Tigers Minor League Baseball Blog

The SeaWolves never had the lead in their contest with Trenton until the final at bat of the game when Max St. Pierre put a two run homer over the fence to give Erie a big 4-3 win.  Not too shabby from a career minor league catcher who’s struggled this season.  Cesar Nicolas had a nice game and he went two for four with two doubles and a run.

Duane Below had a solid start and he gave up a run on two hits with four strikeouts in five innings.  Brendan Wise improved to 1-0 with two innings of shutout relief.  Wise has been impressive this year.  He’s held the opposition to a .133 batting average and he’s gotten almost 2.5 groundball outs for every flyball.  This has all resulted in a 0.66 ERA on the season.

The SeaWolves finally picked up their first win of the season and they did it in dramatic fashion.  After the pen gave up two runs in the top of the ninth to give up the lead, Max St. Pierre then belted a two run walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth to win it.  It was nice because a solid start by Thad Weber almost went to waste.  He gave up a run on one hit and three walks with three strikeouts in six innings.  Ryan Ketchner picked up the win despite giving up four runs in three innings of relief.

St. Pierre had a big day at the plate.  The walk off home run was his second home run of the game and he finished three for four with three runs and three RBIs.  Shawn Roof went two for three with a run.

Jon Kibler fell to 6-7 on the season in Erie’s 6-4 loss despite having just two bad innings.  He gave up three runs in second and then he gave up two of the three runs that Connecticut scored in the eighth inning.  He ended up throwing 7 1/3 innings.  It’s been a mixed bag season for Kibler at Erie but keep in mind he skipped Lakeland so he’s definitely on a faster track.

Danny Worth doubled and drove in two runs.  Max St. Pierre went two for four with two doubles and a run.

The Hens beat Buffalo 10-6 and most of the attention was given to Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson, both of whom began their rehab assignments.  Nate Robertson got the start and he threw 39 pitches, 31 of which were strikes.  He did get in trouble in the third when he gave up a home run and left with a pair of baserunners, but the pen got him out of it.  Jeremy Bonderman threw a shutout fifth inning in which he didn’t give up a hit, but he didn’t strike anyone out.  Zach Simons picked up the win with 1 1/3 innings of shutout relief and Clay Rapada got the final four outs for his fifth save of the season.

Max St. Pierre had a big day at the plate.  He went four for four with a double, a home run, four RBIs and two runs.  Jeff Frazier went three for five with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs.

The good news is, Hens pitchers gave up just three runs over fourteen innings.  The bad news is, the Hens couldn’t manage a single run in a pair of losses to Buffalo.  In game one, a solid start by Chris Lambert went to waste.  He gave up one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts in six innings but he still fell to 4-7.  Don Kelly and Brent Dlugach singled and that was it.

In game two, the Hens managed seven hits but still couldn’t score.  Don Kelly and Max St. Pierre had two singled each in the 2-0 loss.  Scot Drucker fell to 7-3 and he gave up two runs on four hits with two strikeouts in five innings.

Brent Clevlen had a big day at the plate in the Hens 9-4 win over the Rochester Red Wings.  He went three for four with three RBIs.  Mike Hessman and Max St. Pierre also pitched in with home runs.

Brooks Brown picked up his first win of the season and he improved to 1-6.  He gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Brooks Brown fell to 0-6 on the season with a rough start in the Hens 7-3 loss to the SWB Yankees.  He gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

Brent Cleven was the hitting star in the loss.  He went three for four with a home run and two RBIs.  Max St. Pierre went two for four with a double and an RBI.