Austin Bergner spins a gem for Erie, while Izaac Pacheco hits two homers for West Michigan (2024)

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 9, Toledo Mud Hens 2 (box)

Brant Hurter was knocked out early in this one, and the bullpen didn’t do much better.

The RailRiders took advantage of a walk and a Jace Jung error to put two on with one out in the first. Hurter allowed a three-run shot to Carlos Narvaez and couldn’t get out of the inning as his pitch count spiked. Andrew Magno came on to clean things up. Unfortunately, they tried to stretch Magno through the third, but he gave up two runs to make it 5-0 RailRiders.

Brenan Hanifee and Alex Lange settled things down for two innings, but Andrew Vasquez allowed two runs in relief, while the Hens finally scratched out two runs in the bottom of the sixth. They managed only five hits in this one.

Navigato: 1-3, R, 2B, BB

Dingler: 1-4, 2B, 2 K

Hurter (L, 1-3): 0.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start time set for Friday night.

Erie SeaWolves 10, Richmond Flying Squirrels 1 (box)

Austin Bergner absolutely dominated Richmond in this one, and the offense had a field day as they romped to an easy win on Thursday night.

The SeaWolves jumped all over Richmond from the start. Carlos Mendoza and Hao-Yu Lee reached on singles to open the game, and Chris Meyers blasted a three-run shot to left center field to make it 3-0.

Bergner allowed one run while punching out 11 Squirrels on the night. He one hit them over five innings, allowing two walks. The one hit was a double in the fourth that was followed by a hit batter and a walk to load the bases, but Bergner got out of the jam pretty nicely.

In the fifth, Gage Workman led off with a double and Mendoza followed with a walk. Richmond went to the bullpen and almost got out of trouble, but a Jake Holton single with two outs made it 4-1 Erie.

Mendoza later singled home Austin Murr in the eighth to make it 5-1, and in the ninth they poured it on to score five more.

Jake Holton walked with one out, and after Ben Malgeri struck out, Eliezer Alfonzo doubled. Brady Allen reached on ground ball to third after Luis Toribio threw it away, allowing both Holton and Alfonzo to score. Austin Murr drew a walk, and Workman launched home run number five on the year to make it 10-1.

Workman: 3-6, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR

Mendoza: 2-5, R, RBI, BB, K

Lee: 2-4, R, BB, 2 K

Bergner (W, 2-1): 5.0 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 11 K

Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET on Friday night.

West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Great Lakes Loons 5 (box)

Dylan Smith put together a good start, but both bullpens struggled and the Whitecaps barely pulled this one out in the end.

Smith allowed a run in the first, but went six innings scattering three hits and three walks, and struck out eight Loons on the night.

The Whitecaps took a while to get going offensively, but Izaac Pacheco launched a solo shot in the fifth inning to tie the game. In the sixth, Seth Stephenson led off with a single and stole second base. A wild pitch moved him to third where he scored on a Max Anderson ground out to make it 2-1 Whitecaps, and Pacheco launched another solo shot in the seventh to make it 3-1.

The Loons went on to tie things up in the top of the eighth with two runs against Cleiverth Perez, but the Whitecaps came right back in the bottom half.

Max Anderson started the bottom of the eighth with a walk. With one out, Luis Santana singled, and after Luke Gold struck out, it was Pacheco again, this time singling in Anderson. A two-run double from Danny Serretti followed to make it 6-3.

Matt Merrill got into trouble trying to record the save and allowed two runs, but Gabriel Sequeira was able to shut things down to collect his first save.

Pacheco: 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR, K

Campos: 2-4, 2B, 2 K

Smith: 6.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 8 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Friday night with the Whitecaps holding a 3-0 lead in the series.

Clearwater Threshers 15, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (box)

This was not a good night for the Flying Tigers’ pitching staff. Having closed to one game back, the Threshers were motivated to push back and racked up 17 hits and eight walks.

Starter Hayden Minton and Duque Hebbert in relief got mauled for a combined 11 runs, with Hebbert getting knocked out in the fifth inning, but things did not improve. Lakeland was down 14-1 after five innings.

Hat tip to Jordan Viars, outfielder for the Threshers, who hit a solo home run, a three-run shot in the fifth inning, and then a grand slam. I’ve never heard of a home run cycle, but he was close.

Kevin McGonigle doubled in David Smith in the third to get Lakeland on the board. In the sixth, Max Clark walked with one out. Samuel Gil singled and Clayton Campbell followed with a double that scored Clark and moved Gil to third. A Jim Jarvis sac fly scored Gil to make it 14-3. Clark singled in Smith in the seventh. In the eighth, Jim Jarvis singled and reached third on an error. A balk brought him home to make it 15-5 after the Threshers added a run in the seventh.

Jarvis: 2-3, R, RBI

Clark: 1-3, R, RBI, BB, 2 K

McGonigle: 1-5, RBI, 2B

Minton (L, 1-1): 1.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers fall to two games back of the Threshers in the West division, but they lead the series 2-1. First pitch on Friday night is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.