25th-round pick Ryan Castellanos notches 1st career save in 13-inning victory

Columbus Clippers 6, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)

A sixth consecutive meeting between the Clippers (47-41) and Mud Hens (38-49) pitted righthander Josh Zeid (1-2, 5.01 ERA) against Clippers left hander Michael Roth (7-4, 3.67 ERA) at Fifth Third Field on Thursday evening. After dropping three of the previous five meetings against Columbus, Zeid took to the hill against the Columbus offense and discovered quickly that the Clippers came to play. Zeid lasted roughly three innings, allowing a pair of earned runs off two hits and struck out three. Toledo's offense couldn't seem to spark as they posted only five hits in 32 appearances with Tyler Collins, fresh off the disabled list, posting the only extra base hits for Toledo. In relief, Toledo righty Alberto Cabrera (2-2, 5.56 ERA) was roughed by five Columbus hits, including a home run by Zach Walters. Zeid was credited with the loss and the Mud Hens drop their fourth against Columbus in the extended series.

Collins: 1-4, R, 2B, SO
Machado: 1-4
Castilla: 1-3, RBI
Moya: 0-4, SO
Zeid (W): 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 SO

COMING UP NEXT: The Louisville Bats will come to town on Friday to kick off a four-game series against the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field. The series included a doubleheader on Saturday.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 4, Clearwater Thrashers 3 (box)

Ask the Flying Tigers (39-44) what it is about their meetings with the Clearwater Thrashers (48-37) and they probably couldn't explain it either. For the third straight evening, Lakeland and Clearwater played into extra innings, bringing the Flying Tigers total of innings played this week to 65. Jonathan Maciel (3-7, 5.58 ERA) began work on the hill for Lakeland, holding down six innings before exiting at the start of the seventh in discomfort. Maciel surrendered three earned runs off seven hits by the Thrashers, including a two-run in the fourth by Andrew Pullin.

The see-saw battle went back and forth into the 13^th inning, with Clearwater looking to notch their third consecutive walk-off against a very tired Lakeland team. Dominic Ficociello lead the Flying Tigers' offense, posting a pair of hits, as well as scoring the eventual game winning go-ahead run at the top of the 13^th inning. The bottom of the 13^th spotlighted the arm of Detroit's 25^th round selection Ryan Castellanos, making his first appearance with the Flying Tigers since his call-up from the GCL Tigers several days prior. It only took three Clearwater batters for 21-year-old Castellanos to notch his first save at the professional level.

James: 2-7, 2 SO
Ficociello: 2-5, 2 R, BB
Verlander: 2-6, R, 2 SO
Salgado: 1-6, 2B, RBI, 2 SO
Maciel: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 SO
Sitz (W): 3.0 IP, H, 0 ER, 3 BB, SO

COMING UP NEXT: The Flying Tigers will host the start of a four-game home stand against the St. Lucie Mets beginning Friday evening at Joker Marchant Stadium. Following the series, the Flying Tigers will have a much needed off day. The amount of innings played at that point may not be for the faint of heart.

Connecticut Tigers 7 State College Spikes 2 (box)

A strong tag-team effort from the Connecticut (10-9) offense and defense worked in tandem against the State College Spikes (9-10) on Thursday evening. Connecticut righty Spenser Watkins (2-1, 0.89 ERA) came to work, maneuvering five strong innings for the Tigers, holding the Spikes to one earned run off a single hit and struck out four. Everyone was hitting for Connecticut, who totaled 13 hits overall, but first round pick Christin Stewart stole the show with a two-run shot in the first. The homer was his second this season, and he added three RBI for the evening. Tanner Donnels and Brett Pirtle each posted a trio of hits for Connecticut. Three strong innings and three strikeouts in relief for Tigers righthander Drew Smith (0-0, 0.90 ERA) proved enough to earn him his second save this season.

Pirtle: 3-5, R, SO
Stewart: 2-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB
Donnels: 3-4, 2B, R, SO
Simcox: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Watkins (W): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

COMING UP NEXT: The Tigers return to face State College on Friday evening for the finale of their three-game road series with the Spikes. The game scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. EST.

★★★

The Erie SeaWolves and West Michigan Whitecaps both had their games rained out on Thursday afternoon. Erie, who was scheduled to finish up a series with the Altoona Curve, will head to Harrisburg to face the Senators in a four-game series. Josh Turley (8-5, 2.75 ERA) will start for Erie against righthander Nick Pivetta (0-0, 0.00 ERA) of Harrisburg.

The Whitecaps had their series finale with the Lake County Captains rained out. That matchup has been rescheduled to August 22, when the Whitecaps return to Lake County during their stretch run. Today, the Whitecaps will return home to face off against the Bowling Green Hot Rods and starter Hunter Wood (1-3, 1.33 ERA). Spencer Turnbull (6-2, 3.09 ERA) will start for West Michigan.