Garrett Pennington homers twice as Flying Tigers sweep, Troy Melton spins a strong game in Mud Hens victory

Scores, news, and notes from the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Toledo Mud Hens 5, Charlotte Knights 3 (box )

Troy Melton and a timely rally in the sixth carried the Mud Hens to victory on Sunday. They lost the series four games to two.

Colson Montgomery cracked a solo shot on a middle-middle 98 mph heater in the first, but otherwise Troy Melton was pretty untouchable on Sunday. An error on Andrew Navigato led to an unearned run in the third, but Melton scattered three hits and a walk, striking out seven over 4 ²⁄₃ innings of work. He topped out at 99 mph in this one and averaged 97.2.

Hao-Yu Lee returned serve against Montgomery’s homer, launching his seventh of the year to right center field to leadoff the bottom of the first.

The unearned run in the third made it 2-1 Charlotte, and it wasn’t until the sixth that the Hens struck back. Trey Sweeney and Justyn-Henry Malloy led off the inning with walks, and Andy Ibáñez doubled in Sweeney. Malloy scored on a bloop single from Brewer Hicklen, and Ibáñez followed him in on a Manny Margot ground out. 4-2 Hens.

Tyler Owens finished the fifth inning for Melton, and Nick Margevicius went three innings, allowing a solo shot to who else but Colson Montgomery in the eighth. Malloy singled and scored on another Ibáñez double in the bottom half.

Woo-Suk Go closed it out after allowing a single to open the top of the ninth. He popped up the next hitter and punched out the next two to collect his first save with the Hens.

Ibáñez: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2 2B

Lee: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, 2 K

Malloy: 1-2, 2 R, BB

Melton: 4.2 IP, 2 R, ER, 3 H, BB, 7 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a split series for the Mud Hens, as it is for everyone this week. They’ll play three at home against Columbus and then travel their for three next weekend. Then it’s on the road to Omaha to take them into the All-Star break.

Erie SeaWolves 9, Somerset Patriots 1 (box )

The SeaWolves took this series four games to two as dominant pitching performances led the way to a convincing victory on Sunday afternoon.

Troy Watson took on a short start in this one, stretching out for his relief role, and the veteran minor league right-hander allowed just a solo shot over four innings of one-hit ball. Watson punched out six, walking just one, and Thayron Liranzo did a really nice job calling and catching this one.

Watson was working with a lead from the beginning, as the SeaWolves put up three runs in the top of the first. Trei Cruz reached on an infield single to start the game, and Liranzo laced a line drive single to right field. Jake Holton walked to load the bases, and after Chris Meyers struck out, Justice Bigbie cleared them with a three-run double that nearly cleared the wall for a slam. A walk to Ben Malgeri and a Roberto Campos single re-loaded the bases, but Carlos Mendoza popped out and Jim Jarvis ground out to shortstop to end the inning.

Watson allowed the home run in the bottom half, and then carried the 3-1 lead through the fourth. The SeaWolves added to the lead with a run in the third.

RJ Petit took over with two good innings of relief, and hard-throwing Richard Guasch, who has looked very good in his last few outings, walked one and struck out three in two no-hit innings of work.

Singles from Mendoza and Cruz led to a run in the sixth to make it 5-1. Liranzo singled in Mendoza on a swinging bunt that the Patriots couldn’t handle in the eighth.

In the top of the ninth, Chris Meyers led off with a triple and Bigbie doubled him in as well. Malgeri singled and took second on a Campos ground out. A Mendoza sacrifice fly plated Bigbie, and a wild pitch scored Malgeri

Matt Seelinger handled the ninth without issue.

Bigbie: 3-4, R, 4 RBI, 2 2B, BB

Liranzo: 3-5, R, RBI, K

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

Watson: 4.0 IP, ER, H, BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves play a split series this week against the Akron RubberDucks. They’ll start in Erie for three on Tuesday night, then move to Akron for the final three games. Then the SeaWolves head to Harrisburg for six next week before the All-Star break in mid-July.

The SeaWolves will also have a new alternate name and uniforms as the John Oliver show renamed them the Erie Moon Mammoths. The name is a reference to Erie local George Moon, who in 1991 discovered one of the most fully intact woolly mammoth skeletons ever located in the Great Lakes region.

They did their homework to find something odd with a local tie-in. Hopefully people have fun with it. The SeaWolves will play as the Moon Mammoths for four games starting July 19.

West Michigan Whitecaps 10, Lake County Captains 8 (box)

The Whitecaps took out the Captains again on Sunday to win the series five games to one. The ‘Caps have won nine of their last 10 games.

The bullpen made this closer than it looked for most of the day. Max Alba went four innings, allowing three runs, two earned.

Here’s a good look at Max Clark’s speed out of the box in the first. He continues to hit the ball on the ground a lot, but he can force the issue with his plus speed.

In the top of the second, John Peck and Austin Murr singled, and a wild pitch scored Peck. The next three Whitecaps struck out, but in the third, Kevin McGonigle singled with one out and took second on an error on the play. Max Clark walked on a wild pitch that got McGonigle to third. Josue Briceño, a run producing monster this season, collected his 51st RBI in 220 plate appearances this year with a single. Murr later singled in Clark as well.

So it was 3-3 heading into the top of the fifth when the Whitecaps started to seize control. McGonigle led off with a double and Max Clark singled him in. Briceño lined a single to right and Peck singled in Clark. Murr tapped one that the Captains couldn’t make a play on, and Briceño roared home for a 7-3 lead.

Ryan Harvey allowed a solo shot in the sixth, but Archer Brookman doubled in Andrew Jenkins in the seventh and then scored on a McGonigle single. 9-4 Whitecaps.

CJ Weins and in particular Carlos Lequerica struggled in the eighth and ninth, with the latter allowing three runs, but it wasn’t enough.

Seth Stephenson singled with two outs in the top of the ninth, and took second on a throwing error by the Captains pitcher. Stephenson’s blazing speed forces defenders hand on softly hit ground balls, and we’ve seen that quite a bit this season. He then stole third and scored on a McGonigle single.

McGonigle: 4-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B

Clark: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 K

Briceno: 2-4, R, RBI, BB

Murr: 3-5, 2 RBI, K

Alba: 4.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps play a split series against the Great Lakes Loons this week, starting with three at home beginning Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. ET. Then they’ll welcome in the Captains for more fun next week for the last series before the All-Star break.

Emily Waldon has an update on Izaac Pacheco’s injury from Saturday night’s game.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 4, Clearwater Threshers 0 (box )

Flying Tigers’ pitching continued to dominate on Sunday, carrying them to a sweep of the Threshers and a seven-game winning streak. The pitching staff allowed just six runs in the six game set.

They built an early lead when Woody Hadeen led off the bottom of the first with a single and later scored on a Franyerber Montilla single.

Lefty Gabriel Reyes didn’t need any more help. His slider was lethal and he topped out at 95 mph with his fourseamer, though still averaging 92.7 mph on the day. Reyes started the season looking very rough and disappointing after his strong full season A-ball debut last year, but he’s coming on strong over the last month. Reyes two-hit the Threshers over six innings, walking one and striking out five on the day. He threw 42 of 67 pitches for strikes, lowering his ERA to 2.90. He’ll turn 22 in July, and we should see him in West Michigan soon. He’s most likely a relief prospect, but possibly a good one.

Garrett Pennington launched a monster of a solo shot in the fourth. It left the bat at 111.8 mph, showing the plus power that has made the Detroit Tigers 2024 undrafted free agent signing an interesting right-handed hitting first baseman to watch. He is 24 years old and needs to start facing better pitching for us to get excited about him, but the man can hammer the baseball and isn’t striking out much either.

Dariel Fregio handled the seventh without much trouble. The 25-year-old recent addition who has pitched in the Australian League for the Perth Heat has plenty of high spin stuff and a pretty good looking changeup though his fastball still tops out around 94-95 and sits at 93 mph. Moises Rodriguez topped out at 99.4 mph with his sinker but a little wildness forced him to dig his way out of a little jam. He did so with a pair of strikeouts, and Ethan Sloan closed this one out.

Jackson Strong lifted a solo shot over the right field wall in the eighth, and Pennington went back-to-back, hammering one at 108.3 mph to dead center for a 4-0 lead.

Pennington: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR

Strong: 2-4, R, RBI, HR, 2 K

Reyes (W, 2-1): 6.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a split series with Dunedin this week, starting with three on the road on Tuesday night. The 45-28 Flying Tigers will then travel to Tampa to play the Tarpons for six next week before the break.