Struggles at the plate cost the Hens in the long run

Having split their series thus far, Toledo lost in the third game of their six game series in Des Moines, IA. The Mud Hens showed a solid pitching performance, but difficulties at the plate cost them in the long run.

The Hens would open with Devin Sweet on the mound. Things got off to a strong start for the Iowa Cubs as Pete Crow-Armstrong had a solo homerun to go up 1-0 in the bottom of the first.

In the bottom of the third, Toledo would bring Ryan Vilade from Left field to third, Eddys Leonard from third to shortstop, and bring in Bligh Madris at left. Madris would quickly see some action as Alexander Canario hit a line drive double into left field.

Thomas Pannone maintained Iowa’s 1-0 lead through four innings, so Toledo elected to put Brendan White on the mound for a change of pace. White would quickly find himself with bases loaded when Curt Casali hit a sacrifice fly that brought in Chase Strumpf. White would avoid allowing any more damage to be done the rest of the inning.

Adam Wolf, having just been brought up from Erie, would get the nod in the fifth inning. Wolf made sure to make the most of his moment striking out all three Cubs batters and keeping it a two-run ballgame.

A pitching change would finally bring Pannone’s reign of terror to an end. His day would end with 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K. He would be replaced with hard-throwing righty Cam Sanders. Sanders would pick up right where Pannone left off with a quick three pitch out in the top of the sixth.

Toledo would continue to be scoreless through the seventh. Hoping to keep their offense within reach of the lead, the Hens brought out Wilmer Flores to take over for Wolf. Crow-Armstrong’s presence would be felt yet again as he hit a single and then stole second and scored on a wild pitch, expanding Iowa’s lead to 3-0.

Despite a strong performance from Sanders thus far, the Cubs decided to bring out Richard Lovelady to try and put the game away in the eighth. He would make a strong case for doing so as he went one, two, three in just his second full inning of the season.

Crow-Armstrong continued to show why he is the Chicago Cubs’ top prospect when he hit an RBI double in the eight and then took third on an error by Justice Bigbie. Iowa would go into the ninth up 5-0, giving Toledo one last chance to make their presence felt.

Jace Jung, clearly tired of seeing all those zeros on the scoreboard, sent a solo home run right over said scoreboard. With the Hens’ hopes up, the game would come to an end when Buddy Kennedy hit a routine groundout to close the game.

Toledo looks to tie up the series tomorrow night at 8:08 p.m.

Notables:

Devin Sweet 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Adam Wolf 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Jace Jung 2-4, RBI, R, HR