Thayron Liranzo homers; Bryce Rainer rakes as Tigers affiliates go undefeated on Friday night

Scores, news, and notes from the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Friday, April 25, 2025.

Toledo Mud Hens vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (postponed April 26)

Coming Up Next: With the series tie at least secured, Toledo only needs to win one of two games on Saturday to secure the series. Matt Manning (9.60 ERA) is the Game 1 starter for the Mud Hens, and the second game announcement should come within an hour after the first contest finishes.

Erie SeaWolves 8, Harrisburg Senators 5 (box )

A five-run third put Erie comfortably ahead until a three-run eighth was necessary to win, 8-5, Friday night.

Jake Miller gives up runs in a way that doesn’t feel urgent. The back-to-back doubles poked into right field in the second inning to score the game’s first run hardly felt competitive, and a trio of consecutive singles for just one run in the third didn’t seem too bad either. Maybe it’s the five-run frame between the two, or the fact that Miller is becoming a solid starter for Erie.

Miller spent most of 2024 coming out of the bullpen, working multiple innings per appearance. A move back to the starting rotation has been fine for him at the Double-A level so far. He’s gone at least four innings in each of four outings, and three of his four earned runs came in the game Friday night. His 17 swing and misses are second among the Double-A arms in action last night.

As mentioned above, Erie scored five in the third to control the tempo of a game Harrisburg was chipping away at. Max Anderson started a two-out rally with an RBI single to score Jim Jarvis, who walked earlier in the frame. Thayron Liranzo found the right side of the fence line in left-center, scoring Trei Cruz and Anderson on a three-run homer. Jake Holton added his own home run for good measure, making it 5-1, Erie.

However, Harrisburg’s starter, Hyun-il Choi, didn’t have a bad night. Most, if not all, of the damage done came in that third inning. He didn’t allow another baserunner through the sixth and struck out Holton and Liranzo the next time around.

The Senators kept chipping away at Miller, with Yohandy Morales taking him deep in the fifth to make it 5-3. RJ Petit took over in the sixth and immediately left a breaking ball up in the zone for a triple in the gap. An easy sacrifice fly made it a one-run game after six, and Morales tied things up in the seventh with an RBI double. The Senators sent the runner home to take the lead, but a relay play at the plate stopped the rally cold.

Eliezer Alfonzo broke the tie in the eighth with a sacrifice fly off Holde Powell to score Liranzo, who reached earlier on a walk. Holton doubled the runners into scoring position, and Chris Meyers walked to set up the bases-loaded, go-ahead situation. Roberto Campos walked, setting things back up for Jim Jarvis, who doubled in Holton and Meyers to blow things wide open.

Yosber Sanchez made his Double-A debut, pitching through a downpour in the eighth and ninth innings. The Senators didn’t get to play their final two outs because of the rain, and Erie took the win after a short break.

Anderson: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K

Liranzo: 2-4, 2B (3), HR (2), 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K

Holton: 2-5, 2B (4), HR (4), 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 3 K

Miller: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K; 73 pitches (56 strikes)

Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves have a 3-1 series lead and can secure a series win on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET with Garrett Burhenn (2.25 ERA) on the mound.

West Michigan Whitecaps 10, Dayton Dragons 2 (box )

Six of the 12 runs scored in the Whitecaps’ Friday night win came in the ninth, but West Michigan looked like the better team throughout the game.

Carlos Marcano gave his normal two times through the order with a good amount of efficiency. He walked one and hit another batter, but the five strikeouts and one unearned run more than make up for it. Marcano saw the lone run score in the third after he made a fielding error on a ball between the mound and first. That runner ended up scoring, but it was the only blemish on Marcano’s final line.

Andrew Jenkins started a three-run Whitecaps second with a solo homer to left-center field. Izaac Pacheco doubled to the right side and scored on a Jack Penney single. Abel Bastidas slapped a triple by the right fielder to bring in another. Brett Callahan tripled in John Peck and Jenkins doubled in Callahan to make it a 5-1 lead.

West Michigan’s bullpen combined for 5 ¹⁄₃ innings of one-run ball to close out Friday’s win. Colin Fields earned the win since Marcano didn’t go five, Preston Howey gave a one-hit performance in the seventh and CJ Weins navigated the eighth and most of the ninth before Jordan Marks came in to get the final out.

Howey got five out balls in his inning, but a couple of botched plays made things twice as hard. Weins went 1-2-3 in the eighth, but four of the first five batters he faced in the ninth reached, leading to Marks coming in.

It’s odd to see Marks get the chance to come in so late in the game, even with the bases loaded. The Whitecaps scored five to double their run total in the ninth. Bastidas, Seth Stephenson and Peck hit consecutive singles to score the first run.

Callahan walked to reload the bases, Jenkins grounded into an out that scored a run and Peyton Graham put them full once again with a walk. Jack Penney made it 8-1 by walking in a run, and Bennett Lee made good on the entire sequence with a two-run double.

Peck: 2-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K

Jenkins: 2-5, HR (3), 2B (3), 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K

Marcano: 3.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K; 76 pitches (46 strikes)

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps look to take the series lead on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET with Rayner Castillo (3.00 ERA) on the mound

Lakeland Flying Tigers 9, Bradenton Marauders 6 (box )

Things went back and forth for the first four innings of the game, but a six-run sixth inning for the Flying Tigers put Lakeland out in front to take the win Friday, 9-6.

Gabriel Reyes got a pair of strikeouts to start his outing and then allowed a single and a two-run homer before the first inning ended. A pair of singles in the second got back to him for another run, but Lakeland cut into that three-run lead with a Bryce Rainer ground-rule double and Franyerber Montilla grounded out to score a pair in the third. Rainer’s 412-foot double was the furthest hit ball in Single-A games and the second hardest hit ball (111.2 mph exit velocity).

One more run scored on Reyes in the fourth off a leadoff double and a one-out RBI single. Six of the eight base hits Reyes allowed were on the fastball, and he’s getting hit on it too hard while trying to set up the slider.

Zack Lee worked the next four innings in relief after that ugly eight-run outing last week. Lee was excellent, striking out four and walking just one while giving up a pair of hits. He faced very little stress in this outing and did well with a 1-2-3 inning after a long scoring inning from the offense.

The Flying Tigers plated six runs in the sixth, starting with a pair of walks from Greiber Mendez. A pair of strikeouts almost bailed Mendez out, but the baseball gods have a way of making right on things like that and got Patrick Lee his game-tying, two-run double before the pitching change.

The two-out rally only spiraled on after Tyler Kennedy took over for Mendez. Woody Hadeen walked, Rainer walked to reload the bases and Montilla walked to give Lakeland the lead. Brennan Malone was next and walked in two runs of his own. He also hit Samuel Gil to bring in a sixth run during the sixth.

Garrett Pennington added one more insurance run with an RBI liner to left that scored Rainer. Konnor Griffin homered for the Marauders in the top of the ninth, but Shay Timmer stayed in to get through the final frame of a game that was out of reach for innings.

Rainer: 1-2, 2B (2), 2 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 0 K, SB (2)

Montilla: 2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

Reyes: 4.0 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 3 K; 43 pitches (33 strikes)

Lee: (W, 1-2) 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K; 51 pitches (37 strikes)

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers look to claim a series win on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Lakeland has no scheduled starter listed.