Mud Hens Walk Off to Beat G-Braves, 5-4

TOLEDO, OH- A Michael Almanzar bloop single to right field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gave the Toledo Mud Hens (33-42) a 5-4 victory over the Gwinnett Braves (39-38) on Wednesday afternoon in game three of the four-game series at Fifth Third Field.
In the bottom of the ninth, with reliever Evan Phillips on the mound for Gwinnett and two outs, shortstop Ozzie Albies fielded a ground ball hit by JaCoby Jones, but threw the ball in the dirt at first, allowing Jones to move to second on an error. A wild pitch by Phillips moved Jones to third right before Almanzar dropped his game winning single in front of a diving Kyle Kubitza in right field to end the game as Gwinnett suffered its second straight loss.
The game saw the G-Braves take two early leads, but the Mud Hens race back to tie the game each time. In the top of the first, Albies (6) led off the game with a solo homer to left-center off Toledo starting pitcher Matt Crouse for a 1-0 lead. But in the bottom of the third, a double to left-center by Tyler Collins off Gwinnett starter Aaron Blair plated Almanzar from first to tie the game 1-1.
In the top of the fourth, Rio Ruiz (5) led off with a solo homer to left, putting the G-Braves back in front 2-1. After a single to center by Matt Tuiasosopo , David Freitas drilled a double into the right field corner, scoring Tuiasosopo for a 3-1 lead. The Gwinnett advantage went to 4-1 when Emerson Landoni singled to left, scoring Freitas from second.
The three-run Gwinnett lead did not last long. In the bottom of the fourth, Efren Navarro led off with a single to center, but was forced out on a ground ball hit to second by Almanzar. Jason Krizan then drilled a double to left center, scoring Almanzar from first to cut the lead to 4-2. Argenis Diaz walked putting runners on first and second, and then Miguel Gonzalez dropped a short single into right, scoring Krizan from second, closing the Gwinnett lead to 4-3. Brendan Ryan singled to load the bases and Collins tied the game at 4-4 with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Diaz from third.
The game stayed 4-4 with neither team giving much of a threat to score until the winning run crossed in the bottom of the ninth for the Mud Hens.
Blair pitched 5.1 innings with eight hits, four earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts. Akeel Morris had a solid outing of 2.2 scoreless, hitless relief innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Phillips (L, 0-2) went two thirds of an inning with one hit and one unearned run, while also issuing an intentional walk.
For the Mud Hens, Crouse tossed 5.0 innings with seven hits, four earned runs, one walk and six strikeouts. Logan Kensing worked 1.0 inning with one strikeout. Jeff Ferrell pitched 1.0 inning with one hit. Arcenio Leon went 1.0 inning with one walk and one strikeout. Joe Jiménez (W, 1-1) tossed 1.0 inning with two walks and one strikeout.
The G-Braves were paced offensively by Ruiz who went 2-for-4 with a solo homer. Landoni also went 2-for-4 with an RBI while Albies was 1-for-5 with a solo home run to start the game. Xavier Avery was 0-for-3 to end his seven game hitting streak, but he walked once to push his on-base streak to 12 games while also stealing his 12th base of the year.
The Mud Hens were led by Gonzalez, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ryan was 2-for-3 with a run scored in the win while Collins was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
The G-Braves and Mud Hens finish the four-game series Thursday night. Left-hander Andrew Albers (6-2, 3.45) will start for Gwinnett. Toledo is set to start right-hander and former Georgia Tech and Rockdale County High School star Buck Farmer (2-3, 3.59). First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. Tony Schiavone has the play-by-play call on 97.7 FM "The Other Side of the River" beginning at 6:35 p.m.
The Gwinnett Braves return to Coolray Field on Tuesday, July 4 to begin a six-game homestand. Game one of a three-game series vs. Norfolk begins at 7:05 p.m. For tickets, call 678-277-0340 or visit GwinnettBraves.com/tickets.