Mud Hens meander past RailRiders

TOLEDO, OH.: Toledo built a 3-0 lead on Wednesday night, only to see the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders battle all the way back to tie the tilt, but an RBI double from Akil Baddoo in the bottom of the seventh provided the final margin of 4-3 in favor of the Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field.

Since snapping a four-game losing streak with a win over Iowa on June 7, the Mud Hens are 11-3 overall and have now won seven of their last eight home contests.

Jacob Robson got the offense going by manufacturing the first run of the game in the third inning. He drew a walk against Jhony Brito, moved to second on a groundout, stole third, and scored on a subsequent throwing error by RailRiders catcher Max McDowell to give the Hens the 1-0 edge.

Brendon Davis expanded the Toledo advantage to 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, launching his third Mud Hen long ball to left-center field.

Toledo kept the offensive success going by adding another run in the fifth. Jamie Westbrook recorded a lead-off double to place himself in scoring position. He would touch home on a fielder’s choice hit into by Brady Policelli and a wayward throw from Scranton/WB second baseman Derek Dietrich.

The RailRiders started their rally with a two-run sixth stanza. Oswald Peraza and Miguel Andujar singled to put the first two men of the inning on the bases. A sacrifice fly from Jake Bauers scored Peraza and accounted for the first tally. Dietrich’s RBI triple brought in Andujar.

A Mud Hens error drove in the other Scranton/Wilkes-Barre run. Peraza reached in the seventh on a fielding miscue by Davis, forcing in Ronald Guzman, to even the contest at 3.

Policelli and Derek Hill commenced the game-winning surge by reaching via a walk and a base hit in the home half of the frame. Baddoo then gapped a line drive to plate the deciding run.

Hill secured his third Triple-A multi-hit effort of the season by going 2-4 at the dish. He has now hit safely in nine of his 11 assignments with the Mud Hens and has reached base in ten of those contests.

Brito (1-1) accepted the setback for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, surrendering seven hits, four earned runs, two walks, and mixing in five strikeouts across 6 and 2/3’s innings. Braden Bristo fanned three Mud Hens over the final four outs, but also yielded the key RBI double by Baddoo in the seventh.

Elvin Rodriguez didn’t factor in the decision for Toledo, going 5 and 1/3’s frames of five-hit, two-run baseball in his start. Miguel Diaz (4-2) allowed an inherited run to score, but no further damage was done against him in the seventh. Bryan Garcia struck out two RailRiders in a scoreless eighth. Derek Law slammed the door in the final stanza to earn his league-leading 14th save of the season.

Zack Short extended his hitting streak to four consecutive games on Wednesday and is swatting .375 over this stretch.

NEXT UP: The Mud Hens go for their third straight win over the RailRiders on Thursday evening as the teams continue their series at Fifth Third Field at 7:05 p.m.