Grayson Grinsell dominates for Lakeland, Gipson-Long rocked by Louisville

Louisville Bats 18, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (box)

What should have been Sawyer Gipson-Long’s first full start after returning from the injured list turned into an absolute beatdown as Louisville mauled the Hens’ starter and then just going through the bullpen like there was no tomorrow.

Gipson-Long’s velocity is still down in the 92 mph range, but it was his control that really betrayed him. The Bats scored one in the first, and then started the bottom of the second by getting a pair of absolute cookies to JJ Bleday and Michael Toglia, who launched them into the seats. Things did not improve in the third and fourth innings, and it was 8-1 by the time Gipson-Long was done for the night.

The Hens got on the board in the fourth when Eduardo Valencia drew a leadoff walk, and Jace Jung doubled him to third. Trei Cruz lifted a sacrifice fly to get the run home.

Brenan Hanifee came on to get the last out of the fourth, and in the fifth he was hit even harder than Gipson-Long, giving up five runs capped by a three-run shot from Michael Chavis.

Valencia singled and eventually scored on a Cruz single in the sixth. Valencia and Corey Julks would hit solo home runs late in the game, but they were pretty meaningless by that point. Outfielder Cal Stevenson took over in the eighth to wrap this up after Cole Waites was also knocked around. Konnor Pilkington was the only pitcher to throw a scoreless inning.

Max Clark just continued to rake with two more hits, while Valencia is really heating up after a slow start.

Valencia: 2-3, 3 R, RBI, HR, BB

Jung: 2-2, 2B

Clark: 2-5, K

Gipson-Long (L, 0-1): 3.2 IP, 8 R, 6 ER, 9 H, BB, K

Coming Up Next: It’s an 11:05 a.m. ET start in Louisville on Wednesday.

Harrisburg Senators 13, Erie SeaWolves 8 (box)

Pitching spoiled a good night for the offense as the Senators pounded the SeaWolves on Tuesday.

Eric Silva got the start. He leaked a run in the top of the first, but the SeaWolves came back to take the lead in the bottom half.

Seth Stephenson got them started with a leadoff double, and then a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed him to score. 1-1 game. Peyton Graham walked and stole second, and after Brett Callahan flew out, John Peck drew a walk and he and Graham pulled off a double steal. A throwing error on Harrisburg’s catcher scored Graham, and Izaac Pacheco doubled in Peck before the inning ended. 3-1 Erie.

That was the high water mark as Silva couldn’t record an out in the second inning, and the Senators dropped six runs on the SeaWolves. Colin Fields came on to clean up the mess, but then he allowed a pair of runs in the third. At that point it was already 9-1 Senators.

Fields handled the fourth without issue, and Woo-Suk Go spun two excellent frames with four strikeouts.

Finally in the seventh, the SeaWolves got it going at the plate. Justice Bigbie and E.J. Exposito singled to start the bottom half, and Bennett Lee walked to load the bases. Stephenson got hit by a pitch to force in one run, and Graham continued to hit the ball hard early on this year, drilling a two-run single back through the box to make it a 9-4 game. Callahan hammered a drive to center field for a double that scored Stephenson and Graham, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Still it was 9-8 game, and a glorious comeback was now in sight.

That vision didn’t last long. Tanner Kohlhepp threw a good seventh inning, but a walk and three doubles allowed in the eighth pushed four runs across. Moises Rodriguez walked one and struck out one in the top of the ninth, but there was no comeback in the offing.

Graham: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, K, 3 SB

Pacheco: 2-4, RBI, 2B

Callahan: 1-5, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 K

Stephenson: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B

Silva (L, 0-1): 7 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start on Wednesday at UPMC Park as the SeaWolves try to start reversing a 2-8 start.

West Michigan Whitecaps 8, Lansing Lugnuts 6 (box)

The pitching staff didn’t have a great night, but big games from catcher Ricardo Hurtado and first baseman Garrett Pennington, among others, did enough to pitch them up as the Whitecaps moved to 5-5 on the year.

The Whitecaps jumped on to an early lead as Woody Hadeen beat out an infield single to start the game. Unfortunately, Hadeen was injured on the play and Junior Tilien took over as a pinch runner. Jackson Strong struck out, but Roberto Campos hammered a triple to center, and Pennington doubled in Campos for a 2-0 lead. They got one more when Hurtado doubled in Pennington.

Right-hander Carlos Marcano gave up a two-run shot in the bottom half to make it a 3-2 game, but he locked it down to blank the Lugnuts the rest of the way through the fourth inning.

Hurtado mashed his first home of the season to leadoff the top of the fourth. Doubles from Tilien and then Jackson Strong scored another in the sixth. Donye Evans had leaked a run in the fifth, so it was 6-3 ’Caps at that point through six innings.

In the seventh, Campos led off with a single, and Pennington doubled. However, Campos was cut down at the plate trying to score on a passed ball. Samuel Gil came throught with a two-out RBI single to make it 7-3, and after Lansing went back to their pen, Patrick Lee greeted new pitcher Tucker Novotny by punishing an RBI double off the wall in center to make it 8-3.