Malachi Witherspoon strikes out 10, Peyton Graham homers twice for Erie

Memphis Redbirds 11, Toledo Mud Hens 4 ( box ) Bryan Sammons threw a decent game, but the bullpen crumbled to dust on Thursday as the Redbirds ran away with this one. Sammons gave up a pair of runs in the top of the second, but otherwise kept things clean over five innings of work. In the bottom of the second, Corey Julks drew a two-out walk and scored on a triple to right field from Cal Stevenson.

Max Burt walked, and Luke Ritter singled in Stevenson. Tyler Gentry followed with a single of his own, but Burt was cut down at the plate to make it a 2-2 game. That’s where things stood until the bottom of the sixth, when Gage Workman struck out but reached on a wild pitch.

He stole second, and Corey Julks brought him in with a single to make it 3-2. So things were looking good, and Eric Silva had spun a clean sixth to start his outing. However, in the seventh he was mauled for four runs and Tyler Mattison had to take over, giving up two more runs of his own.

Things didn’t improve for Mattison in the eighth as he surrendered three more runs, and this one was all over. Workman singled in the eighth and Eduardo Valencia followed with a single of his own. A double play ball from Corey Julks got Workman in from third for the Hens final run.