Jackson Strong followed Carson Rucker’s double and Nolan McCarthy’s single in the second with a sac fly, making it 4-0.

Lansing had an answer in the top of the third, scoring three on a Little League home run. It was a tall fly ball off the wall in center and a couple of bad relay throws, so the official scorer ruled it a triple and a throwing error by Andrew Sojka. Eliseo Mota was charged with all three runs despite the error.

All was forgiven in the third when Sojka helped spark a five-run frame, hitting the second of four straight singles for Lakeland. Samuel Gil and Juan Hernandez got the RBIs — one and two, respectively. Strong made it 9-3 with a two-run single before the inning ended.

Ethan Sloan pitched and took over for Mota in the fourth. He gave up another three-spot in the fifth, allowing four consecutive hits, including two doubles. Ryan Harvey had to get the last out of the inning and pitched through the seventh. Harvey walked a pair and gave up just one hit while striking out three.

Sojka continued to make amends in the sixth with a solo home run, putting West Michigan into double figures.

Zack Lee worked around a pair of singles over the final two innings to close out the win.

Rainer: 2-5, HR (12), R, RBI, 2 K

Sojka: 2-4, HR (7), 2 R, RBI, BB, K

Strong: 1-3, 3 RBI, BB

Coming Up Next: It’s a 2 p.m. ET start in West Michigan on Sunday with the Whitecaps up 4-1 in the series. They remain tied with the Great Lakes Loons atop the East division standings.

Bradenton Marauders 7, Lakeland Flying Tigers 0 (box)

Michael Oliveto had the only two hits for Lakeland in Saturday’s shutout loss to Bradenton. Nick Dumesnil and Angel De Los Santos both walked and Ronald Ramirez reached on an error, but they were the only other baserunners for the Flygers today.

Kelvis Salcedo worked 3.2 innings, which is the deepest he’s gone all year. Despite allowing four earned runs on six hits and a walk, Salcedo’s stuff looked good. His cutter drew nine whiffs, and he landed five more called strikes for a 46.7 CSW%.

Salcedo gave up a solo homer in the second and watched the bases clear on a throwing error after a single in the fourth. It never should have gotten to that point, though. Salcedo induced an inning-ending grounder, but it hit the umpire to keep the inning going. The error just completed the minor debacle that cost him another inning of work.

He was pulled after that, but Leonardo Rossell put an unearned run on Salcedo’s record with a wild pitch before getting the final out of the inning.

Rossell pitched through the fifth in his Lakeland debut. He’s an international signee who has spent the last three years in the Dominican Summer League. He came over stateside to play with the FCL club this year and carried a 4.29 ERRA through 21 innings and 16 appearances. Rossell gave up two more runs in the fifth, but one of them goes unearned thanks to a catcher’s interference call.

Owen Hall continues to do good things. He struck out five and worked around three hits over three frames in relief. That first start meltdown continues to skew his numbers, but he has yet to allow a run or walk over seven innings in August.

Bryce Alewine pitched the final inning for Lakeland.

Oliveto: 2-4, K

Salcedo: 3.2 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 H, BB, 6 K, HR

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers lead 3-2 heading into a noon ET start on Sunday.