Jose Urquidy and Alex Cobb rehab, Hao-Yu Lee homers again in Mud Hens victory

Scores, news, and notes from around the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Sunday, August 3, 2025.

Toledo Mud Hens 4, St. Paul Saints 1 (box )

Randy Dobnak’s first appearance with the Detroit Tigers organization went very well, and the bullpen pitched very well to win this series five games to one.

Dobnak fired four innings of one run ball, allowing just a run in the top of the first. He walked three, allowed three hits, and struck out seven.

The Hens didn’t have much luck against Mick Abel either. The new Twins pitcher, acquired for Jhoan Duran, one-hit the Hens for five innings and struck out seven.

The Saints held a 1-0 run lead into the bottom of the sixth, but things changed quickly once they went to their bullpen. The second batter Christian MacLeod faced was Hao-Yu Lee, and the Tigers prospect, playing third base in this one, crushed home run number 12 on the year at 109.3 mph to tie the game.

With two outs, Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled, and Jace Jung singled him in to seize a 2-1 lead. Tyler Mattison handled the first two outs in the fifth, but after a walk was succeeded by RJ Petit, who collected four outs in order with two strikeouts to get them through the sixth. New reliever Codi Heuer, acquired from the Rangers for cash at the deadline, fired a clean inning with a strikeout, sitting 95-96 mph. Chase Lee handled the eighth with ease.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Hens broke through again. Trey Sweeney led off with a single and Jace Jung walked with one out. The duo pulled off a double steal and then scored on a Ryan Kreidler single.

Lee collected the save.

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

Malloy: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, K

Jung: 1-3, R, RBI, BB

Dobnak: 4.0 IP, ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 7 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens head to Louisville this week for six starting on Tuesday evening.

Akron RubberDucks 4, Erie SeaWolves 1 (box )

The SeaWolves went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position to lose this one as Akron split the six-game set.

The SeaWolves scored first in this one. Chris Meyers reached on a Travis Bazzana error in the first and eventually scored on a Jake Holton single.

Austin Bergner got the start, and allowed Akron to tie things up in the third. The SeaWolves had two on in both the third and the fifth but couldn’t score a run.

Blair Calvo took over from Bergner in the fifth, but allowed a run in the sixth on a Jorge Burgos solo shot. Andrew Magno handled the last two innings, allowing two runs, one earned.

Briceno: 2-4, K

Bigbie: 2-3, BB

Bergner: 4.2 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves come home to UPMC Park this week to start a series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Tuesday evening.

West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Dayton Dragons 5 (box )

Alex Cobb tossed two innings in a rehab appearance and the offense scored early and kept adding on to hold off the Dragons and take the series four games to two.

Seth Stephenson got things started with a single to lead off the bottom of the first. Austin Murr singled, and John Peck doubled in Stephenson. A wild pitch scored Murr, and after Izaac Pacheco struck out, Andrew Jenkins singled in Peck as well. Garrett Pennington grounded out, but got Jenkins to second, where an error on a Peyton Graham fly ball to left field scored him. 4-0 Whitecaps.

Cobb’s velocity was decent and he struck out two against two hits and a walk. He gave up a run in the second inning, and CJ Weins surrendered one in the third. Peck answered back with his tenth home run to lead off the bottom of the third for a 5-2 lead.

Rayner Castillo took over in the fourth as the bulk guy and allowed a run in the fifth. Again, the Whitecaps answered in the bottom half as the Dragons walked three straight hitters. A Pennington sacrifice fly made it 6-3.

In the top of the eighth, Castillo walked his final batter. Dariel Fregio took over and promptly allowed a two-run shot that made it 6-5 Whitecaps.

Again, the Whitecaps came right back in the bottom half. Peyton Graham led off with a single and took second on a throwing error. Archer Brookman reached on a fielders choice, with Graham getting to third ahead of an attempt to get the lead runner. Stephenson singled in Graham to make it 7-5.

Colin Field shut the door in the ninth for his fourth save.

Peck: 2-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB

Stephenson: 2-5, R, RBI

Graham: 1-3, R, BB

Jenkins: 1-3, R, RBI, BB

Castillo (W, 3-5): 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps welcome in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday night.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Tampa Tarpons 5 (box )

Jose Urquidy made his first rehab appearance in his journey back from Tommy John surgery, and it went very well. The game turned into a back and forth duel that finally required 10 innings before the Flying Tigers walked it off.

Urquidy sat just shy of 93 mph in his inning of work, which is just about his career average. He struck out one swinging in a 1-2-3 frame, using his fourseamer, curveball, and changeup.

Gabriel Reyes took over and allowed single runs in the second and third before settling in to throw three scoreless frames.

The Flying Tigers tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the third. Zach MacDonald walked and then stole second base with one out. Jackson Strong popped out, but Ricardo Hurtado doubled in the run, and Tampa walked the next three batters to force in the second run. Unfortunately, Clayton Campbell grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The score stayed knotted at 2-2 until the top of the seventh. Duque Hebbert allowed a go-ahead run, but in the bottom of the eighth, Stephen Hrustich tied things up again with his fourth home run. Logan Berrier allowed another go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, but in the bottom half, Enderson Delgado led off with a walk, and Samuel Gil doubled him to third with one out. Jackson Strong was the hero in this inning, lining a single into centerfield to tie the game at 4-4. Unfortunately, Hurtado grounded into a double play, sending this to extras.

Chris Williams Jr. took over in the top of the 10th. He got a pop out and a ground out, but on a swinging strikeout, Williams back foot slider skipped away and Delgado collected it and threw it away. The final out came on a liner back to Williams, but now the Flying Tigers had to answer back.

With Hurtado starting at second, Carson Rucker popped out, but Hrustich followed with a double that tied the game. A throwing error on the play got Hrustich to third, and an Abel Bastidas sacrifice fly was plenty deep enough to score the run and walk off the Tarpons.

Hurtado: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B

Hrustich: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB

Bastidas: 1-3, 2 RBI, BB

Reyes: 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers welcome in the Bradenton Marauders on Tuesday evening.