Melton cruises to SeaWolves victory; Briceño slams again in Whitecaps’ rout

Scores, news, and notes from the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Wednesday, April 16, 2025.

Indianapolis Indians 5, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (F/12)(box )

The Mud Hens pitching staff did fine work on Wednesday, but the offense just couldn’t seal the deal as Indians pitching matched them the whole game. A 12 inning battle finally went Indy’s way when the Hens ran out of pitching.

In a bullpen game for the Mud Hens, Bailey Horn got the start. He quickly gave up the game’s first run in the bottom of the first. Jordan Balazovic and Brendan White then combined for 4 ¹⁄₂ innings of scoreless ball. The offense just couldn’t take advantage of several opportunities along the way. In the sixth, Jace Jung doubled with one out and eventually stole third base, but neither Hao-Yu Lee nor Andrew Navigato could knock him in. A pair of two out singles from Riley Unroe and Stephen Scott likewise went nowhere.

Sidarmer Chase Lee took over from White with one out and one on in the seventh and he quickly cleaned up the inning. And finally in the eighth, the Hens got on the board.

Brewer Hicklen led off the inning with a walk and singles from Jung and Lee loaded the bases. Navigato again struck out, as did Akil Baddoo in his return to action with the Mud Hens. However, David Hensley managed to draw a walk to force in the tying run. Lee then gave it right back, allowing a single and a double in the bottom of the eighth as Indy re-opened a 2-1 lead.

In the top of the ninth, the Hens managed to stave off defeat. Jack Dunn singled with one out and Hicklen walked again. Indy’s pitcher, Isaac Mattson, wild pitched them ahead 90 feet and then Jung walked. Ultimately, Dunn scored on a Lee grounder that forced Jung at second, but that was all they’d get as a Navigato drive to center field was caught by Ji Hwan Bae to end the frame.

PJ Poulin tossed a scoreless bottom of the ninth to send this to extras and in the top of the 10th Riley Unroe doubled in Navigato for a 3-2 lead. Matt Gage took over in the bottom half and didn’t allow a hit, but Indy got the Manfred runner to third and Nick Solak lifted a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Both teams scored in the 11th, and the Mud Hens were out of pitchers after sending scheduled starter Keider Montero up to Detroit. Unroe took on the task of closing this one out and the outfielder couldn’t make it happen. When the Hens failed to score in the top of the 12th, this one was all but over and Unroe allowed a walkoff single to end it.

Jung: 3-4, 2B, 2 BB, SB

Lee: 2-6, RBI, K

Balazovic: 3.0 IP, 0 R, H, BB, K

Coming Up Next: The road series is even at a game apiece heading into Thursday night’s 6:35 p.m. ET start.

Erie SeaWolves 4, Akron RubberDucks 0 (box )

The SeaWolves got another strong start from Troy Melton on Wednesday. They also built an early lead and the pitching staff did the rest as they stifled Travis Bazzana and the Akron offense all game long.

Melton fired 45 of 73 pitches for strikes over five scoreless innings of work in this one. He only struck out three, but he allowed just two hits and a walk, maintaining his perfect 0.00 ERA to start the year. He finished the day with 13 innings pitched, no runs allowed, and 13 strikeouts to three walks to begin the season through three appearances.

Trei Cruz led off the bottom of the first and he and then Max Anderson walked to start the inning. Thayron Liranzo grounded into a force of Anderson at second, but Justice Bigbie singled in Cruz for a 1-0 lead.

In the second, Roberto Campos led off with a single and moved to third on a Carlos Mendoza double. Jim Jarvis lifted a sac fly to plate Campos. In the third, Liranzo launched his first home run of the year for a 3-0 lead.

The Ducks best scoring chance against Melton came in the fifth when Joe Lampe led off with a single. Alex Mooney doubled to Campos in right, but a good relay from Campos to shortstop Jarvis home to Eliezer Alfonzo cut down Lampe at home plate. Melton cleaned up the rest of the inning without issue to complete his day.

Matt Seelinger relieved Melton and he was in really good form. The right-hander struck out five over three scoreless innings of work. The SeaWolves added a run in the seventh as Anderson drove in Mendoza from third with a single to make it 4-0. RJ Petit closed it out in a non save situation.

Bigbie: 2-4, RBI

Mendoza: 1-2, R, 2B, 2 BB

Melton (W, 1-0): 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves take a 2-0 lead in the series into Thursday’s 6:05 p.m. ET matchup.

West Michigan Whitecaps 17, South Bend Cubs 3 (box )

This turned into a real beatdown but for six innings it was a close, well played game. The ‘Caps then scored 13 runs in the seventh and eighth innings combined to send the home crowd home happy.

Joe Miller got the start, and he was solid enough. The right-hander threw four innings of three-run ball, though only two were earned runs.

The Cubs led 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but John Peck led off with a single and Brett Callahan ripped a line shot over the wall in right for his first home run of the year. With two outs, Bennett Lee and Abel Bastidas drew walks, and Max Clark lined a single to center field to make this a 3-2 game in favor of the Whitecaps.

Miller allowed a single and a walk to start the fifth, and Colin Fields came on from the bullpen. He struck out one batter, then got a potential double play ball to third. Bastidas fired it to shortstop Peyton Graham at second, but Graham had to hurry and threw it away. That tied things at 3-3.

The Whitecaps recaptured the lead in the sixth when Graham led off with a walk and Bastidas singled him to second. That set up Max Clark, and again Clark came through, drilling a grounder back through the box to score Graham and take a 4-3 lead. Bastidas was later thrown out trying to steal home to end the inning.

So it had been an interesting, back and forth game to that point. In the bottom of the seventh, things tipped toward the ‘Caps for good.

Josue Briceño led off with a double, and Peck followed with a double of his own. Briceño scored, and the next hitter was Callahan, who promptly went yard again. 7-3 ‘Caps. Luke Gold tripled with the bases cleared, and Graham lined a single the opposite way to make it 8-3.

The eighth was just a nightmare for the Cubs. The hit a batter and walked six in the inning as the Whitecaps went into full Bugs Bunny vs. Gas House Gorillas conga line mode. The inning was punctuated by Briceño mashing his second grand slam and third home run of the season. When the smoke cleared it was 17-3 and the Cubs just wanted to get out of there.

Briceño: 2-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, BB, K

Clark: 2-3, R, 3 RBI, 3 BB

Callahan: 2-4, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR

Miller: 4.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Fields (W, 1-0): 3.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday evening as the Whitecaps look to make it three straight over the Cubs.

Dunedin Blue Jays 18, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2 (box )

The Flying Tigers were the ones on the receiving end of a disaster in their matchup with the Blue Jays. The bad guys mashed three homers and racked up 12 hits overall, and it seemed like everyone who reached base eventually scored on a bad day for the Flying Tigers pitching staff.

Lefty Paul Wilson got the start, but he continues to be pretty wild. He plunked the first hitter he faced and that was a bit of a microcosm of his outing. Wilson sat 92 mph for the most part, but he did rack up some whiffs on his slider. Overall he just wasn’t in command of anything for long. He looked fine for two innings and wasn’t hit particularly hard in the third. Still he left the game with the bases loaded and it was all downhill from there.

Duque Hebbert took over with Wilson with the bases juiced and immediately allowed a bases clearing triple that accounted for all the runs charged to Wilson. He then surrendered six runs without collecting an out in the fourth. Lucas Elissalt would give up five more, three earned, in the fifth.

Really the lone bright spot in this one was Franyerber Montilla. The infielder continues to rake and put up another three hit game in this one. Otherwise the Flying Tigers offense was pretty quiet, scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh innings of the losing effort. Bryce Rainer remains out of the lineup, though no injury has yet been reported.

Montilla: 3-5, R, RBI, K

Wilson (L, 0-1): 2.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The two clubs will matchup on Thursday morning at 11:00 a.m. ET with the series knotted at a game apiece.