Rayner Castillo’s strong start paces Whitecaps to victory, Erie loses to keep the divisional chase close with two games left

Scores, news, and notes from around the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Friday, June 20, 2025.

Toledo Mud Hens 18, St. Paul Saints 7 (box )

Wilkel Hernandez strong start has been fading in recent weeks, but the offense didn’t need a whole lot of help as they torched Saints pitching all night on Friday.

Hernandez allowed two in the first, two in the second, and one in the fourth, giving up three home runs on the evening in what was probably his worst start of the season. Still, it only raised his ERA to 4.01, and there’s time to turn things around.

The Hens seized control for good in the top of the second inning. Akil Baddoo led off with a double, and Ryan Kreidler singled to center field. Manuel Margot popped out, but Gage Workman doubled in Baddoo and Brian Serven walked to load the bases for Andrew Navigato who launched a grand slam to left center field for a 5-0 lead.

In the third, the Hens got a walk and then singles from Kreidler and Margot. Workman tripled this time to make it 8-4, and then scored on a Serven singled for a 9-4 lead.

It was 9-5 in the fifth when Navigato stepped to the plate again, this time with Serven aboard after a walk. Navigato homered to right center field this time. His sixth long ball of the season made it an 11-5 game.

They got one more in the sixth when Justyn-Henry Malloy singled and Baddoo doubled him to third. A Kreidler sacrifice fly made it 12-5.

Brendan White allowed a run in the sixth, but Matt Manning blanked the Saints in the seventh, and Drew Sommers handled the eighth. He allowed an unearned run after loading the bases when Workman threw a ground ball away with two outs, but that was all the Saints would get. 12-7 Hens.

At this point, the top of the ninth devolved into an inning from hell for the Saints. Margot singled and Workman walked before Serven doubled in Margot. A wild pitched scored Workman, and Navigato was hit by a pitch. That made things a little surly and the Hens wreaked vengeance.

The Saints went back to the bullpen, and Riley Unroe greeted the new pitcher, Cody Laweryson, with a single. Hao-Yu Lee and Malloy both walked, forcing in Navigato to make it 16-7, and two more runs would come across before the final out was made. 18-7 Hens.

Ryan Miller closed it out in the ninth for the Hens.

Matt Vierling went 0-for-5 for the second straight night while playing right field in this one.

Navigato: 2-3, 3 R, 6 RBI, 2 HR

Workman: 2-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2B, 3B, BB, 3 K

Baddoo: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB

Margot: 3-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 K

Hernandez: 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens have a 3-1 lead in the series heading into a 7:37 p.m. ET matchup on Saturday.

Chesapeake Bay Sox 6, Erie SeaWolves 5 (F/11)(box )

A win on Friday would’ve put the SeaWolves in the driver’s seat with two games left in the first half. Unfortunately, while the Akron RubberDucks finally lost after six straight victories, the SeaWolves let this one get away late and remain a half game ahead in the divisional race.

Garrett Burhenn got the start in this one and he was good. Apart from a first inning run, Burhenn cruised through five innings with his slider doing a lot of the heavy lifting. He struck out five, allowing three hits and a walk along the way.

The SeaWolves tied things up in the third when Max Anderson led off with a double and later scored on a Chris Meyers single. In the fourth, Ben Malgeri led off with a double and advanced to third on a Jim Jarvis ground out. Trei Cruz followed with a walk, and Anderson singled in Malgeri. That knock got Cruz to third, and a fly ball from Eduardo Valencia was deep enough to score Cruz for a 3-1 lead.

Matt Seelinger took over for Burhenn in the sixth and surrendered two in the sixth and one in the seventh as the Bay Sox recaptured a one-run lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Meyers singled with one out, and a Malgeri double with two outs got him to third where a wild pitch scored him to tie the game 4-4.

Tim Naughton cleaned up the seventh for Seelinger and handled the eighth without issue. Andrew Magno was really good again, firing two perfect frames with four strikeouts to handle the ninth and the tenth.

Unfortunately, the SeaWolves missed their opportunity to walk this off in the bottom of the tenth. With Roberto Campos starting on second base, Malgeri struck out and the Bay Sox took extreme precautions, intentionally walking Trei Cruz and Max Anderson. It was the right move, as Valencia struck out to send this to the 11th.

Richard Gausch took the mound in the top of the inning and immediately wild pitched the runner on second to third base. He bounced back to strike out Anthony Servideo, but an error by Jim Jarvis on a grounder allowed the run to score and the hitter advanced all the way to third base on the play. A ground out scored the run from third, and the Bay Sox had a two-run lead.

Gausch does have major league caliber stuff with high 90’s heat and a good slider, but the control is going to have to come along to be any help to the Tigers. Fortunately, the Tigers are good at this and he’s only a few appearances into his Tigers’ tenure. Hopefully they can sort him out.

With Brady Allen pinch-running for Valencia at second to start the bottom half, Justice Bigbie spanked a double to right field. Unfortunately, Allen didn’t read it well and he was picked off between third and home on a strong throw in from Servideo to third base. A Carlos Mendoza ground out got Bigbie to third, and a Meyers double scored him, but Campos grounded out to end the game.

Malgeri: 4-5, R, 2 2B, K

Meyers: 3-6, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 K

Anderson: 2-4, R, RBI, 2B, BB, K

Burhenn: 5.0 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start at UPMC Park on Saturday. Two wins this weekend will secure the division. One win, and at least one Akron loss will also get the job done. The RubberDucks have been hot of late, so how about win both and secure the first half division title.

West Michigan Whitecaps 5, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 2 (box )

Rayner Castillo threw a good game and the Whitecaps built an early lead to win again on Friday night.

Castillo has struggled to acclimate to the High-A level and has taken some time to get his velocity back to the easy 94-95 mph we saw from him as a 20-year-old in Lakeland last summer. Lately he’s been turning the corner.

In this one, the big right-hander spun 5 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with four strikeouts.

The offense got it going in the third when Seth Stephenson singled and was wild pitched to second. Kevin McGonigle doubled him home and took third on an error on the play. Max Clark lifted a sacrifice fly, and it was 2-0 Whitecaps.

In the fourth, Izaac Pacheco led off with a single. Peyton Graham flew out and Patrick Lee struck out, but Luke Gold struck with a two-run shot to make it 4-0.

Tyler Mattison’s road back from injury continued to be a rocky one, as he allowed a pair of runs in the seventh. With the lead cut to 4-2, Patrick Lee singled to lead off the bottom half of the inning and then stole second and third. A Bennett Lee sacrifice fly made it 5-2.

CJ Weins and Colin Fields tossed hitless innings to seal the deal, with Fields picking up his second save.

Gold: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, K

McGonigle: 1-4, R, RBI, 2B, K

Pacheco: 2-3, R, K

Castillo (W, 2-3): 5.2 IP, 0 R, H, BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday night.

Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 6, Lakeland Flying Tigers 5 (box )

The offense had a solid night at the plate, but the bullpen blew up to lose this one late on Friday.

The scoring opened in the second when Garrett Pennington was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He was wild pitched to second and then third with one out. Jose De La Cruz struck out, but Abel Bastidas reached on a grounder that went for a throwing error, and the Flying Tigers held a 1-0 lead. It was 2-0 after Woody Hadeen launched his fourth homer in the third inning. In the fifth, Hadeen walked, stole second, and scored on a Samuel Gil single for a 3-0 lead.

RJ Sales got the first three frames and he blanked the Mussels despite only one strikeout. Lucas Elissalt was better, throwing three scoreless frames with four punchouts, continuing to look like a pretty interesting young arm.

In the sixth, Stephen Hrustich doubled and later scored on a Sergio Tapia single. Samuel Gil singled and scored in the seventh, and it was 5-0 at that point.

Unfortunately, Ignacio Briceno, Jorger Petri, and Chris Williams Jr. all struggled in relief. Each allowed a pair of runs, with Williams inheriting a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the ninth and blowing the save.

Hadeen: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB, 3 K, SB

Tapia: 2-4, RBI, K

Gil: 3-5, R, RBI, K

Elissalt: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: With a 2-1 lead in the rain afflicted series, the Flying Tigers will try to win the series at 6:05 p.m. ET on Saturday.