Toledo splits their doubleheader with Rochester

Game one:

Following a 2-0 loss on Tuesday night, the Toledo Mud Hens looked to get things started in their series with the Rochester Red Wings. Toledo went on to lose 6-5 to Rochester on a ninth-inning walk off.

Rain in Rochester led to a late start for the Mud Hens, with first pitch not coming until 11:45 a.m. Jackson Rutledge would take the mound for the Red Wings as the rain continued to pour. He retired Toledo’s first three batters to open the game.

The rain would have an immediate impact on the game. Keider Montero gave up a ground-ball single to James Wood. Montero would follow that up with a wild pitch to move Wood to second base. Juan Yepez then hit a double into right field to bring in Wood and make it a 1-0 game. Montero avoided any more runs, striking out Trey Lipscomb with a called-strike three.

In the top of the second inning, the Mud Hens found their first hit of the game, but would leave baserunners on the corners when Anthony Bemboom hit a ground ball into an easy double play for the Red Wings.

The game would go on pause, yet again with the rain becoming too much and the diamond turning into a mud pit. Rochester’s grounds crew brought out the tarp as both teams waited for play to resume. Play would not resume until Thursday.

Toledo and Rochester would pick things up at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, starting in the bottom of the second inning. Matt Manning would get the nod for the restart, but it would go down in the books as a relief appearance, the first of his career. Despite allowing two runners to get on base and the Red Wings battling at the plate, Manning escaped the second inning unscathed.

Following a four batter inning for the Hens, Manning would take his place back on the mound. He would not spend much time there as Toledo went one, two, three on only seven pitches to end the third inning.

To begin the fourth inning, Jace Jung would get on base with a grounder right at second base that found its way to the outfield. With Jung now on second, Justice Bigbie hit a two-run homer deep over the center field wall to give Toledo the 2-1 lead.

Manning went one, two, three again, this time striking out all three batters. The Hens stayed hot on offense as well, expanding their lead to 3-1 with a solo-shot homer from Ryan Vilade.

In the top of the sixth, the Mud Hens continued to cause problems for the Red Wings while at the plate. Bigbie picked up his third hit of the game with a single to left, but would be caught stealing second. Buddy Kennedy got on base with a single of his own. Bemboom would move Kennedy to third with a ground rule double that barely fell fair in left field and then jumped out of play. Vilade brought both baserunners in with a ground ball-single into left field.

The Red Wings would start to show some fight in the bottom of the sixth inning. Wood got to first off of a line drive to right field and would score off of a Travis Blankenhorn double. Lipscomb cut the Toledo lead to 5-3, bringing in Blankenhorn with a hard hit grounder down the right field line. The Hens finished the inning strong with a double play.

After 5.0 innings pitched, Manning’s day came to an end. Toledo brought out Beau Brieske, who picked up right where Manning left off. Brieske forced two pop outs and picked up a strikeout to close the seventh inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Mud Hens put Brenan Hanifee on the mound among some other defensive changes. Hanifee forced three straight outs to end the eighth inning and kept the Hens up 5-3 heading into the ninth inning.

Toledo wouldn’t be able to make anything happen offensively in the ninth inning, but the Red Wings were quick to get things going. Blankenhorn hit a triple off the wall that Vilade couldn’t get to. Lipscomb would hit a grounder into a force out, but not before Blankenhorn could score. Hanifee then walked Jake Alu, putting the game-winning run at the plate. Jake Dunn moved Alu to second with a ground out. Alu would score as Darren Baker sent a hard hit grounder right at second base. The ball hit the base and flew into the outfield, tying the game 5-5. Erik Mejia would draw a walk, putting the Red Wings in a great game-winning position with runners on first and second. The Red Wings would complete the rally and walk it off when Alex Call hit a ground-rule double to win the game 6-5.

Notables:

Matt Manning 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 0 HR, 2.70 ERA

Justice Bigbie 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

Ryan Vilade 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R

Game Two:

Following their late-game loss, Toledo looked to get revenge in game two of the double header. This game would only be seven innings following the nine-inning game prior.

Rochester began with Robert Gsellman on the mound. He got off to a rough start, loading the bases after an Akil Baddoo single and two walks. Keston Hiura took advantage of Gsellman’s struggles, hitting a grand slam to put the Mud Hens up 4-0. The grand slam was Hiura’s second home run as a Mud Hen. Gsellman then pulled it together, taking down the next three batters.

Toledo would start with Adam Wolf on the rubber. Wolf kept his first inning short and sweet, going one, two, three to begin the game.

Despite his struggles early, Gsellman would return to the mound to begin the second inning. He showed that he was unphased by the Hens, going one, two, three on his way to his fourth straight strikeout.

The pitching battle continued with Wolf, who kept with his quick pace of play taking care of three straight batters again. Gsellman didn’t back down either, reaching six-straight strikeouts before Hiura hit a ground out to end the top of the third inning.

Rochester found their first hit in the bottom of the third when Carter Kieboom hit a hard grounder past shortstop Corey Joyce. A walk and a hit by pitch would end Wolf’s day with just 35 pitches. Sean Guenther took Wolf’s spot on the mound and looked to get out of the jam. Darren Baker hit a ground ball that Buddy Kennedy fielded and got Brady Lindsly out at second, but not before Kieboom could score. James Wood hit into another fielder’s choice, allowing Jack Dunn to score, but dismissing Baker. With Woods still on first, Juan Yepez hit a line out to Ryan Vilade to end the inning.

Leading off in the fourth inning, Kennedy hit a double deep into center field. Kennedy’s double ended Gsellman’s nine straight outs without a hit. A Bligh Madris ground out would move Kennedy to third and a Dillion Dingler sacrifice fly allowed Kennedy to score.

After a lead-off strikeout, Guenther gave up two singles, bringing the game-tying run to the plate. Kieboom would hit into a fielder’s choice causing Alex Call to be called out at second. With runners at the corners, Dunn laid a soft grounder that ended the inning, keeping the Mud Hens up 5-2.

The fifth inning opened with a new pitcher for Rochester as Adonis Medina took over for Gsellman. Baddoo had a strong hit to right field to get on first and then moved to second on a wild pitch. The Hens would be unable to make anything happen as Justin-Henry Malloy and Jace Jung both grounded out to end their half of the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Toledo took out Guenther and put Wilmer Flores on the mound. Flores walked Lindsly who then got to second off of a Baker groundout. A sharp line drive to center field from Woods allowed Lindsly to score, cutting Toledo's lead to 5-3.

To open the sixth inning, Kennedy and Madris hit back-to-back singles. A passed ball helped to advance the base runners with Vilade up to bat. Vilade would hit a line drive to left-center field to get to first and bring in Kennedy and Madris. He then stole second and reached third on an obstruction call. Following that fiasco and a Joyce drawn walk, Medina’s night would come to a close. Rochester would call for Tim Cate to take over on the mound. Cate would prevent any more damage from being done as Baddoo hit a fly ball to right fielder Blankenhorn.

Looking to protect their 7-3 lead, Toledo brought out Drew Anderson. He would prevent the Red Wings from scoring, only giving up a walk before ending the inning.

Toledo opened the seventh inning with two flyouts from Malloy and Jung. Hiura followed them up with a base hit, but a Kennedy strikeout would end their half of the inning.

Looking to close out the game, Toledo put Mason Englert on the mound. He would strike out Lindsly before giving up a single to Baker. Englert pitched at a fast pace, striking out Wood and then Yepez to end the game.

Notables:

Keston Hiura 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, R

Buddy Kennedy 2-4, 2B, 2 R

Akil Baddoo 2-4, R