Briceno, Jones hit grand slams, Lakeland splits doubleheader and Erie puts up 11

Scores, news, and notes from the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Friday, May 31, 2025.

Toledo Mud Hens 7, Louisville Bats 5 (box )

Every time Louisville scored on Saturday, Toledo answered with runs until the Mud Hens finally jumped out front with a four-run seventh.

Nothing really happened until the third, when the Bats strung together three runs in the top of the inning. Dietrich Enns got the start and looked just fine after missing his last start, but a pair of loud extra-base hits interrupted his flow. Francisco Urbaez doubled in a run to start things off, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered with Urbaez still on base.

Fortunately, Parker Meadows had an answer, a stand-up triple to the right-center alley. Jahmai Jones singled him in to cut into the lead, but Louisville still led by two.

Tyler Owens took over for Enns in the fifth with one out and immediately ran into trouble. He walked the first batter he saw, gave up singles to Urbaez and Encarnacion-Strand and a 2-run double to Edwin Rios. Owens didn’t record an out and Drew Sommers replaced him to get out of the inning.

Jace Jung responded in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single to score Tomas Nido. Jones got the second run back with a steal of home on a wild pitch that just got away from the catcher. Louisville made the play at home, but Jones slid in just under the tag. Electric stuff.

Sommers was strong, going 1.2 with three strikeouts and a walk. Matt Seelinger pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and earned the win after Toledo rallied for four runs in the bottom half.

Bligh Madris opened up the seventh with a single to the right side, Nido got a base knock to left, and Meadows walked, forcing the second pitching change of the inning. Swapping Sam Moll for Lenny Torres turned out to be the wrong move, though… Jahmai Jones scorched a rocket to left-center that didn’t stop until it met a concrete wall. What a day for Jones.

With a two-run lead in place, the Hens brought in Matt Gage to close out the final two innings. He earned his second save of the season without allowing a baserunner. Gage retired all six batters he faced, including four strikeouts.

Meadows: 1-3, 3B (2), 2 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K

Jones: 4-4, HR (6), 2 R, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K

Jung: 1-4, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K

Enns: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K; 78 pitches (53 strikes)

Erie SeaWolves 11, Reading Fightin Phils 1 (box )

A six-run sixth put the game out of reach for Reading, but Erie hit well all night en route to a 10-run margin of victory Saturday. The SeaWolves notched a dozen hits, and Reading’s offense was all but lifeless.

It took until the fourth to really get going, but Eliezer Alfonzo teased the barrage of runs to come with a leadoff double in the third. He didn’t end up scoring that inning, but he made his mark on the game later on.

Thayron Liranzo singled to start a fourth-inning rally, Jake Holton doubled, and Roberto Campos reached on an error to bring in two runs.

Alfonzo followed that up with an RBI single to the right side, and he sparked the sixth-inning onslaught as well. Alfonzo launched a three-run homer to right, scoring Justice Bigbie and Chris Meyers.

Liranzo (solo) and Carlos Mendoza (2-run) hit back-to-back jacks in the same inning, making it 9-1.

If that’s not enough, Alfonzo helped score another run by inducing an error. Liranzo also kept things going with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. What a drubbing.

On the mound, Erie went with Carlos Pena, Matt Merrill and Ryan Boyer, in that order. Pena threw six innings of three-hit baseball, allowing just one run while striking out two and walking none. His 1.91 ERA says it all as the crafty southpaw is really in a groove right now.

Merrill followed up with two hitless innings, although he did walk a pair. Boyer gave up two hits in the ninth, but the 10-run cushion was more than enough to get through the frame.

Alfonzo: 3-5, 2B (3), HR (1), 1 R, 4 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K

Liranzo: 2-4, HR (5), 2 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K

Pena (W, 3-2): 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K; 73 pitches (51 strikes)

West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Dayton 4 Dragons (box )

Things looked bleak for West Michigan heading into the ninth, down a run without scoring since the third, but Josue Briceno smashed a grand slam into the stratosphere to put the Whitecaps in front late and win the game.

Briceno was 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout before launching the deciding homer. It’s his 12th long ball of the year, and High-A pitchers are looking outmatched against him in big situations. Is it time to call Briceno up? Probably, but Detroit likely won’t pull the trigger until Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle are ready to go up, too. That core group should stay together, and getting Briceno more experience behind the plate before a second-half call-up for the group still feels plausible. Whitecaps fans certainly hope so.

Clark didn’t play today and McGonigle had two base knocks, upping his average to .469 and his OPS to 1.366 — those are very good numbers if this is your first time reading about baseball.

Before the grand slam, West Michigan had put together an average but losing game. Three runs crossed in the third on four hits. McGonigle singled in a run, Briceno traded a double play for the second, and Austin Murr brought in Seth Stephenson.

Six of the Whitecaps’ 11 hits came in the third or ninth, so the offense wasn’t rolling too well for most of the night. A single here, a double there, but no runs ever came around until Briceno went yard.

Credit the trio of Thomas Farr, Jose Montero and Carson Rudd for keeping West Michigan in check for most of the night. Montero went four in his start and the other two both through a pair of innings before turning things over to Cody Adcock in the ninth.

In Adcock’s defense, he did the job needed to win the game. A two-out error at third base extended the inning and allowed all four unearned runs to come around later on.

West Michigan sent Colin Fields out for a second start in as many weeks. He gave up a run in the second, third and fourth to keep the game close, but six strikeouts and no walks give a nice silver lining to cheer about.

Marco Jimenez took over with one out in the fourth and pitched through the fifth. He allowed two harmless base knocks and struck out one. Joe Adametz was next out of the bullpen. He surrendered the go-ahead run on a sacrifice bunt in the sixth and was in line for the loss before Briceno’s heroics.

Micah Ashman lowered his ERA to 0.75 with a scoreless eighth. He watched on as Briceno delivered him a third win on the year, and Trevin Michael came in for save No. 3. Michael gave up a base hit, but that was it.

Briceno: 1-4, HR (12), 1 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

McGonigle: 2-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K

Fields: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K; 71 pitches (47 strikes)

Game 1 (F/7): Bradenton Marauders 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (box )

Bradenton jumped on Lakeland starter Josh Randall early. The Marauders scored a run in each of the first three innings and cruised to an 8-1 win as the Flying Tigers managed just six hits.

Two of those hits belong to Bryce Rainer. The first came off the bat at 106.4 mph. He later smoked a line out 108.9 mph, but his other hit was a soft single back to the pitcher All Rainer does is catch barrels, but he’s pretty much the only Lakeland hitter near .300 on the year.

Rainer was the only Flying Tiger to hit safely the first time through the order, but Woody Hadeen shot a double off the base of the wall in right center to open the third. Rainer followed up with that light single mentioned above, and Ricardo Hurtado finally drove in the run four batters later.

Unfortunately, Randall wasn’t having his best day. Randall likes to pepper fastballs and sinkers in that lower-outer zone, and Bradenton was ready for it. The Marauder made lots of contact on that pitch, including back-to-back hits to open the game.

Derek Berg added the second run for Bradenton on a solo homer. Randall left a four-seamer middle-middle, and Berg got all of it — 111.1 mph, 22 degree launch angle. A double play spared Randall from any more damage in the second, but he left another four-seamer in the zone (high and away to a righty), and Will Taylor took it for a ride over the right field wall.

Knowing that a second game was coming later in the day, Lakeland decided to ride it out with Randall. He’s been good most of the year, and working through adversity is part of the game for a starting pitcher. He recovered with a 1-2-3 fourth, but a fourth run crossed against him in the fifth.

Randall walked Carlos Caro to open the frame, and Konnor Griffin singled and stole to put two in scoring position. He retired the next three batters in a row, but the second out of the inning scored the run.

He came back out for the sixth, but Randall was nearing the end of his tank. After two outs and a single, Logan Berrier took over and made his Single-A debut. Berrier threw 4.1 hitless innings over three appearances in the Florida Complex League (rookie ball) this month and was called up today.

Berrier is a sinker-cutter guy, but he didn’t have command of either pitch on Saturday. Bradenton got to him for a pair of triples, a pair of singles and four runs overall. Only three were charged to Berrier, though.

Lakeland didn’t record a hit through the final two frames.

Rainer: 2-4, 0 BB, 1 K

Montilla: 1-3, 1 BB, 0 K

Randall (L, 1-4): 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; 83 pitches (53 strikes)

Game 2 (F/7): Lakeland Flying Tigers 5, Bradenton Marauders 3 (box )

The second half of the doubleheader went much better for Lakeland. The Flying Tigers scored three runs in the first two innings and shut out Bradenton through five.

Hadeen got things going with a leadoff double, Franyerber Montilla and Garrett Penington walked to load the bases and Stephen Hrustich gave Lakeland a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly. With runners on the corners, Garrett Pennington stole second to induce a throwdown, which set Montilla racing to the plate. Bradenton shortstop Yordany De Los Santos cut the throw and got it home in time for the tag, but Montilla was already diving around the catcher and was called safe.

Samuel Gil made his way around the bases in the second to make it 3-0. Gil singled to open the frame, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Enderson Delgado got the ball in the air and drove in Gil with a sac fly.

Meanwhile, Duque Hebbert was navigating his way through the Marauders’ lineup beautifully. He should have had a 1-2-3 inning in the first, but an error extended it. A pair of singles made things tricky in the second, but Hebbert got a big strikeout for out No. 2 to shift the momentum. He walked a batter in the third and fourth innings before ending his day.

Hebbert didn’t do anything special. He wasn’t drawing a ton of swing and miss and saw 13 balls in play, but his ability to change speeds kept the Marauders off balance. Still, it’s good to see a relief guy give four strong innings on a day when Lakeland needed its staff to come through.

Lakeland stopped scoring runs for a couple of innings, but the Flying Tigers plated two important runs in the fifth and sixth. Montilla drove in Hadeen on a double down the right field line in the former, and Cristian Santana singled in Pennington in the latter.

Jorge Petri replaced Hebbert and put together a 1-2-3 fifth, but Bradenton got to him in the fifth. Camden Janik doubled, De Los Santos singled and Axiel Plaz homered to cut the five-run lead to two. (Good thing Lakeland plated those two insurance runs just ahead of this meltdown)

Thomas Bruss came out for his fifth save of the year and got the job done without any problems, 1-2-3.

Montilla: 1-3, 2B (6), 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K

Hebbert: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K; 63 pitches (44 strikes)