Toledo Mud Hens 6, Omaha Storm Chasers 1 (box)Ben Malgeri and Corey Julks stayed red hot, while Dylan File threw a really good game for the Hens on Thursday.
File cruised through the early innings while his teammates built up a big lead. He scattered four hits through the first five innings, with two walks, before he allowed a solo shot in the sixth that ended his outing. The right-hander struck out six on the night, showcasing his deep pitch mix and getting whiffs on five different offerings.
Cal Stevenson opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the third. Malgeri, playing center field as Max Clark had the night off, followed him with a 445 foot blast to left center field for his third homer in two games.
109.3mph 445ft blast off the bat of Ben Malgeri. He has homered on back to back nights pic.twitter.com/J6JUjRSwSB
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 23, 2026
Tyler Gentry followed those homers by reaching on a passed ball that would’ve been strike three, and then stole second base. Gage Workman struck out, but Julks yanked his fifth homer of the season to left, and it was 4-0 Hens.
Toledo hits their third home run of the only as Corey Julks goes yard, a two run shot. pic.twitter.com/LXCRbU4oWw
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 23, 2026
In the fourth it was more of the same. Stevenson was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, and Malgeri stepped in and crushed another massive 446 shot to center field. 6-0 Hens. That’s two straight games in which Malgeri has homered twice, and they aren’t cheapies.
Lefty Drew Sommers relieved File after the starter allowed a solo shot to Kameron Misner in the sixth. Sommers collected five outs with just a walk allowed against three punchouts. Sean Guenther and Tanner Rainey took it the rest of the way.
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start in Toledo on Friday night, with the Hens holding a 2-1 series lead.
Lefty Carlos Pena was dealing on Thursday, while the bats struggling to cash in on a ton of baserunners, but did enough to win.
Pena gave up a solo shot in the third inning but was otherwise spotless, using his changeup and breaking balls to good effect as he punched out eight Ponies over five innings of work without a walk.
The offense quickly gave Pena a lead to work with when Brett Callahan led off the game with a double down the right field line. Peyton Graham moved him to third, and John Peck singled in Callahan. Peck was caught trying to steal second, but Justice Bigbie came through with a knock, scoring on a Chris Meyers double for a 2-0 lead.
The SeaWolves pounded out 10 hits and drew three walks in this one, but they only tacked on another run in the fifth. Bigbie led off with a walk, and a Meyers singled moved him to third. An Izaac Pacheco sacrifice fly made it 3-1 SeaWolves, and it would end there.
Yosber Sanchez tossed a perfect sixth inning with a pair of strikeouts. Wandisson Charles handled the next two frames with four punchouts against a hit and two walks allowed. Luke Taggart punched out a pair in a perfect ninth to earn his second save.
Coming Up Next: The SeaWolves will look to make it four straight on the road at 6:07 p.m. ET on Friday.
Right-hander Lucas Elissalt was knocked around a bit on Thursday, while the ‘Caps offense went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The Whitecaps got on the board first, with a solo shot from catcher Ricardo Hurtado, his second of the year.
Elissalt cruised through the first with a pair of strikeouts, but he gave up a single run in each of the next three innings while pitching through quite a bit of traffic. He did show really good composure, holding runners, making pitches when he needed to, but just never really got into a groove.