Daz Cameron lifts Mud Hens with late heroics on Sunday

Toledo Mud Hens 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 3 (box)

Spencer Watkins was pretty good overall, and the Hens fought back after a quiet start to win on Sunday. Watkins surrendered three runs in five innings of work, but he punched out nine to just one walk, so it was a quality outing overall. The Hens started clawing their way back from a 3-1 deficit in the sixth when Willi Castro mashed a solo shot to right center field. Austin Adams and John Schreiber did a nice job pinning Pawtucket in place for three innings to facilitate the comeback. In the top of the ninth, Daz Cameron smoked a 2-0 pitch deep to left center field with Danny Woodrow aboard. Hill’s 11th homer of the season put the Hens up by a run, and Daniel Stumpf locked down the bottom of the ninth for the save.

The Hens have won 4 of their last 5 series, but at 57-68 are well out of the International League postseason picture. There are 15 games remaining on the 2019 schedule.

Beau Burrows was placed on the 7-day injured list on Saturday. No report of any injury emerged after he pitched on Friday night. Shoutout to Zeke Jennings on Twitter for spotting the move on the International League Transactions list. We’ll have to wait for details apparently.

Cameron: 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB, SO

Castro: 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI

Mahtook: 2-4, 2B

Watkins: 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 9 SO

Coming Up Next: Tim Adleman (6-4, 3.55 ERA) gets the start as the Hens welcome the Indianapolis Indians on Monday night.

Erie SeaWolves 3, Akron RubberDucks 2 (box)

The RubberDucks did manage to score against Tarik Skubal, but just barely. Skubal allowed one run on four hits in five innings of work. He looked outstanding again, painting the fastball up and down in the zone, and showing off an excellent curveball-changeup combination. His fastball command and the deception he’s got in the mix, continues to be very impressive. The only nitpick was a few too many hanging curveballs in the zone, but hitters are under enough pressure against him that even the odd hanger tends to lock them up. Skubal showcased velocity up to 97 mph and the RubberDucks got off scant few good swings against him.

Dylan Rosa made up for some early offensive struggles from the SeaWolves lineup when he mashed a three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth. He’s playing in place of Jose Azocar, who is dealing with a bit of a hip issue. Alex Lange and Drew Carlton were good in relief, with Carlton picking up the save, while Mark Ecker allowed a run in the seventh.

Rosa: 1-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 SO

Hill: 1-3, BB, SO, CS

Skubal (W, 2-1): 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 7 SO

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves move to 72-51 with the victory hold a 2 ¹⁄₂ game lead in the season’s second half over the Bowie Baysox in the Western Division. They have 15 games left on the schedule. The SeaWolves will head to Richmond tonight to kick off a three-game set with the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Monday.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Bradenton Marauders 1 (box)

The Flying Tigers jumped all over the Marauders in this one and won easily on Sunday. Two-run doubles from Ulrich Bojarski and Jordan Pearce had the score 4-0 Flygers after the first inning. Nick Ames added to the lead in the fifth with a two-run home run. Tom De Blok went six solid innings to earn his second straight win, and the bullpen had no trouble locking this one down.

Ames: 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, 2 SO

Bojarski: 1-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI, SO

de Blok (W, 2-11): 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 SO

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers will rest on Monday before kicking off a home series with the Jupiter Hammerheads with a doubleheader on Tuesday.

West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Lake County Captains 2 (box)

Wilkel Hernandez threw one of his best games of the season and the bullpen was strong in wrapping up a win on Sunday. The ‘Caps build a bit of a lead for Hernandez when the Captains walked in a run in the second inning. Andre Lipcius added an RBI single in the third. Hernandez gave it back, allowing two runs in the fourth with a walk and a fielding error on Zach Malis contributing, but was dominant over. Hernandez allowed just two hits and two walks, while punching out seven. Both runs were unearned. His teammates got those runs right back in the bottom of the fifth. Riley Greene singled and advanced to third on a wild pitch to get things started. He scored on a Bryant Packard groundout, but with two outs the ‘Caps weren’t done. Andre Lipcius doubled and then scored on a Daniel Reyes single to make it 4-2, and the bullpen got good work from Zach’s Shepherd and Hess to wrap it up.

Lipcius: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI

Reyes: 2-4, RBI

Packard: 0-1, R, RBI, 3 BB

W. Hernandez (W, 8-7): 6.0 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 SO

Coming Up Next: Sandel De La Cruz (2-4, 3.95 ERA) gets a rare start on Monday as the series with Lake County continues. One of my favorite pitching prospects, RHP Ethan Hankins, will oppose him.

Lowell Spinners 7, Connecticut Tigers 3 (box)

Xavier Javier was hit hard in this one, and three-run blast from Nick Quintana wasn’t enough to rescue the Tigers on Sunday. Javier surrendered seven earned runs and couldn’t escape the fourth inning. Nick Quintana’s home run in the sixth inning was his first since being reassigned to Connecticut. The Tigers drew five walks in the contest but went 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Quintana: 1-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB

Tuck: 2-4

Javier (L, 3-3): 3.1 IP, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

Coming Up Next: The series with the Spinners continues on Monday night at 7:05pm ET.