Buffalo, N.Y. - At Sahlen Field on Thursday, the Toledo Mud Hens and Buffalo Bisons concluded a three-game series with an afternoon matinee, seeing the Mud Hens win 9-2.
Buffalo, N.Y. - At Sahlen Field on Thursday, the Toledo Mud Hens and Buffalo Bisons concluded a three-game series with an afternoon matinee, seeing the Mud Hens win 9-2.
After hitting a home run on Wednesday, Daz Cameron picked up where he left off, knocking a lead off double to the left-center gap to get Toledo going at the plate. Two outs later, a line drive off the bat of Frank Schwindel struck Buffalo's starting pitcher, Andrew Sopko, in the back of the leg. After a few pitches to check if he was alright, Sopko resumed game action with runners at the corners for Toledo. Mikie Mahtook then came to the plate, smashing his team-leading 18th home run of the season to give Toledo an early 3-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Mud Hens doubled up their score. Coming to the plate with Christin Stewart on second and Frank Schwindel on first, both having walked, Danny Woodrow tripled to the right field corner to score both before scoring himself on a single by Chad Sedio, pushing the Toledo lead to 6-0 and resulting in an early exit for the Buffalo starter, Sopko.
The Hens added another run in the fourth inning. With Stewart on base, Willi Castro doubled off the left field wall to score Stewart, increasing the Toledo lead to 7-1.
With two out in the fifth, the Mud Hens saw two singles off the bats of Sedio and Joey Morgan followed by a walk to Cole Peterson to load the bases. Another walk to Cameron would bring in Sedio to keep the two out rally going followed by a single by Stewart to score Morgan, giving Toledo a 9-1 lead.
As for the Hens starter, Kyle Funkhouser, he exited before the sixth inning began with Trent Szkutnik replacing him. Over 5.0 innings, Funkhouser allowed one run on five hits and four walks while striking out four. Szkutnik allowed just one hit in his scoreless inning of work before Zac Reininger entered in the seventh. In his one inning pitched, Reininger allowed one run on one hit before Victor Alcántara entered to pitch in the bottom of the eighth. After a hitless inning with one strikeout from Alcantara, Daniel Stumpf came on to finish the game from the mound for Toledo, striking out two in the ninth.
What's Next:
The Mud Hens will move to their second leg of the road trip on Friday, heading to Pawtucket. Beau Burrows will head to the bump for Toledo on Friday while the Red Sox send Kyle Hart to the mound. The Hens scored four off of Hart last week in Toledo before he exited the game after going just 1.2 innings.
#RoadToDetroit Report (rankings according to MLB.com 2019 Proscpect Watch):
8. OF Daz Cameron: 1 for 5, 2B, RBI
11. IF Willi Castro: 2 for 5, 2B, RBI
14. RHP Beau Burrows: DNP
18. RHP Kyle Funkhouser: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
21. RHP Bryan Garcia: DNP
27. OF Jacob Robson: DNP
30. OF Danny Woodrow: 1 for 4, 3B, 2 RBI
Hens' Notes:
- Joey Morgan received his first start behind the plate since joining the Mud Hens roster.
- With multiple hits, Frank Schwindel extended his team leading hitting streak to 11 games.
