The Toledo Mud Hens grabbed their second straight win over Louisville to begin the home stand by a final score of 5-2. A two-run triple in the seventh preceded by seven innings of two-run ball from starter William Cuevas helped the Hens improve to 19-17 and continue to maintain their
The Toledo Mud Hens grabbed their second straight win over Louisville to begin the home stand by a final score of 5-2. A two-run triple in the seventh preceded by seven innings of two-run ball from starter William Cuevas helped the Hens improve to 19-17 and continue to maintain their lead in the IL West.
The Toledo Mud Hens grabbed their second straight win over Louisville to begin the home stand by a final score of 5-2. A two-run triple in the seventh preceded by seven innings of two-run ball from starter William Cuevas helped the Hens improve to 19-17 and continue to maintain their lead in the IL West.
Offense was hard to come by in the early going as proven by the fact that neither team had a runner reach second base until the fifth. It was in that fifth inning veteran second baseman Omar Infante decided to do something about it, taking Louisville starter Asher Wojciechowski's second pitch of the inning off the scoreboard in left for his first home run of the season. Infante's solo shot at last put a crooked number on the board, making it 1-0 in favor of the Hens.
Toledo added another in the sixth, this time with two outs. Jason Krizan singled into right to get things going. Krizan took off running during the ensuing at-bat by Infante and the duo executed a perfect hit-and-run that ended with runners on first and second. Then, with the shift on, Steven Moya lined a ball off Bats second baseman Tony Renda's glove to plate Krizan and put the Hens up 2-0.
After watching Toledo's bats get going, Louisville's decided to do the same. With one out in the seventh, Bats right fielder Jesse Winker reached second on a dropped fly ball by Alex Presley in left. Cuevas did his best to keep the run off the board but, one out later, Louisville catcher Chad Wallach sent a home run over the fence in left to tie the game at 2-2. Presley's first error of the season came at a cost of two runs, but his offense made it a moot point in their half of the seventh.
Shortstop Brendan Ryan's one-out single to right started it off. After a Presley pop out, JaCoby Jones moved him over and reached base himself after a light chopper to the left of the mound ate up relief pitcher Kyle McMyne. Efren Navarro then smashed a ball off the top of the fence in right - missing a home run by just two feet - to plate both Ryan and Jones. His team-leading RBI total now goes to 24. Ryan and Jones were hardly back in the dugout before Krizan stepped in and ripped a single to right, bringing in Navarro.
Cuevas, whose seven innings count as his longest outing of the year thus far, was replaced by lefty Daniel Stumpf heading into the eighth. Stumpf found himself in trouble after giving up three singles, but he was ultimately able to escape without allowing even one of them to cross.
Arcenio Leon entered in the ninth and did what he did best: shut the door. The hard-throwing righty locked down his ninth save of the season to put him one behind league-leader Pedro Beato from Lehigh Valley.
The Hens are back at it again Wednesday night taking on the Bats for the third of four games against the division rivals. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
