Mud Hens' hitters hushed in loss to Clippers
The Toledo Mud Hens' four game winning streak was snapped on a sensational Sunday night in front of a sold out crowd at Fifth Third Field after a 6-2 loss to the IL West champions, the Columbus Clippers.
Toledo's RHP Myles Jaye improved upon his last start where he failed to make it out of the third inning despite dropping his fourth game of the season with Toledo. Jaye went seven innings allowing just five hits, four runs, and three earned runs while striking out two and walking three.
The Clippers' Toru Murata won his ninth game of the season while pitching for Columbus, as he made it through six innings allowing just seven hits and two runs.
Columbus got on the board early, as a two-out Giovanny Urshela triple was followed by a Jesus Aguilar line drive home run to left field, putting the Clippers up 2-0 in the first inning.
Toledo tied the game, 2-2, in the bottom of the second inning, after Jason Krizan and Dean Green came around to score following a two-out single off the bat of Alex Presley.
The Clippers came back with two more runs of their own in the top of the third inning taking advantage of a Myles Jaye throwing error that plated Todd Hankins and an Urshela RBI groundout to put Columbus back on top, 4-2.
The Clippers added two insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning with Preston Guilmet in out of the bullpen as Michael Choice and Guillermo Quiroz came up with RBI hits to make it a 6-2 game in favor of Columbus.
Toledo plays the final game of the 2016 season tomorrow afternoon against the Columbus Clippers, as the first pitch is slated for 1:05 PM. The matchup will feature the Tigers' RHP Jordan Zimmermann (0-0, 0.57 ERA), who is making his final rehab start before getting back to Detroit, against the Clippers' RHP Adam Plutko (6-5, 4.10 ERA).
Toledo Tidbits:
Eye on the Tigers- As the Toledo Mud Hens' 2016 season is winding down, the Detroit Tigers have 26 games to play with and are eyeing a playoff position come October. The Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5 Sunday afternoon thanks to a clutch two-run eighth inning home run off the bat of Justin Upton. The win drew the Tigers even with the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card, two games behind the Boston Red Sox for the first wild card position. Detroit is 5.5 games back of the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central Division but has seven games remaining against the inter-division rivals. The Hens' big league club also owns the second easiest schedule remaining in baseball, based on their opponents' record.
Steven Moya, a Man on a Mission- Steven Moya has played 26 games in Detroit for the Tigers during the 2016 season, and he is hoping to have a chance at some more MLB action this season. Moya, with two more hits Sunday night, has now hit safely in 9 straight games. The Puerto Rico native leads Toledo with 20 home runs and is second with 66 RBI hitting .287 with the Hens coming into Sunday's game. Moya was also spotted working on his fielding in right field before the game Sunday night, which is something Steven has been trying to improve all year.
The Hen House was Hoppin'- The Toledo Mud Hens have had some fantastic crowds at Fifth Third Field during the 2016 season. Sunday night marked the 23rd sellout of the season (11,200) and the 437th sellout all-time at Fifth Third Field, which opened in 2002. The biggest crowd of the season came on July 30th against Gwinnett, a game which featured JD Martinez on a rehab assignment for the Tigers.