Scores, news, and notes from around the Detroit Tigers’ farm system for Thursday, July 3, 2025.
Columbus Clippers 3, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box )
Joe Miller’s first Triple-A start didn’t go badly but the Hens offense couldn’t provide much to help him on Thursday.
With the Hens in need of some innings, the journeyman minor league southpaw was moved up from West Michigan for this one. He gave up a pair of runs in the top of the first, but from there he settled in fine and went six innings. A Petey Halpin solo shot in the fourth was his only other blemish on the outing.
Akil Baddoo drew a walk in the bottom of the first, and was wild pitched to second and then another one got him to third where he scored on a Jace Jung single. The Hens managed just three more singles on the day in a really poor offensive effort.
Trevin Michael is another veteran minor leaguer who has been in the system for years without advancing. His first Triple-A outing went very well, and so did his second one on Thursday night. He struck out three over two scoreless innings of work. Beau Brieske walked a batter and struck out two in the top of the ninth.
Jung: 1-4, RBI, 2 K
Baddoo: 0-3, R, BB, 2 K
Miller (L, 0-1): 6.0 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: The Clippers have a 2-1 lead in the series heading into Friday night’s 4:05 p.m. ET start.
Akron RubberDucks 7, Erie SeaWolves 3 (box )
Austin Bergner gave the SeaWolves a solid outing, but the bullpen stumbled late and the offense was no help at all.
Bergner pitched into the sixth, allowing three runs, but he did strike out seven. He also got zero run support. The SeaWolves had a couple of baserunners early but didn’t do anything with them. By the time they put some runs on the board the RubberDucks already had six.
RJ Petit took over in the sixth and finished the inning for Bergner. In the seventh he allowed the first two home runs he’s allowed all year, one a two-run shot, and it was 6-0.
Carlos Mendoza got the SeaWolves on the board in the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot to start the inning. A pair of walks and a Trei Cruz ground out set the table, and a single from Thayron Liranzo made it 6-2.
In the bottom of the eighth, Jake Holton walked and took second on a Roberto Campos double with one out. Holton eventually scored on a grounder by Eliezer Alfonzo, but that was all they’d get.
Duque Hebbert was up from Single-A to help out in this one, and he gave up a run in the ninth.
Liranzo: 2-5, RBI, K
Holton: 2-4, R, 2B, BB
Bergner (L, 5-4): 5.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves will look to stop their skid on Friday at 7:05 p.m as the series moves to Akron. The RubberDucks lead the series 3-0.
West Michigan Whitecaps 2, Great Lakes Loons 1 (F/10)(box )
Well at least we can still count on the Whitecaps. The offense had a rare quiet day at the plate, but the pitching staff was nails as usual, and Max Clark came through when it counted with a walkoff single.
Colin Fields got the start in this one and he was pretty good. The right-hander struck out seven against one walk issued. The one hit he allowed was a solo shot by a good shortstop prospect in Zyhir Hope in the fourth.
The Whitecaps drew plenty of walks and had chances at a rally, but they couldn’t get anything going until two walks and two hit batters forced in a run in the eighth. The Whitecaps have seen Kevin McGonigle get hit in the head once this series, and Seth Stephenson and then Josue Briceño getting hit in this one is not cooling the bad blood simmering under the surface of this series.
Micah Ashman locked down the ninth, striking out Josue De Paula and Hope. The lefty continues to look pretty promising.
Carlos Lequerica took over in the top of the 10th and immediately got a ground out to McGonigle, who looked the runner on second back before firing to first. McGonigle then booted a grounder, but Lequerica got a double play ball to escape the inning unscathed.
That set the Whitecaps up to walk this one off, and they did. With Stephenson on second, McGonigle was pitched around and eventually walked. Clark chopped a grounder to second, and the Loons threw it away. Stephenson raced around to score and that was that.
SPEED ALL AROUND WALKS-IT-OFF!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/lPOujk6KPa
— West Michigan Whitecaps (@wmwhitecaps) July 4, 2025
Clark: 3-4, BB
Briceno: 1-3, RBI, 2B, K
Fields: 4.0 IP, ER, H, BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: The series moves to Midland on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Lakeland Flying Tigers at Dunedin Blue Jays (postponed)
Rain washed this one out in Dunedin on Thursday. The series moves to Lakeland on Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. ET.
FCL Yankees 2, FCL Tigers 0 (F/5)(box )
Rain shut this one down early as well. Jatnk Diaz pitched fairly well, but in the fourth he allowed a single a a double to start the inning, and then hit a batter. Catcher Enrique Jimenez threw the ball away on a backpick attempt to allow a run. Diaz punched out the next batter, and third baseman Javier Osorio cut down a runner trying to score on a ground ball. However, Diaz then wild pitched in the second run of the inning. The Tigers managed just one hit.