Hens' Huffman homers twice, plates six

As his 11th season of professional baseball comes to a close, Chad Huffman is doing his best to just soak it all in. On Thursday, he did even more than that. 

The Detroit first baseman went 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double and six RBIs as Triple-A Toledo took down Columbus, 8-1, at Huntington Park on Thursday.

"I just want to finish strong, but more importantly, I'm trying to enjoy this. You never know what the future holds and it's a blessing to be able to come out here and play baseball for a living." 

While the six RBIs were a high-water mark for this season, Huffman is no stranger to posting crooked numbers. On April 21, 2011 while playing for Columbus, the TCU product drove in 10 runs against Louisville. 

"That game was very similar to this one and was also in Columbus," Huffman said. "It was a great night. I kind of had same thing going as tonight -- the guys in front of me got on base and I felt like I was able to see the ball up when guys were on and got the job done for the team."

Huffman put the Mud Hens on the board in the first inning. After fouling off three straight pitches by Columbus starter Shawn Haviland, the 31-year-old first baseman turned on a 2-2 offering and drilled it over the left-field wall for a two-run homer. 

"I was just battling and it was a 'see it,' 'hit it' kind of deal," said Huffman, who played nine games for the New York Yankees in 2010. "I had my two-strike approach and I got an inside fastball. I was just trying to stay back if he went to the offspeed stuff and react to the fastball. I got a good piece of it."

After seeing seven pitches in his first battle with Haviland, the 2006 second-round pick didn't waste any time in his second at-bat. He mashed the first pitch to center for a three-run blast. 

"I was trying to be aggressive and looking for anything up over the plate," he added. "It was a good pitch to hit, a slider over the plate and I executed the way I wanted to."

After driving in his sixth run with a single to left in the fourth, Huffman drew a walk in the seventh and capped his night by reaching for the fifth time on a one-out double to center in the ninth. It was the second game this season in which Huffman got on base five times. 

"This game is very humbling. Anytime that you think you've had a good game or going through a good stretch, baseball can come back and tell you that you're not," Huffman added. "So I just try to forget about it and move on to the next one. I'm just going up there every at-bat and just trying the best I can no matter what the result in the one before." 

After spending the previous two seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan, Huffman has appeared in 118 games for Toledo this season, slashing .284/.388/.493 with 15 home runs and 64 RBIs. 

"I had a great time in Japan. It's definitely a lot different style of game and I was the only American on my team. It showed me what I truly love about baseball. Not only do I love to play the game, but I love to be around a team," Huffman added.

As one of the elder statesman on the Mud Hens roster, Huffman, along with Major League veterans Casey McGehee and Alex Presley, has taken on the role of mentor to help Detroit's up-and-comers -- like Tigers' No. 14 prospect Dixon Machado, Steven Moya and No. 9 JaCoby Jones -- take the next step. 

"It's been great because the young guys that we have on our team are fantastic," Huffman said. "They're not ego-driven guys, they don't think they know it all and they're all willing to listen and learn. When you see guys with as much talent as they have that are looking to get better and be a sponge and learn from the older guys -- it's great to see."

Presley also fell a triple short of the cycle. 

Toledo starter Chad Bell (10-4) allowed three hits and struck out six in six scoreless innings. 

Jesus Aguilar hit his 28th home run of the season for Columbus. 

Haviland (1-2) allowed eight runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out seven in six innings.