West Michigan completes comeback while Jaden Hamm gets hammered by Akron

Scores, news, and notes from the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Friday, April 18, 2025.

Indianapolis Indians 5, Toledo Mud Hens 4 (box )

Toledo took an early lead but couldn’t hang on in an 11-inning affair that ended in an Indianapolis walk-off double, 5-4.

Akil Baddoo hit a leadoff home run on a middle-middle fastball to start things off, and David Hensley hit a two-run homer in the second, putting Toledo out in front, 3-0.

Wilkel Hernandez was nearly perfect the first time through Indianapolis’ lineup. The 9-hole hitter, Tsung-Che Cheng, notched a two-out single in the third, but Hernandez looked dominant with six strikeouts through the first 10 batters.

The Indians finally got to him on the fourth, with a leadoff double from Nick Yorke and a Matt Gorski sacrifice fly to score him. Hernandez ended his night on the right note, going 1-2-3 in the fifth. For a career minor leaguer, Hernandez looked like an elite arm for Toledo, drawing 15 whiffs and nine called strikes on 70 total pitches. His changeup was particularly effective, with four out of the seven thrown drawing a swing and miss.

Unfortunately, Chase Lee gave away the Mud Hens’ lead with a three-run sixth. A leadoff walk served as a bad omen, and a sac fly brought things within one. Another walk put the go-ahead run on base, and a back-to-back-to-back singles made good on that promise. Lee was all over the place with his sinker and sweeper, but he’s had solid control all year. Prior to this outing, Lee had 10 strikeouts and one walk. His two walks and no strikeouts tonight are uncharacteristic.

Toledo tied it back up in the seventh. Akil Baddoo singled, Riley Unroe doubled to put men on the corners and Jace Jung grounded out to short to Baddoo in. That’s all the hitting the Mud Hens had left, though, except for a two-out single in the top of the ninth from Baddoo.

Andrew Chafin took over in the seventh. He gave up a leadoff single and walked two but got out of the jam without letting a run score. Chafin’s ERA has gone down in each of his four appearances since that three-run outing against Rock Round, but his WHIP remains at 1.70, and things rarely look easy. Some consistency is needed before he’s ready for a call-up back to the big leagues.

The rest of the bullpen was solid. Ryan Miller gave up a one-out single in the ninth, but that was the only batter to reach base against him over two innings. PJ Poulin only faced two batters in the 10th, with the extra-inning runner at second getting caught stealing by Stephen Scott. Brendan White took the loss in the 11th on a leadoff double in the right-center gap.

Baddoo: 3-4, HR (1), 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 B, 0 K

Jung: 0-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K

Hensley: 1-3, HR (1), 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K

Hernandez: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K; 70 pitches (47 strikes)

Coming Up Next: Down 1-3 in the series, Toledo needs to win the next two to split the series. Lael Lockhart (7.20 ERA) is on the mound Saturday at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Akron RubberDucks 9, Erie SeaWolves 5 (box )

The Erie SeaWolves lost back-to-back games for the first time in 2025 with Friday’s 9-5 defeat.

Jaden Hamm gave up three home runs in arguably the worst statistical start of his minor league career. The first two came before Hamm recorded his first out. He struck out the side to end the first and avoided any trouble in the second with three consecutive outs after walking the leadoff man, but the home run bug bit him again in the third.

Hamm’s stuff didn’t look bad, for the most part. The three homers came off his fastball — two up in the zone and one middle-middle — but once he established the curve in and out of the zone, the heater worked much better. Hamm struck out last year’s top overall pick and the No. 9 prospect in baseball, Travis Bazzana, to end his outing and notched a season-high seven strikeouts.

Fortunately, Hamm didn’t take the loss thanks to a pair of two-run homers in the fourth and fifth innings. Jake Holton’s two-run tank came first, a no-doubter to left field.

Max Anderson found the jet stream in right-center for his second of the year in the fifth. Anderson finished the game with four hits, raising his average to .277 and OPS to .869 on the year. All of his hits went to the right side, which is his trademark.

Erie briefly took the lead in the sixth. A two-out Eduardo Valencia single scored Roberto Campos, who reached on catcher’s interference.

Dylan Smith continues to be effective at the Double-A level, lowering his ERA to 1.13 with 1.1 hitless innings. He walked two to no harm and struck out two, pitching through the sixth.

Troy Watson didn’t have as much success in the seventh, giving up three runs and the lead. Watson got in trouble quickly, walking the leadoff man and giving up a single that came right back at it him and put men on the corners. Erie’s trainer came out to check on Watson, but he stayed in the game, only to see a couple of close calls go against him.

Seawolves manager Andrew Graham got tossed after chirping the umpire from the dugout. The ejection came after a checked swing was called a ball. Graham came out to get his money’s worth before taking the long walk out to the clubhouse behind center field.

Watson walked Bazzana to load the bases and walked Cooper Ingle to bring in a run, tying the game. The walk to Ingle could have been called a strikeout on the fifth pitch, but the umpire didn’t give it to him and Erie failed to challenge. Kahlil Watson gave the Rubberducks a two-run lead with a single up the middle before Troy Watson struck out the next three batters to finally get out of the inning.

Drew Sommers gave up his first home run of the year in the eighth. Sommers has been very effective this season through four appearances, but Jake Fox had his number Friday night. Alex Mooney fought back from a 0-2 count to single into right, stole second and scored on a one-out big fly to dead center from Fox. Sommers also threw the ninth, drawing three consecutive groundouts to retire the side.

Valencia homered in the bottom of the ninth with hopes of sparking a rally. Anderson and Eliezer Alfonzo hit back-to-back singles to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Anderson: 4-5, HR (2), 2 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K

Valencia: 2-4, HR (1), 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K

Holton: 1-5, HR (1), 2 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K

Hamm (ND): 4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K; 78 pitches (50 strikes)

Coming Up Next: With the series all tied up at two games apiece, Jake Miller (0.00 ERA) takes the mound for Erie on Saturday at 1:35 ET.

West Michigan Whitecaps 6, South Bend Cubs 4 (box )

Rain delayed the start of the Whitecaps game, but it also played a role in the final innings, aiding West Michigan in a four-run eighth that led to a comeback, 6-4, win.

Things started off pretty ugly with a pair of two-run homers coming in the first inning off Andrew Sears. That’s all the damage South Bend managed for the rest of the night, though, as the bullpen locked in on a long night of work, taking over from Sears in the second.

Haden Erbe continues to be hittable but effective at times, posting his best line since joining the Tigers organization — 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Erbe was the first of four Whitecaps relievers to deliver a pair of scoreless frames. Jordan Marks was next out and was lights out, retiring the first five batters he faced with three strikeouts. A two-out single in the fifth did no harm.

The Whitecaps chipped away with a run in the second inning — Brett Callahan doubled and a pair of ground outs brought him around — and another in the fifth thanks to an Archer Brookman RBI double that scored Luke Gold from first.

Marco Jimenez took over on the mound in the sixth and went 1-2-3. He ran into a little trouble in the seventh with a one-out walk and double, but the lead runner was held up and never scored. Jimenez walked the bases loaded and dialed in for a pair of strikeouts to escape the jam.

Preston Howey earned the win after taking over in the eighth. He erased a leadoff single by inducing a double play and struck out the third batter to face the minimum.

West Michigan had other opportunities to score — a two-out Max Clark double that turned into an out at third in the third, and a one-out Seth Stephenson triple in the sixth — but it took an act of God to get the job done in the bottom of the eighth. With rain coming down hard, Abel Bastidas singled to open the inning, and Max Clark walked to put the tying run on base. Stephenson singled to the left side to bring the Whitecaps within one run.

John Peck singled to load the bases and force South Bend to change pitchers. New arm Marino Santy promptly hit the next two batters, handing West Michigan the lead. Santy struck out Jack Penney and got Gold to pop out, but he walked Archer Bookman to double the Whitecaps’ lead.

Howey came back out and went 1-2-3 to secure his third win of the year.

Clark: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K

Stephenson: 2-4, 3B (1), 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K

Brookman: 1-3, 2B (2), 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

Sears: 1.0 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 HR; 33 pitches (19 strikes)

Coming Up Next: With the series locked up (4-0), West Michigan shifts its focus to sweeping the week with a pair of wins over the weekend. Carlos Marcano (4.70 ERA) is scheduled to pitch on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

Dunedin Blue Jays 11, Lakeland Flying Tigers 7 (box )

Zack Lee struggled in this, delivering the worst start of his career. Dunedin got to him for eight runs over 3-plus innings, starting with a two-run homer in the first. Five straight hits, including another two-run shot, made it 5-0 in the second, and a double play allowed one more to score in the inning. Lee put together a 1-2-3 third inning, but he hit the first batter he saw in the fourth. A single through the left side forced him out of the game.

Jorger Petri took over and walked the bases loaded. Another double play scored the seventh Blue Jays run of the day, and a line drive up the middle made it 8-0. Petri didn’t have his best stuff, spiking a ball in the dirt to move the runner over. Two more runs scored on base hits, going on Petri’s record, before the inning ended.

It took Lakeland 4.1 innings to get its first hit, a double to center field that scored Cristian Santana, who reached on a walk. Jose De La Cruz followed up with a single to right field, scoring another, and David Smith made it three hits in a row with a single to left. Dunedin went to the bullpen, but it didn’t work. Patrick Lee singled in Lakeland’s third run, but the deficit remained at seven with an inning-ending flyout to deep left field from Bryce Rainer.

Petri had a much better fifth inning, going 1-2-3, and Lakeland kept hitting in the top of the sixth. Carson Rucker led off with a single, a pair of wild pitches moved him to third and Ricardo Hurtado brought him in. Smith singled to make it a five-run game, but another Dunedin pitching change killed the rally.

Thomas Bruss took over for Petri after a leadoff walk in the sixth. A botched pickoff attempt sent the runner to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly. Bruss got out of the inning without allowing a man to reach base, though.

Lakeland scored a run in the seventh and eighth innings to make it a four-run game, but overcoming an early eight-run deficit is a tall order. Santana drove in Rucker with a single in the seventh, and a wild pitch scored Smith in the eighth.

Bruss had a solid night, striking out three and not allowing a hit through two frames. Yosber Sanchez threw a clean eighth, walking one with no hits. Six of Sanchez’s eight fastballs came in at 97 mph or faster.

Rainer: 0-4, 0 BB, 2 K

Montilla: 0-4, 0 BB, 2 K

Rucker: 2-5, 2B (3), 0 BB, 1 K

Lee: 3.0 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; 69 pitches (45 strikes)

Coming Up Next: The series is tied 2-2 with Lakeland and Dunedin back in action at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. No starter is listed for the Flying Tigers.