Mud Hens fall to Redbirds on Birding Night 11-3

Toledo, OH- The Toledo Mud Hens (18-18) fell to the Memphis Redbirds (24-12) on Thursday, May 7, at Fifth Third Field in an 11-3 contest.

Tonight’s game started with both defenses ready to play. Memphis retired the first three Hens at bat and Toledo retired the first three Redbirds. At the top of the second, the visitor opened with a double to center field followed by a huge two-run homer flying over the scoreboard to take an early lead. (2-0).

The Hens suffered two quick outs to start their half at the plate, then Corey Julks drew a walk. Cal Stevenson ripped a line drive to the right for his first triple of the year; that hit allowed Julks to come home and put the Hens on the board (2-1). Max Burt drew another walk; Luke Ritter came up behind him with an RBI for the tie. (2-2)

In the third, a Redbird hit another double that followed a walk. Cal Stevenson in the outfield threw to Gage Workman, Workman shot it home to Valencia and saved the go-ahead run. Workman was the only Hen in the home half of the third to earn a hit. Three stepped up and three went down for Toledo in the fourth.

After walking two in a row, Bryan Sammons caught one looking to end the top half of the fifth. Tyler Gentry reached base off a single in the bottom of five, then stole second. Paul DeJong reached on a fielder’s choice out and Gentry raced towards home but, by the smallest margin, got called out.

Eric Silva replaced Sammons on the bump after 5-innings of work. Silva struck out two to open the sixth and held the knotted number. At the plate for the Hens, Workman struck out swinging, but made it to first off a wild pitch then proceeded to steal his 12^th bag of the year, landing on second. Julks singled a sharp ground ball for an RBI and Toledo lead. (2-3)

At the start of seven, a big three-run homer off a Redbird bat suddenly had the Hens trailing by two. (5-3) Tyler Mattison stepped in as the new arm for Toledo. With the two-out batter at the plate, Memphis jumped further ahead with another three-run shot over the fence. (8-3) A third three-run bomb in the eighth was added for the Redbirds, stretching the lead even more. (11-3)

The scoring drought came to an end for the Hens at the bottom of the eighth when two singles brought Julks to the plate. His hit resulted in two outs, but Workman made it home during the double play. (11-4)

Toledo’s defense shut out Memphis in the final inning but could not catch them in runs. The contest ended in favor of the opponent.

Toledo returns to Fifth Third Field on Friday, May 8, at 7:05p.m., looking to return to the win column in game four of the series.

Notables

G. Workman – 2/4, 2R

C. Stevenson – 1/4, 1R, 1RBI, 3B

C. Julks – 1/3, 1R, 1RBI, 1BB, 0K