Late Tribe Rally Falls Short In 5-3 Loss
INDIANAPOLIS -- Matt Hague added to his league-leading RBI total (56) with a home run and two RBI, but it wasn't quite enough as the Indianapolis Indians (47-38) fell to the Toledo Mud Hens (41-45) 5-3 on Tuesday night at Victory Field.
After already facing a 2-0 hole in the bottom of the fourth, Hague cut the lead in half by driving in the Tribe's first run of the game, scoring Jaff Decker from second base on an RBI double to right field to make it 2-1.
The Mud Hens, however, more than matched the score by plating one run in each of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 4-1 after the sixth frame, before Hague struck again.
Leading off in the bottom of the seventh, Hague crushed a towering solo home run to deep left field that cut the deficit to 4-2.
The Mud Hens would again null the score by bringing another man plateward in the top of the eighth to boast a 5-2 lead in the bottom half of the ninth. For the Indians, Hague and Tony Sanchez then started a ninth-inning comeback attempt with back-to-back singles that brought the tying run to the plate. After Toledo retired the next two batters, Michael Martinez singled through the hole at second base to score Hague and trim the deficit to 5-3.
With the tying runs now on base and the potential winning run at home plate, the Indians fell just short of completing the comeback as their two-out fly was caught just a few feet in front of the left field warning track.