TMLR Recap April 7th: Toledo Nearly Makes History, Lakeland Stays Perfect

Toledo, West Michigan, and Lakeland celebrated their home openers while Erie traveled to Maryland.

Triple-A: Toledo Mud Hens (W 1-0) vs. St. Paul Saints – 4-6 Overall

It was Opening Day in Toledo, and the Mud Hens celebrated by very nearly making history. Lael Lockhart drew the start, and he was brilliant, tossing five scoreless frames, with a walk to former Tiger Ryan Kreidler the only blemish in his outing. Lockhart only notched one strikeout, but he kept his defense involved. And he got a little help, including on a great grab by Max Clark on the first pitch of the game.

Clark also got the offense going, with a sharp, one-out single in the bottom of the 1st. He quickly swiped second base for his fourth steal of the season. That set the table for Hao-Yu Lee, making his 2026 Mud Hens debut after beginning the year on the Injured List. Lee dropped a single into shallow left center, scoring Clark. That proved to be the only run of the game.

Meanwhile, the Mud Hens pitchers kept firing zeroes. All the way into the 9th inning, when St. Paul finally managed a hit. It was a blooper that just glanced off Gage Workman’s glove, and it spoiled what would have been an historic afternoon. But Ricky Vanasco promptly struck out the next two batters to secure the 1-0 victory for Toledo.

Here’s how the Mud Hens lost their no-hitter with one out in the 9th… pic.twitter.com/cZDDV72jbs

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 7, 2026

Toledo: 

Max Clark 2/4, R, SB(4)
Trei Cruz 1/4, 2K
Hao-Yu Lee 1/4, K, RBI
Corey Julks 1/3, 2B
Ben Malgeri 1/3, 3B, K

Lael Lockhart
5IP 0H 0R BB K

Burch Smith
IP 2K

Konnor Pilkington
1.1 IP 2BB K

Ricky Vanasco
1.2IP H BB 5K

Erie SeaWolves (L 4-1) at Chesapeake Baysox – 1-3 Overall

As luck would have it, we found ourselves less than an hour away from Prince George’s Stadium in Maryland. So we decided to drop in to the game and see Erie in person for the first time this year. It was cold. So were the bats, for both teams. Chesapeake’s starter, lefty Sebastian Gongora, befuddled Erie’s hitters with a variety of breaking balls and well-timed fastballs, racking up 7 strikeouts in 3.2 innings. The SeaWolves went with a bullpen game, and Tanner Kohlhepp drew opener duties. He looked good, mostly staying in the zone and getting soft contact.

The first hit of the game was a sharp oppo double off the bat of John Peck. Andrew Jenkins followed with an oppo knock of his own to bring home Peck. But that was the extent of Erie’s offense on the night. They had a number of chances to add more runs, including getting two on with no outs against former Tigers prospect Micah Ashman, and a bases-loaded opportunity in the 9th that began with Izaac Pacheco’s first Double-A hit. But Baysox pitchers wriggled out of every jam, with some help from their defense.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for the SeaWolves hurlers. They managed to hold Chesapeake batters to just two hits, but they allowed nine walks. One run scored on a wild pitch, and two more crossed the plate on sacrifice flies. And that was all the Baysox needed to win.

Andrew Jenkins’ great start to the season continues with an RBI single into right center. The @erie_seawolves lead 1-0 in the 4th. pic.twitter.com/utZrpN2kSa

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 7, 2026

Seth Stephenson 0/2, BB, 2K, 3SB(4)
Brett Callahan 1/4, 2K, SB(3)
John Peck 1/4, 2B, R, 2K
Izaac Pacheco 1/4, 2K
Andrew Jenkins 1/4, RBI, 3K
Chris Meyers 1/3, 2B, BB

Tanner Kohlhepp
2IP BB K

John Stankiewicz
2IP H 2BB 4K

Wandisson Charles
IP BB 2K

West Michigan Whitecaps (L 7-3) vs. Great Lakes Loons – 2-2 Overall

We also happened to be at West Michigan’s Opening Day. We’re everywhere. It was also rather cold at LMCU Ballpark, and the Whitecaps bats were extremely quiet. West Michigan’s starter Gabriel Reyes was making his High-A debut, and things didn’t start great for him. He walked the first batter he faced on four pitches and, after a steal, allowed an RBI single. Reyes labored through a 28-pitch inning, but he did pick up two strikeouts.

The Whitecaps offense seemed poised to battle back thanks to three consecutive one-out walks. But a Ricardo Hurtado double play snuffed out that rally. Reyes notched two more walks and two more strikeouts in the 2nd inning, but things fully unraveled in the third. A walk, a Cristian Santana error and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs. Two flyballs resulted in just one run, but then a stolen base and a throwing error allowed another run to score. And Reyes’ day was done after he allowed a two-run homer to Victor Rodrigues.

The Whitecaps bullpen did an admirable job afterward, giving up just two runs on a handful of hits the rest of the way. But West Michigan’s offense could never get going. A Samuel Gil single in the 5th marked their first hit, while a pair of wild pitches brought home their first run. They didn’t threaten again until the 9th, when another wild pitch and an RBI single from Gil made the final score slightly more respectable.

Jackson Strong 0/3, BB, 2K, SB
Roberto Campos 1/3, R, BB, K
Garrett Pennington 0/2, R, 2BB, K
Stephen Hrustich 0/2, R, 2BB, K
Samuel Gil 2/4, RBI, K

Gabriel Reyes
2.2IP 2H 5R 1ER 5BB 4K

Carlos Lequerica
2IP H ER BB 3K

Inohan Paniagua
IP H 2K

Lakeland Flying Tigers (W 6-5) vs. Dayton Tortugas – 4-0 Overall

It was a wild, windy, whiffy day down in Lakeland as the two teams combined for 26 strikeouts, 14 walks, 4 wild pitches, and 2 errors, among other baseball calamities. But the Flying Tigers still managed to keep a perfect record with a win in their home debut.

Rehabbing lefty Bailey Horn got the start, retiring two and allowing one single before being taken out after 19 pitches. Things got a bit iffy after that, leading to a Tortugas run. And then Daytona’s starter Sheng-En Lin struck out the side in the bottom of the first, all on called third strikes. Tyler Owens worked around a one-out single in the 2nd inning, and then Lin completely lost the strike zone. Four walks and a Jude Warwick single led to two Lakeland runs, and the Flygers neve relinquished the lead again.

From a prospect perspective, the big story in this game was the professional debut of LHP Grayson Grinsell, Detroit’s 6th-round pick last year. He ended up earning the win, working four innings and allowed two runs while striking out six. Grinsell doesn’t have overpowering stuff, with a fastball that averaged just 91.3 MPH. But it works for him thanks to an atypical arm slot and an average of 19 inched of induced vertical break. But Grinsell’s changeup was the story here, drawing 8 whiffs on 11 swings for an absurd 73% whiff rate. He also had some help from his defenders, including a great bare-handed play by Carson Rucker, and an excellent leaping grab and double play from Jack Goodman.

Lakeland ultimately won in a very A-Ball sort of way. Daytona shortstop Rafhlmil Torres dropped a Bryce Rainer pop up with the bases loaded and two outs, allowing all three runs to score. Things got a little sketchy afterward when Eliseo Mota couldn’t find the strike zone. But Jorger Petri saved the day, firing 2 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings to earn his first career save.

The wind has been a factor in Lakeland tonight. This pop up by Bryce Rainer barely out of the infield caused three runs pic.twitter.com/Lh68ByQF3Q

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 8, 2026

Bryce Rainer 0/4, 2K, 2SB(2)
Jack Goodman 1/3, 2B, R, BB, K

Jude Warwick 1/4, R, 2K
Beau Ankeney 1/3, R, BB, K
Zach MacDonald 1/3, 2B, R, RBI, BB, K
Nolan McCarthy 1/2, R, RBI, 2BB

Bailey Horn (rehab)
0.2IP R 0ER K

Tyler Owens (rehab)
IP H

Grayson Grinsell
4IP 2H 2ER 2BB 6K

Jorger Petri
2.1IP BB 3K