Hens end their series strong with a 16-6 win over Indians

After demolishing Indianapolis in their double-header on Saturday, Toledo finished the last game of their series just as strong, winning 16-6. The Mud Hens would end the day with sixteen hits, good for sixteen runs.

A hot day meant a hot start for Austin Bergner, picking up three strikeouts and allowing no runs in his first two innings of the day.

Following their spectacular performance at the plate yesterday, the Hens seemed quiet to start the game. That would change drastically in the second inning. Keston Hiura got the Hens started with a single. Justice Bigbie would bring him in with an RBI double. Following a Dillion Dingler single, Akil Baddoo would make it a 3-0 game with a triple deep into right field. Things just kept getting better for the Mud Hens when Ryan Vilade hit an RBI double.

Indianapolis wouldn’t get their first out until Andrew Navigato went down swinging. A Buddy Kennedy single would be enough to bring in Vilade from third. Keeping the bats hot, Jace Jung hit a double deep into right to bring in Kennedy. To top it all off Keston Hiura hit a two-run homer to make it an 8-0 game.

A pitching change would help Indianapolis escape the second inning. They would now be battling from far behind, but not all hope was lost. A Liover Peguero double brought in Ji Hwan Bae and moved Gilberto Celestino to third. A Malcolm Nunez sacrifice brought in Celestino to cut the Mud Hens’ lead to six. A Canaan Smith-Njigba ground ball would get him out, but would also bring in Peguero. This would end Bergner’s day on the mound as Toledo brought out Wilmer Flores to take over with two outs on the board. Flores ended the top of the third with a groundout from former Mud Hen Dustin Peterson.

The Mud Hens picked up right where they left off in their half of the third. Dingler and Vilade got on base, each with a single. Kennedy brought both of them in with a double off of the wall, making it a 10-3 game. Justyn-Henry Malloy made sure that his name was in the scorebook with an RBI single. The Indians would end the inning following a mound visit, striking out Jung.

Despite their eight-run deficit, Indianapolis didn’t back down to Flores. Bae got on base and moved Sergio Alcantara to second with a single to left field. Celestino’s sharp line drive to right field brought in Alcantara, but Bae would be held up at third. Flores ended the inning with a Peguero groundout to second base.

After cutting the Toledo lead back to seven, Indianapolis brought former Mud Hen Wily Peralta out to the mound to see if he could stop his former team from scoring. A Hiura flyout, a Bigbie groundout, and a Dingler strikeout would keep Indianapolis in the game.

In the top of the fifth, Adam Wolf would take over for Flores. Having walked Nunez, Wolf forced Smith-Njigba to hit into a double play that Navigato and Hiura easily cleaned up. Peterson would end the inning with a groundout to Kennedy, keeping the Hens on top 11-4.

Following a quick one, two, three by the Hens in the bottom of the fifth, Wolf continued his day on the mound. He would pick up two strikeouts, but not before allowing a single and a walk. Indianapolis then loaded the bases, in prime position to get back into the game. Peguero hit a ground ball hard to third base, but Jung pulled it together to help the Hens escape the jam.

In the bottom of the sixth, Peralta walked Malloy following a challenge, which would end his day. Despite not giving up a hit, Indianapolis brought out Geronimo Franzua to take over. The decision to put the lefty on the mound would be quickly regretted as Jung hit a two-run homer to make it a 13-4 game. With Dingler on first, Baddoo hit another bomb, this one over the right field wall, expanding Toledo’s lead to twelve runs.

To open the seventh inning, Toledo put Bryce Tassin on the mound. He would give up a solo home run to Nunez but escaped the inning without any more damage being done.

After their five-run inning, Toledo saw a disappointing one, two, three against Franzua. The Mud Hens decided to make another change on the mound, bringing out Beau Brieske to try and close out the game.

Brieske gave up a double on his first pitch and then walked Matt Gorski, but a strikeout from Bae and an easy double-play grounder from Celestino would end the top of the eighth. The Hens went into the bottom of the eighth still up 16-5, but ran into another quick three and out.

Indianapolis would get one last chance to make some magic happen in the top of the ninth. Toledo benched Brieske and brought out Andrew Vasquez to end the game and the series. The Indians made a strong case for sticking around a while longer with a lead-off home run from Eli Wilson. The solo shot would prove pointless as Vasquez and the Hens picked up the final three outs of the game.

Toledo wins the series five games to one and see themselves improve to 8-6 (third in the INT West). The Hens will continue with a series in Rochester against the Red Wings, starting on Tuesday.

Notables:

Akil Baddoo 2-4, HR, 3B, 4 RBI, 2R

Keston Hiura 3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2R

Jace Jung 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2R

Dillion Dingler 3-4, RBI, 3R