Tigers Minor League Baseball Blog

Mike Hessman homered for the fifth time in ten games as he continued to knock the ball over the fence.  It was his seventeenth homerun of the season and he finished the game two for three with a double, the homerun, two RBIs and two runs.  Dane Sardinha went two for four with a double, a homerun, two RBIs and two runs.

Dennis Tankersley threw a gem in the Hens 9-2 win.  He improved to 6-3 on the season and have gave up two hits and a walk with four strikeouts in six shutout innings.

Just about everybody was a hitting star in the Mud Hens 15-3 blowout win but David Espinosa was a notch above the rest.  He went four for six with a homerun, four RBIs and four runs.  Timo Perez also had a nice game and he went four for six with a double, an RBI and three runs.

Yorman Bazardo had a nice start.  He improved to 4-3 on the season with a complete game.  He gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Seven of the eight runs in the Mud Hens 8-6 over the Yankees came via the longball.  Ryan Rayburn went yard with his tenth of the season and Mike Hessman hit his 15th.   Both of those were two run shots.  Then David Espinosa hit a three run shot that proved to be the game winner.  All three homers came against a tough Yankees pitcher in Chase Wright.

Dennis Tankersley picked up the win although he used just about all of the runs the Hens gave him.  He gave up six runs on nine hits and one walk with one strikeout in 5 1/3 innings.  The win pushed his record to 5-3 on the season.

Toledo still trails first place Indianapolis by three games in the western division of the International League.  Louisville is also hot on their tails in what’s turning out to be a race that any of the four teams have a chance at winning.  The Hens do lead the Wild Card race by a half game so they may have that to fall back on.

The Mud Hens beat the Yankees 7-0 and Ron Chiavacci got it done on the mound.  He gave up four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings of relief.  Jordan Tata made his first start of the season and he threw three scoreless frames.

Ryan Rayburn walked in all five of his at bats and he scored twice in the win.  Mike Hessman went two for five and he belted a grand slam.

Virgil Vasquez improved to 6-2 on the season with a nice bounce back start over the Yankees.  He gave up three runs on five hits and a walk with nine strikeouts in six innings of work.

Chris Shelton was the hitting star in the 4-3 win.  He went two for four with a two run homer.  Chris Maples also contributed at the plate and he went three for four with two doubles, a run and an RBI.

The Mud Hens didn’t have much of a chance in this one as they ran into a Roger Clemens on his game in a 2-0 loss to the Yankees.  In all, the Hens managed just three hits and none of them were for extra bases.  Mike Hessman was the only Hen to reach base twice with a single and a walk.

Corey Hamman had a pretty good start wasted.  He gave up one run on six hits with two strikeouts in six innings of work.

Ryan Rayburn had a career today in the Mud Hens 14-5 win over the Clippers.  He went four for five and he hit for the cycle.  He drove in three and scored three in the win.  Mike Hessman hit his thirteenth homer of the season and he drove in four runs while Kevin Hooper scored three times.

Yorman Bazardo coasted to an easy win with all of the offense.  He gave up one run on six hits and four walks with one strikeout in six innings and the win improved his record to 3-3 on the season.

Dennis Tankersley dropped to 4-3 on the season with a rough start in the Mud Hens 8-5 loss to the Clippers.  He gave up seven runs on ten his and a walk in just three innings.

Timo Perez was the hitting star in the loss.  He went three for four with two doubles.  Chris Shelton also had a nice game.  He went two for three with a double and two runs and after a slow star, Shelton has brought his batting average up to .280 on the season.

Ron Chiavacci had a nice start in the Hens 8-1 win over the Clippers.  He gave up just a single run on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in seven solid innings.  The win improved Chiavacci’s record to 2-4 on the season.

Ryan Rayburn tripled, drove in two and scored a run.  David Espinosa went two for five with two doubles, an RBI and two runs.

The Mud Hens came from behind from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Columbus Clippers 7-6.  Virgil Vasqeuz picked up the win although he was hardly stellar.  He gave up five runs on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts in five innings of work.

Mike Hessman had the big hit with a grand slam in the fifth inning.  Chris Shelton is starting to heat up and he went two for three with a double, three walks and two runs scored.

Ian Ostlund gave up three late runs to the Knights but Jeremy Johnson came in and pitched the ninth to stop the damage and help the Hens hold on for the win.  Zach Miner picked up his first minor league win with a solid start.  He gave up two runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.

Ramon Santiago had three stolen bases and ironically they were his first three of the season.  Mike Hessman went two for three with a homerun and two RBIs.

Christopher Maples singled home David Espinosa in the bottom of the eleventh to win it for the Mud Hens.  Maples finished two for five with a triple, two RBIs and a run.  Espinosa finished with two runs.

Yorman Bazardo was roughed up in the Mud Hens win but the pen and hitters picked him up.  He gave up four runs in five innings and Jeremy Johnson picked up the win with a shutout eleventh.

The Mud Hens took care of the Knights 9-3 and Timo Perez led the way at the plate.  He went three for five with a double, a homerun, three RBIs and three runs.  Ramon Santiago also had three hits in the game while Chris Shelton finished with two hits and two runs.

Dennis Tankersley picked up the win and he improved to 4-2 on the season.  He gave up two runs on eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Ron Chiavacci dropped to 1-4 with a tough start for the Hens.  He gave up six runs on seven hits and five walks with four strikeouts in four innings of work.

Jack Hannahan had a nice day at the plate in the 8-2 loss.  He went three for four with a double and an RBI.  Chris Shelton went two for four with a double and he scored a run.

The Mud Hens came back from a 7-0 deficit to beat Louisville and they had some late inning heroics to get it done.  Mike Hessman drove home Ryan Rayburn in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra frames while David Espinosa scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the tenth to win it.  Dane Sardinha had a nice day at the plate and he went two for five with a double and three RBIs.

Virgil Vasquez was hit hard in the early parts of this game and he gave up seven runs in five innings.  You see this happen sometime.  A pitcher will tear it up in the minors, struggle in the majors and then when he gets sent back down, he struggles some more.  Hopefully Vasquez can get back on track in his next start.

Vic Darensbourg got it done in relief and he picked up the win.  He gave up just two hits and a walk with three strikeouts in three innings.

The Mud Hens took two in their doubleheader with the Bats and in the process, they ended a three game losing streak.  The first game was a pitcher’s duel with the two teams combining for two hits in the Hens 1-0 win.  Chris Shelton doubled and scored the only run on Jack Hannahan’s ground out.

Jonathan Connelly had a very nice start in his season debut with the Hens.  He gave up just one hit and one walk with three strikeouts in seven shutout innings.  The 24 year old is having a solid season and he’s now lowered his season ERA (combined between Erie and Toledo) to 2.88.

The second game was also a one run game with the Hens coming out on top 4-3.  Mike Hessman provided most of the offense with a two run homer.  Andrew Graham also went yard with a solo shot and Jason Karnuth picked up the win despite blowing his save in the seventh inning.

It took two days and eleven innings, but the Mud Hens finally finished their postponed game from yesterday with the Bats. Unfortunately, it was a 5-4 11 inning loss.  Corey Hamman got the most work and he threw 3 2/3 shutout innings while Ian Ostlund gave up two runs in the eleventh and he took the loss.

Mike Hessman provided the bulk of the Mud Hens offense with a double, a homerun and he drove in all four runs.  Timo Perez doubled twice and he scored a run in the loss.

Three hits normally won’t cut it and while Dennis Tankersley threw a good game, the Hens didn’t give him any support in a 3-1 loss to Pawtucket.  Chris Shelton had the only extra base hit of the game with a double and he also drove in the only run for the Mudhens.

Tankersley gave up two runs on ten hits and four walks with six strikeouts.  The loss dropped him to 3-2 on the season.

You have to feel for Ron Chiavacci.  He gave up just one run on five hits with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings only to see the pen blow the game in the ninth and lose it in the tenth.  Jason Karnuth gave up the two ninth inning runs to send the game into extra frames before Jeremy Johnson took the loss when he gave up a run in the tenth.

Mike Hessman was a perfect three for three and he scored one run.  Dane Sardinha only had one hit, but it was a two run shot in the third inning.