DES MOINES, IA.: The Toledo Mud Hens hurlers held the Iowa bats in check through nearly the entire duration of the contest, but the Cubs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 3-2 win on Wednesday evening at Principal Park.
An unearned
DES MOINES, IA.: The Toledo Mud Hens hurlers held the Iowa bats in check through nearly the entire duration of the contest, but the Cubs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 3-2 win on Wednesday evening at Principal Park.
An unearned run scored by the Mud Hens was the difference in the game for most of the night. Zack Short was able to reach on an error by right fielder Greg Diechmann to start off the fourth inning. He advanced to second on a single by Willi Castro and to third on a fielder’s choice hit by Kody Clemens. Ryan Kreidler plated him with a sacrifice fly to give the Hens the lead, 1-0.
RHP Chase Anderson set the tone early with a dynamite performance on the hill, permitting just one hit and fanning five over the first four innings of the contest.
RHP Ricardo Pinto was excellent as well in relief of Anderson, scattering a pair of hits and striking out four Cubs hitters.
LHP Miguel Del Pozo yielded two baserunners over two outs in the eighth, but RHP Drew Carlton entered to get the final out and preserve the lead.
RHP Adrian Sampson surrendered one hit and the single run over four frames in his start for Iowa. LHP Stephen Gonsalves and RHP Erich Uelman followed by tossing two scoreless innings each.
Jack Lopez slammed a massive home run to right-center field in the ninth inning, his first of the season, providing a key insurance run to bump the Toledo edge to 2-0.
RHP Cayne Ueckert (1-0) gave up the home run, but also struck out two Hens in his inning of work to earn the victory.
Despite being held to just four hits through the first eight stanzas, the Cubs bats came alive in the ninth against Carlton (1-1). Jared Young singled and John Hicks reached on a fielder’s choice to put two aboard. Brennan Davis pushed in the first run with a double. An RBI knock for Deichmann tied it. Trent Giambrone brought in Davis with a sacrifice fly to cement the win.
NEXT UP: The Mud Hens and Cubs will meet at Principal Park for the third time this series on Thursday night with a 7:38 ET first pitch.