It was a night of standout performances across the Detroit Tigers farm system on Thursday, May 14, 2026, with power at the plate and dominance on the mound stealing the show. In Erie, catcher Thayron Liranzo crushed a home run to help lead the SeaWolves to victory, while over in Clearwater, Malachi Witherspoon delivered a masterful shutout performance, blanking the opposition entirely.
Meanwhile, the Toledo Mud Hens fought tooth and nail in a back-and-forth thriller against the Omaha Storm Chasers, but ultimately fell short in heartbreaking fashion. Starting pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long, still working his way back to full strength after a stint on the injured list, struggled to find his rhythm. He allowed three runs over just two innings. Konnor Pilkington took over and surrendered two more in the third before settling in for a pair of scoreless frames.
The Hens' offense showed plenty of fight. Jace Jung launched a solo home run in the second inning to get Toledo on the board, and Corey Julks followed with a single and a stolen base, later scoring on a Cal Stevenson double. By the fourth, the Storm Chasers held a 5-2 lead, but the Hens refused to go quietly.
In the fifth, Eduardo Valencia and Jung led off with singles, and Julks moved them over with a groundout. After Stevenson was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Tyler Gentry was also plunked to force in a run. But the rally stalled there, leaving the score at 5-3. Omaha added a solo homer in the sixth off Tyler Mattison to push the lead to 6-3.
The Hens clawed back in the seventh. Jung walked and took second on a wild pitch, then Gentry singled him home. Andrew Navigato doubled and Luke Ritter singled to bring Gentry across, making it 6-5. In the eighth, Valencia, Jung, and Julks strung together three straight singles to tie the game at 6-6. Tanner Rainey and Jack Little each tossed a scoreless inning to keep the game knotted.
In the ninth, Ritter struck out to open the frame, but Ben Malgeri reached on an error. Max Clark battled through an eight-pitch at-bat but flew out to left. That brought up Valencia, and the Storm Chasers turned to former Tigers outfielder Anthony Gose out of the bullpen. Gose uncorked a wild pitch to move Malgeri to second, but Valencia went down looking on a called third strike to end the threat.
It didn't take long for Omaha to end it. In the bottom of the ninth, with a 2-2 count, Jack Little fired a fastball up in the zone. Kameron Misner turned on it and crushed a walk-off home run to left field, sending the Storm Chasers home winners, 7-6.
The Mud Hens now sit at 21-21 on the season. They'll look to bounce back on Friday at 8:05 p.m. ET.