Hao-Yu Lee and Max Anderson stay hot in weekend action on the farm

Scores, news, and notes from around the Detroit Tigers for the weekend of May 17-18, 2025.

Scranton-Wilkes/Barre RailRiders 7, Toledo Mud Hens 2 (Sat)(box )

On Saturday, Wilkel Hernandez outstanding start to the season continued, but the offense couldn’t take advantage.

Hernandez allowed just three hits and a walk over five more scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 2.16. He struck out six along the way. He allowed a single in the first, and then a double and a walk in the second, but as he settled in the RailRiders could do nothing with him. He built velocity up to 95-96 mph for most of his outing, and the slider and changeup were both pretty effective.

The Hens opened the scoring when Ryan Kreidler doubled with two outs in the top of the second inning and scored on a Brian Serven single. They were quiet from there until the fifth with Kreidler led off with another double and Serven singled him to third. Unfortunately, reliever Brent Headrick punched out three in a row to strand both runners.

The RailRiders were happy to see Hernandez depart, and quickly jumped on lefty Bailey Horn in the sixth for two runs and a 2-1 lead. The Hens had some opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize and in the eighth, Chase Lee allowed a single, then hit a batter and issued a walk to load the bases. Jose Rojas got a 1-2 sweeper right in the middle of the strike zone and crushed it for a grand slam. Lee allowed another run before getting out of the inning.

Kreidler walked and eventually scored in the ninth.

Kreidler: 2-3, 2 R, 2 2B, BB

Lee: 2-4, 2 2B

Hernandez: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, BB, 6 K

Toledo Mud Hens 10, Scranton-Wilkes/Barre RailRiders 8 (Sun)(box )

On Sunday the Mud Hens stormed out to an early lead only to watch in slip away in the middle innings. However, they were able to rally with a run in the eighth and two in the ninth to take the game and the series.

Things started well as Hao-Yu Lee singled with two outs in the first. Jahmai Jones walked, and Lee scored on a Gage Workman single. Workman stole second to put runners at second and third, and Manuel Margot flicked a soft single to left to score them both for a 3-0 lead.

In the second, Jake Rogers walked with two outs, and Jace Jung took starter Carlos Carrasco deep to right field to make it 5-0.

Lael Lockhart Jr. allowed an Alex Jackson solo shot in the second, but the Hens got the run back in the top of the third. Margot singled with two outs and scored on a Kreidler double.

Unfortunately, Lockhart was tagged for three runs in the bottom half and so it was 6-4 Hens lead. Riley Unroe made it 7-4 with an inside-the-park homer to open the fourth inning.

However, in the sixth, Jordan Balazovic was knocked around for three runs, and PJ Poulin allowed another one before cleaning up the inning. So it was 8-7 RailRiders going into the late innings.

Matt Manning allowed a hit and a walk in the seventh but escaped, and then the Hens went into comeback mode. Hao-Yu Lee singled and scored on a Margot single in the eighth that tied the game. In the ninth the RailRiders had to use a position player to pitch and the Hens took advantage. Bligh Madris singled with one out and scored on an Unroe double. Jace Jung singled in Unroe to make it 10-8, and Matt Gage shut the RailRiders down in the ninth, earning the win.

Lee: 3-6, 2 R, K

Margot: 4-5, R, 3 RBI

Jung: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 BB

Lockhart: 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens come home one game below the .500 mark to take on Indianapolis on Tuesday evening at 6:05 p.m. ET.

After a rocky start, Hao-Yu Lee has been red hot the past two weeks. There is still work to do on better fastballs, but he’s making progress right now.

Erie SeaWolves 8, Richmond Flying Squirrels 0 (Sat)(box )

The SeaWolves secured at least a split with this victory on Saturday before winning the series on Sunday in Richmond.

Starter Troy Melton was carving through the Flying Squirrels early on. He struck out five with just two hits allowed through three scoreless innings. Melton then got hit in the leg by a sharp comebacker to open the fourth and had to leave the game.

By then, the outcome was pretty well in hand.

The SeaWolves offense put up runs in each of the first four innings. The game started with Trei Cruz getting hit by a pitch. Carlos Mendoza, back down after a short stay in Toledo, drew a walk. A comebacker to the pitcher from Jake Holton was thrown away and Cruz scored. Mendoza reached third on the play and scored on a Justice Bigbie ground out before the Squirrels could get out of the inning.

In the second, Jim Jarvis and Ben Malgeri singled and a sacrifice fly from Cruz made it 3-0. A walk to Holton in the third with one out was followed by a Bigbie double to left, and the runs scored on an error and then a Jarvis ground out for a 5-0 lead. Mendoza doubled and scored on a Thayron Liranzo single in the fourth to make it 6-0.

The SeaWolves bullpen remains one of the most dominant pens at any level of the minor leagues. RJ Petit, Jordan Marks, Dylan Smith, and Troy Watson combined to blank the Squirrels for six innings, with Petit and Marks each spinning two scoreless frames.

The SeaWolves scratched out single runs in the seventh and eighth to pull away late.

Mendoza: 2-4, 3 R, 2B, BB, K

Liranzo: 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, K

Melton: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 5 K

Erie SeaWolves 7, Richmond Flying Squirrels 4 (Sun)(box )

After a nice stretch from Jaden Hamm, he finally turned in a shaky outing on Sunday, but much like the Detroit Tigers themselves, when the pitching fails, the bats seem to pick up the slack and vice versa this season.

Hamm gave up four runs in four innings of work and struggled a bit with his control, but the offense had his back.

Max Anderson doubled with one out in the top of the first and rode home on Eduardo Valencia’s sixth home run of the season. In the fourth, Roberto Campos cranked a long home run to left with Valencia aboard after a single. It was 4-1 SeaWolves at that point.

Hamm allowed a pair of home runs, one a two-run shot, in the bottom of the fourth, and so it was tied 4-4 when he left the game. But as usual, the bullpen was nails. Tim Naughton spun two scoreless with three strikeouts, and Drew Sommers handled the eighth without issue.

In the top of the ninth, Jim Jarvis walked with one out. Chris Meyers flew out, but Eliezer Alfonzo doubled in the go ahead run. Walks to Ben Malgeri and Carlos Mendoza followed, and then the Squirrels dropped a pop up on the infield, scoring two two-out runs to make it 7-4. Sommers shut the door in the bottom of the ninth to earn the win.

A three-hit game from Anderson moved him OPS back to .902 on the young season.

Anderson: 3-5, R, 2 RBI, 2B

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

Hamm: 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves come home this week to take on the Hartford Senators starting Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. ET. Their 25-14 record has them tied for first in the Southwest Division with the Akron RubberDucks.

West Michigan Whitecaps 4, Fort Wayne TinCaps 1 (Sat)(box )

The Whitecaps won this series five games to one with victories on Saturday and Sunday. Lefty Andrew Sears led the way on Saturday with five innings of shutout baseball against the TinCaps. He struck out seven, allowing just two hits and no walks.

The Whitecaps’ offense wasn’t exactly on fire over the weekend, but they did enough to win with pitching and defense. Luke Gold singled in Jack Penney in the fourth for a 1-0 lead, and in the fifth, singles from Archer Brookman, Abel Bastidas, and Max Clark make it 3-0. Gold doubled in Andrew Jenkins in the sixth to make it 4-0.

Joe Adametz tossed two scoreless innings of relief, while Micah Ashman handled the eighth and then finally allowed a run in the ninth to drive his ERA up to 0.95 on the year. Trevin Michael collected the last out after Ashman got into some trouble for his second save.

Word also finally emerged that Josue Briceño’s absence was for an injury, but there were no details other than that it was minor and he isn’t expected to miss much time. Brett Callahan is also on the injured list with an unspecified leg injury. Patrick Lee was recalled from Lakeland in his place.

Gold: 2-3, 2 RBI, 2B, BB, K

Clark: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB, K

Sears (W, 2-1): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K

West Michigan Whitecaps 3, Fort Wayne TinCaps 2 (Sun)(box )

Sawyer Gipson-Long’s second rehab start was the featured attraction on Sunday. It went well, and while the offense was pretty quiet again, they had enough to take out the TinCaps yet again.

Gipson-Long looked pretty good again in this one. He allowed a run in 2 ²⁄₃ innings of work, striking out three without a walk issued. He did allow five hits along the way, but he’s just starting to work his walk back in the groove and he pounded the zone effectively with 30 of 46 pitches for strikes.

That run allowed held up for a long time in this game. Finally in the sixth, the Whitecaps broke through at the plate.

Wenceel Pérez was hit by a pitch to the knee to start the inning and Patrick Lee pinch-ran for him. Clark grounded into a force of Lee at second, but John Peck then reached when Fort Wayne tried to get the lead runner on a Peck grounder but threw it away. Izaac Pacheco doubled them both in to make it 2-1 Whitecaps. Peyton Graham followed with a single up the middle to plate Pacheco.

Carlos Marcano was pushed back for Gipson-Long, and took over in the third. He tossed four shutout innings with five strikeouts to carry the Whitecaps most of the way home. Colin Fields allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth, but a fantastic throw from Patrick Lee ended the game.

Pacheco: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B, BB

Stephenson: 2-4, 2 K

Gipson-Long: 2.2 IP, ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps come home for six again the Great Lakes Loons this week starting on Tuesday night.

Emily Waldon of Baseball America and Tigers Minor League Report reports that Kevin McGonigle should be rejoined the West Michigan Whitecaps this week with his rehab assignment in Lakeland complete.

Clearwater Threshers 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (Sat)(box )

After losing four straight, the Threshers had had enough. They took both games on the weekend to make it a 4-2 series victory for the Flying Tigers.

On Saturday, Josh Randall was knocked around for five runs, and the Flying Tigers really struggled at the plate.

Kevin McGonigle doubled, Bryce Rainer singled, and David Smith doubled for the team’s only three hits on the day. Smith’s double led off the sixth, and a ground out and then a wild pitch brought him home as the Flying Tigers only run.

Chris Williams Jr. allowed two in the sixth in relief, while Ronny Chalas finished the game, allowing a run in the seventh.

McGonigle: 1-3, 2B, BB

Randall (L, 1-3): 4.1 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 K

Clearwater Threshers 4, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2 (Sun)(box )

It was a similar issue on Sunday, as the Flying Tigers just couldn’t string much offense together. The did score first, as Carson Rucker led off the second with a walk and then stole second base. A Jackson Strong singled made it 1-0 Lakeland.

Zack Lee gave the Flying Tigers a strong start in this one. He fanned five in five innings of work, but did allow one run in the fourth that knotted the game at one all.

Shay Timmer took over from Lee, and he was knocked around for three runs in the sixth to take the loss.

A Jackson Strong solo shot in the seventh accounted for the second Flying Tigers run. The outfielder lifted a towering fly ball that just floated out over the right field wall.

McGonigle and Rainer were both 0-for-4 on the day.

Strong: 2-3, R, RBI, HR, K

Montilla: 2-4, 2B

Lee: 5.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers hold a 21-17 record after the series victory over Clearwater. They’re second in their division to Dunedin as they welcome in Fort Myers this week.

FCL TIgers 6, FCL Phillies 2 (Sat)(box )

Jude Warwick: 3-3, R, RBI, 2 2B, SB – .985 OPS

Enrique Jimenez: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2 K – .972 OPS

RHP Kelvis Salcedo: 4.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 2 K

LHP Ethan Schiefelbein (W, 2-0): 3.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, K