Hessman leads Bisons over Hens in 10

(Buffalo, NY) - The Toledo Mud Hens lost 8-7 to the Buffalo Bisons on Thursday morning at Coca-Cola Field, as Buffalo's Mike Hessman delivered multiple blows to his former team.

The Hens had a chance to score in the top of the first, but Jesus Feliciano threw out Max Leon at home plate to end the inning. Leon, who had doubled with one out, was trying to score on a single by Ryan Strieby.

Toledo got on the board in the second inning on three consecutive hits off Buffalo starter Bobby Livingston. After Jeff Frazier flied out to left field, Casper Wells singled and moved to third on a double by Brent Dlugach. Max St-Pierre then singled to give the Hens a 2-0 lead.

Hessman led off the bottom of the inning with a home run - his International League-leading 15th of the season - off of Toledo's Ruddy Lugo.

The Bisons appeared to tie the game in the third inning, but came out empty-handed. Emmanuel Garcia led off with double and went to third as Feliciano reached on an error by the first baseman Strieby. Russ Adams then lifted a fly ball to left field that was caught by Frazier, who threw home to try to cut off the run. Though he slid home ahead of the tag, Garcia was called out for leaving too early. Daniel Murphy grounded out to end the threat.

Toledo added a run in the top of the fourth on a two-out double by Ben Guez that scored St-Pierre.

Buffalo erased the deficit in bottom of the fifth. After two quick outs, Garcia hit a single and came around to score on a hit-and-run double by Feliciano. On the very next pitch, Adams hit a laser over the right-field wall to put the Bisons ahead 4-3.

After Scot Drucker relieved Lugo in the bottom of the sixth, Toledo re-took the lead in the top of the seventh. Guez doubled and Scott Sizemore singled to put runners on the corners with none out. On the ninth pitch of his at-bat, Leon hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. After Carlos Guillen singled, Livingston was pulled in favor of John Lujan. Buffalo catcher Josh Thole tried to pick off pinch-runner Will Rhymes at first, but threw the ball into right field, allowing both runners to move up. Lujan struck out Strieby, but Frazier crushed a three-run homer to left to make it a 7-4 game.

The Bisons came right back in the bottom of the inning, as Feliciano hit an RBI single off Daniel Schlereth to score Garcia, who had chased Drucker with a two-out double.

Buffalo tied the game at 7-7 in the eighth, as Hessman, Mike Jacobs, and Mike Cervenak hit consecutive doubles, the last one coming off Casey Fien.

Sizemore drew a walk to lead off the top of the ninth against Manny Acosta (1-1), but was stranded at second base.

Josh Rainwater (1-2) came on in the bottom of the tenth, but his second pitch was hit over the center field wall by none other than Mike Hessman to end the game.

Acosta earned the win, and Rainwater took the loss for the Mud Hens.

Buffalo improves to 28-19, while Toledo falls to 26-21.

The Mud Hens continue their series with the Bisons on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The Hens return to Toledo on May 31st to host Lehigh Valley in a 5:00 p.m. Memorial Day game. Click for Upcoming Game Tickets | Box Score

Game Notes

• Ruddy Lugo made his return to the Mud Hen rotation after coming off the disabled list earlier in the day.
• Former Mud Hen Mike Hessman hit his International League-leading 15th and 16th home runs of the year. He leads the IL with 51 RBIs.
• Ben Guez and Ryan Strieby made their first errors since August 2009.