Coming off the heels of a great opening game against the Columbus Clippers in which three seventh inning runs were enough to propel them, the Mud Hens were looking for another win against their International League West division foes on Tuesday.Powered by a strong outing from Artie Lewicki and a
Coming off the heels of a great opening game against the Columbus Clippers in which three seventh inning runs were enough to propel them, the Mud Hens were looking for another win against their International League West division foes on Tuesday.
Powered by a strong outing from Artie Lewicki and a key hit off the bat of Luis Valdes in the sixth inning, the Mud Hens were able to stand victorious once again; this time by a count of 6-1.
Artie Lewicki was the starter for Toledo and had yet another strong start. He went seven innings and allowed just three hits and one earned run while striking out eight batters.
Adam Plutko was his opponent for Columbus and had a respectable night. The right-hander went 5.1 innings and allowed six hits, four walks and one earned run while striking out four.
After the game started with six scoreless innings in last night's affair, Columbus was able to get on the board quick in this one. Ronny Rodríguez singled with one out to start the first inning and moved to third on a stolen base attempt and steal by catcher Bryan Holaday. He was pushed home with a single by Tyler Naquin and the score was 1-0 early on.
The Mud Hens were able to strike back in the third inning as Luis Valdes led off the inning with a walk. Jim Adduci and Omar Infante laced a pair of singles to put two runners on after Valdes was thrown out at third, then Jeimer Candelario ripped a double to tie it at 1.
In the bottom of the fourth inning the Mud Hens were able to get the offense rolling once more with a double by Jason Krizan and a walk by Dominic Ficociello to lead off the inning. Matt den Dekker laced a line drive up the middle that second baseman Eric Stamets snared, flipped to second for out number two and then shortstop Erik González threw to first baseman Richie Shaffer for a triple play, the first in the International League since 2015.
They kept it rolling in the bottom of the sixth off of Clippers reliever Kyle Crockett. With two outs, Ficociello singled and den Dekker doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Newest Mud Hen Luis Valdes was able to take advantage with a double to left field that plated both and made it 3-1.
Bruce Rondón came on in relief in the eighth inning and held the Clippers in check for back-to-back scoreless appearances in a row against Columbus -- his last outing coming last night -- while also adding a strikeout of Nellie Rodríguez.
The Mud Hens were able to add some insurance to their lead in the bottom of the eighth after Holaday led the inning off with a single and den Dekker was intentionally walked. Valdes singled to load the bases, then Jim Adduci doubled to right field to stretch the lead to 5-1. Valdes came around to score on a wild pitch that made it a 6-1 game.
Blaine Hardy entered the game to slam the door on their comeback hopes in the top of the ninth. The left-hander did just that, earning his fourth save of the season in a 6-1 win.
The Mud Hens continue their series with the Clippers on Wednesday night. Myles Jaye is set to take the hill for Toledo; first pitch is scheduled for 6:35.
