Columbus defeats Toledo on Labor Day season finale
The 2016 season for the Toledo Mud Hens comes to a close on Labor Day in front of a sold out crowd at Fifth Third Field, as the Columbus Clippers mustered up 14 hits and 10 runs in route to a 10-2 victory over the Hens.
Jordan Zimmermann made another rehab start in Toledo, as he tries to make a comeback to pitch for the Tigers. The American League pitcher of the month in April in 2016 was perfect through the first two innings before finishing with 4.2 innings pitched allowing six hits, seven runs, and two earned runs while striking out three batters in route to earning the loss for the Hens. The Clippers' Shawn Haviland won his second game of the 2016 season with Columbus by pitching five shutout innings allowing just five hits and striking out two.
Columbus got on the board in a big way in the top of the third inning. Jordan Zimmermann came into the third with a perfect game in tact, but back-to-back hits by Jeremy Lucas and Todd Hankins ended the streak. Following the hits, an error by Argenis Diaz allowed two runs to score, and two more runs came across to score on a Zimmermann wild pitch and another Diaz error. The final blow of the inning came off the bat of Michael Choice who blasted a two-run home run to straightaway centerfield to put Columbus on top 6-0.
The Clippers' Yhoxian Medina roped his third home run of the season in the top of fifth to put Columbus on top, 7-0.
With Toledo's Cesar Ramos on the bump in the sixth inning, Columbus manufactured another run with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ordomar Valdez to put the Clippers up 8-0. Later in the inning, Giovanny Urshela notched an RBI single to make it 9-0. Another Columbus run was added in the seventh off of Toledo's Logan Kensing when Valdez ripped an RBI single to left, plating Bradley Zimmer making it 10-0.
The Mud Hens' offense came alive in the eighth inning when Jordany Valdespin and Jeff McVaney hit back-to-back doubles to set the table for Chad Huffman who delivered with a two-run RBI single to left field making it 10-2.
The Toledo Mud Hens finish the 2016 season with a 68-76 record and fourth in the IL West.
Toledo Tidbits:
Good Luck to the Detroit Tigers- The Detroit Tigers have 26 games to play with and are eyeing a playoff position come October. The Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5 Sunday afternoon thanks to a clutch two-run eighth inning home run off the bat of Justin Upton. The win drew the Tigers even with the Baltimore Orioles for the second wild card, two games behind the Boston Red Sox for the first wild card position. Detroit is 5.5 games back of the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central Division but has seven games remaining against the inter-division rivals. The Hens' big league club also owns the second easiest schedule remaining in baseball, based on their opponents' record.
And That's a Wrap Folks- The 2016 version of the Toledo Mud Hens finish with a 68-76 record and fourth in the IL West. The Mud Hens finish 33-39 at Fifth Third Field and 35-37 on the road, with the longest winning streak of the season coming in late August at five games. The longest hitting streak by a single player belongs to Casey McGehee who hit safely in 15 consecutive games, and the most strikeouts recorded by a Hens' pitcher was Buck Farmer who struck out 10 Clippers on June 15th. The Hens' pitching staff also threw a no-hitter on April 23rd against Charlotte, as Warwick Saupold, Preston Guilmet, Logan Kensing, and Bobby Parnell combined to perform the feat. One more highlight of the Hens' 2016 season was an 11-run 9th inning against the Louisville Bats on June 2nd, and all 11 runs came with two outs during a 0-0 game.