Mud Hens Blast Five Homers, Power Past Wings
Looking to string together wins Saturday night, the Rochester Red Wings fell in another double-digit loss to the Toledo Mud Hens, 14-4. SS Jackson Cluff notched two hits, including his 11th blast of the season. CF Andrew Pinckney collected two hits and an RBI for the only other multi-hit performance
Looking to string together wins Saturday night, the Rochester Red Wings fell in another double-digit loss to the Toledo Mud Hens, 14-4. SS Jackson Cluff notched two hits, including his 11th blast of the season. CF Andrew Pinckney collected two hits and an RBI for the only other multi-hit performance from the Red Wings offense.
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Toledo got the scoring started early in Saturday night's matchup. CF Akil Baddoo lined a single into right field to lead off the first, followed by a fielding error to allow LF Trei Cruz to reach first. 3B Jace Jung proceeded to launch a three-run home run over the right field fence, giving the Mud Hens the 3-0 lead.
Rochester started chipping away at the lead in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs in the inning, DH Trey Lipscomb laced his team-leading 25th double down the left field line, followed by a four-pitch walk from SS Jackson Cluff to put two runners on. C Francisco Mejía delivered the two-out RBI single into right field, driving home Lipscomb to cut the lead to two runs.
The Red Wings continued their climb back with another run in the bottom of the third inning. LF Christian Franklin worked a leadoff walk, and two batters later, RF Nick Schnell lined a single into right field to place runners on the corners with two outs. Andrew Pinckney proceeded to rip a single into center field, driving home the Wings second run of the night and making the score 3-2 after three frames.
The Mud Hens quickly responded by adding to their lead in the top of the fourth inning. SS Kevin Newman almost left the yard but settled for a rocket double off the left field wall. Two batters later, RF Gage Workman worked a walk, followed by C Tomás Nido roping a ground rule double into the left field corner, scoring the runner from second and adding to their advantage, 4-2.
The Wings trimmed the lead to half in the bottom of the fourth, courtesy of their first long ball of the night. Jackson Cluff led off the frame by belting his 11th home run of the season into the foul pole patio and narrowed the lead, 4-3.
Toledo extended their cushion thanks to back-to-back blasts in the top of the seventh inning. Tomás Nido launched an opposite-field solo shot, followed by another home run from Akil Baddoo over the center field fence. The rally kept going after a walk from 1B Justyn Henry-Malloy, and a single from Jace Jung put two runners on with no one out. Kevin Newman cracked an RBI single, and DH Eduardo Valencia followed with an RBI single of his own, adding two more runs. Gage Workman followed with an RBI double to cap off the five-run seventh inning and extended the lead to 9-3.
Rochester got a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning. 3B José Tena worked a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The next batter, 1B Yohandy Morales, drove a single through the hole and into center field to score Tena, shrinking the lead to 9-4 after seven frames.
The Mud Hens continued their home run barrage thanks to their fourth and fifth home runs of the night. Akil Baddoo hammered his fourth round-tripper of the series into the Rochester bullpen, and two batters later, Justyn Henry-Malloy clocked one off the batter's eye for Toledo's 11th run of the day. The Mud Hens hold the 11-4 advantage after eight frames.
Toledo kept pouring on more runs in the top of the ninth inning. A leadoff walk from Eduardo Valencia, followed by a Gage Workman double to put runners on second and third. Three additional walks made the score 14-4.
The Red Wings tried to start a rally in the bottom of the frame but would be set down 1-2-3, falling in game five of the series, 14-4.
RHP Adrian Sampson took the hill in Saturday night's contest, tossing 6.0 innings while allowing three earned runs on five hits and striking out five. RHP Eduardo Salazar took over in the top of the seventh inning, getting two outs but allowing five runs on six hits and one walk. RHP Julian Fernández relieved Salazar and got the last out of the seventh inning via strikeout. Fernández came back out for the eighth and finished the night delivering 1.1 innings while allowing two runs on three hits and striking out two Mud Hens. RHP Zach Brzykcy took on the ninth inning, getting one out and allowing three runs on four walks and one hit while striking out one. RHP/INF J.T. Arruda tossed three pitches and got both hitters he faced out, keeping his ERA at 0.00 after his third relief appearance of the year.
SS Jackson Cluff earns Player of the Game honors in Saturday's contest. The Colorado native finished the night going 2-for-3 with a home run, single, and a walk to mark the first time he has reached base three or more times since August 13 against Syracuse. The BYU product launched a solo shot in the fourth inning, marking his 11th home run of the season and the most he has hit in a single season of his professional career.
The Red Wings will look to get back into the win column on Sunday afternoon against Toledo. Rochester will send RHP Riley Cornelio to the mound against the Mud Hens RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long. First pitch is set for 1:05 PM from Innovative Field.
Find the box score attached here.
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