Offensive explosion carries Hens to 10-2 win

TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo Mud Hens topped the Louisville Bats at Fifth Third Field on Wednesday night, 10-2.

After Toledo pitching walked seven hitters in last night’s contest, starter Matt Manning unfortunately followed the same trend. His first four pitches all missed the zone, allowing Lopez to reach on a leadoff base on balls. Jacob Robson, making his Toledo season debut, made a nice running catch in deep left-center field to take away extra bases from Aquino for the first out of the inning. A flare to left field from Dwight Smith Jr. put runners at the corners with one out for Rodriguez. The Bats’ designated hitter hit a sacrifice fly to right field to give his team an early one-run lead.

The Mud Hens’ leadoff man Daz Cameron got the party started with a double down the right field line. After a nine pitch at-bat, Renato Nunez drew a walk to put two on with one out. A fly out and a strikeout allowed the Louisville starter, Bo Takahashi, to escape the jam without any damage other than the 28 pitches thrown by him.

Manning bounced back with a strong second inning, sending down the Bats in order while also recording a pair of swinging strikeouts in the frame.

In his first at-bat of the year as a Mud Hen, outfielder Jacob Robson laced a single to right to start the bottom half of the second. After an errant pickoff attempt to first, Robson was able to advance all the way to third and Stewart cashed him in with a base hit to right field through the shift. Garneau dropped in a bloop single to right field that should have been caught, but was completely misread by Aquino to move Stewart to second with one out. Stewart moved to third on a flyout and Garneau took second base on a wild pitch. On a 2-2 pitch, Clemens fanned on a breaking ball to end the inning, stranding the pair.

The Toledo offense got busy in the fourth with back-to-back home runs from Jacob Robson and Aderlin Rodriguez. Stewart followed it with a triple to left center. Dustin Garneau hit the third home run of the inning for the Hens, giving them a 5-1 lead and chasing Takahashi from the game. The rally continued though, as Cameron and Nunez both singled and Gonzalez plated the fifth run of the inning via a sacrifice fly. The crazy inning continued as Zack Short and Robson hit back-to-back doubles and Rodriguez singled to left, giving the Mud Hens a 9-1 lead. Stewart and Garneau both reached on infield singles to load the bases for Cameron. The wild inning came to an end on a groundout to second base. After eleven hits and eight runs in the fourth inning, the Mud Hens led 9-1.

For the first time since the first inning, Manning found himself in some trouble in the sixth. A walk followed by a pair of singles would score the second run of the game for the Bats. After going full to Brantley Bell, Manning fanned him on a 96-mph fastball up in the zone. His final line would be six innings, four hits, two runs, two walks, and eight strikeouts, his second quality start of the season.

Stewart hit a towering home run to right field in the sixth, his fourth hit of the night. He would end up finishing a double short of the cycle.

Lefty Ian Krol threw the seventh inning and pitched around a pair of hits to hold the Bats to two runs while also picking up two strikeouts. Right-hander Angel De Jesus came on to pitch the eighth. He struck out the first two hitters he faced before issuing a two-out walk. He bounced back and got Bell to lineout to right field for the final out of the inning, keeping his season ERA at 0.00. Southpaw Miguel Del Pozo came on for the ninth, looking to nail it down for the Mud Hens. He punched out the side and Hens picked up their 15th win of the year.

What’s Next:

The Mud Hens and Bats meet for game three of the series Thursday night at Fifth Third Field with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Hens Notes:

• Aderlin Rodriguez hit his 7th home run of the season, tied for the team-high, and now leads the team in RBI’s with 20.
• Jacob Robson went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run in his Toledo season debut.
• Matt Manning earned his first triple-A win after pitching six innings of two run ball.
• Daz Cameron extended his hitting streak to seven games with a 2-for-4 night.
• Christin Stewart had a 4-for-5 night, including a home run and a triple.
• Dustin Garneau had a three-hit night, including his first home run of the season.
• The Hen-pen combined for three scoreless innings and seven strikeouts.