It was a disappointing night for the organization’s two playoff contenders, but we still saw some impressive individual performances, and couple notable debuts. Read all about it below!
Triple-A: Toledo Mud Hens (L 8-3) @ St. Paul Saints – 58-68 Overall
The Mud Hens dropped their fifth straight game, largely due to a lack of timely hitting, and the Saints’ power bats. St. Paul jumped all over Toledo starter Sawyer Gipson-Long in the 1st, bashing two 2-run homers to take what was ultimately an insurmountable lead. The Hens did claw back a bit with single runs in the 3rd and the 4th, but St. Paul got one right back with another homer in the bottom of the 4th.
Toledo tried to close the gap again in the 7th thanks to long hits from Josue Briceno and John Peck. But once again the Saints fought back with a back-breaking 2-out, 2-run single off Hayden Minton. They added another in the 8th, and the Mud Hens tapped out, with St. Paul reliever Julian Merryweather needing just six pitches to close out the 9th.
John Peck works an 11-pitch walk off former Tigers farmhand Jack Anderson to load the bases for Toledo. pic.twitter.com/Zwo2h7OUIp
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 26, 2026
Max Anderson 2/5, 2B, R, K
Josue Briceno 1/5, R
John Peck 2/3, BB
Michael Siani 1/4, R, 2K
Sawyer Gipson-Long
4.2IP 7H 5ER BB 5K 3HR
Brenan Hanifee
1.1 IP K
Hayden Minton
IP 3H 2ER BB 2K
Jack Little
IP 2H ER 2K
Erie SeaWolves (L 7-6) @ Altoona Curve – 35-17 2nd Half, 71-49 Overall
Woody Hadeen got the SeaWolves going early with a leadoff walk and a steal, which allowed him to score on a Thayron Liranzo single. The a two-out knock from E.J. Exposito put Erie up 2-0 early. The Curve fought back with a run in the 1st and three runs in 2nd, but Zyhir Hope got one of those runs back with a massive home run to dead center. Altoona pushed the lead to 5-3, but the the SeaWolves tied it when Seth Stephenson launched a 2-run homer to left.
The clubs trading goose eggs for the next few innings, though Erie tried to put pressure on by stealing bases, including Peyton Graham setting SeaWolves single-season record with his 60th steal. They finally broke through in the 9th when Hadeen and Hope led off with singles, and Liranzo hit a sac fly to make it a 6-5 game. The SeaWolves turned to Zane Barnhart in the bottom of the 9th, he quickly got two outs. But then two walks and two singles later the game was over, with Altoona celebrating a walk-off win.
The fastest man in MiLB!
Peyton Graham sets the SeaWolves single-season stolen base record🏃♂️ pic.twitter.com/x8PEU9gtDB
— Erie SeaWolves (@erie_seawolves) August 25, 2026
Woody Hadeen 2/4, 2R, BB, 2SB(22)
Zyhir Hope 2/5 HR(26), K
Thayron Liranzo 2/4, R, 2RBI
Peyton Graham 1/5, K, 2SB(60)
E.J. Exposito 2/5, RBI
Roberto Campos 1/3, R, BB, K
Seth Stephenson 1/4 HR(2), 2RBI
Carlos Pena
4.2IP 6H 5ER 3BB 4K
Marco Jimenez
1.1 IP 2H
Moises Rodriguez
2IP BB 3K
Zane Barnhart
0.2IP 2H 2ER 2BB
West Michigan Whitecaps (L 2-0) vs. Peoria Chiefs – 31-24Â 2nd Half, 55-64 Overall
The Whitecaps returned home to LMCU Ballpark, but apparently they left the offense back in Indiana. Playing without Bryce Rainer, who left Sunday’s game after the 8th inning, West Michigan managed just two hits on the night. And with the loss they fell out of first place with 11 games left in the season. It was a great pitcher’s duel through five innings, with Peoria starter Cade Crossland befuddling the Whitecaps hitters, and Rayner Castillo managing to pitch around a couple of errors. But Peoria broke through with two runs in the 6th, and though West Michigan put two runners on in the 7th and the 8th, they couldn’t get the big hit they needed.
Jackson Strong 0/2, 2BB
Beau Ankeney 1/4, 2B, K
Cristian Santana 1/3, 2B
Rayner Castillo
5.1 IP 4H 2ER 2BB 6K
Ethan Sloan
IP K
Lakeland Flying Tigers (W 6-5) vs. Clearwater Threshers – 28-25Â 2nd Half, 59-59 Overall
Tuesday saw a couple of big Lakeland debuts. Tyson LeBlanc, Detroit’s 2nd round pick this year, played in his first official pro game, and Cris Rodriguez, arguably the highest-profile international signing in franchise history, saw his first action in Low-A. The Flying Tigers got on the board first, thanks in part to a single and steal from Jordan Yost. But Clearwater responded with three runs in the 2nd and two more in the 4th, though they perhaps thought they should’ve had more…
But Frenny Grant came into a bases-loaded jam and struck out two, and then the Flying Tigers came storming back. Rodriguez crushed a 2-run bomb to right center for his first Low-A homer, and Javier Osorio tied things in the 6th with a massive 2-run blast of his own. The Flying Tigers bullpen continued to put up zeroes, and Lakeland took the lead in the 8th when Yost walked and then scored on a Jesus Pinto single and a Threshers error. It’s Lakeland’s 15th consecutive home win against Clearwater.
First single-a hit and first home run for Cris Rodriguez🚨🚨🚨@AaronArnstein on the call. 108.2, 423 feet👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/ol3QPWe7Ij
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 26, 2026
Jordan Yost 1/3, 2R, 2BB, K, SB(17)
Tyson LeBlanc 1/3, K
Jesus Pinto 4/4, BB
Cris Rodrigez 1/5 HR(8) 2RBI, 3K
Michael Oliveto 1/4, K
Brady Ballinger 1/3, 2B, R, BB, K
Javier Osorio 2/4, HR(8) 2RBI
Caleb Leys
3.1IP 3H 5R 2ER 4BB 3K
Frenny Grant
1.2IP BB 3K
Jose Guzman
2IP H 3K
Pedro Garcia
2IP H 2BB 2K
Rookie Ball Recap
The season came to an end rather abruptly for the DSL Tigers 2 last week in the DSL Cup. Manuel Bolivar hit a home run to kick off game one. And then DSL Colorado scored the next 14 runs in what became a 19-5 thrashing. Game two was against DSL Reds, and it was much closer, with the score 2-1 heading into the bottom of the 7th. But the Reds pulled away and won 6-3. The Tigers and the Yankees, both 0-2 in pool play, didn’t bother to play Saturday’s game, and that’s a wrap for the season.
Manuel Bolivar crushes a solo homer to center and the DSL Tigers 2 take an early lead in the first game of DSL Cup pool play. pic.twitter.com/YXftG3MGhi
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 20, 2026
Jerry McKennan