COLUMBUS, OH.: The Mud Hens utilized three long balls to gain an advantage heading into the bottom of the eighth, but Toledo had to withstand an eighth inning rally by the Columbus Clippers to win in ten innings, 5-4, on Wednesday evening at Huntington Park.
Detroit outfielder Austin Meadows was
COLUMBUS, OH.: The Mud Hens utilized three long balls to gain an advantage heading into the bottom of the eighth, but Toledo had to withstand an eighth inning rally by the Columbus Clippers to win in ten innings, 5-4, on Wednesday evening at Huntington Park.
Detroit outfielder Austin Meadows was an exciting addition to a loaded lineup. He began his rehab stint with Toledo on Wednesday after being placed on the 10-day Injured List by the Tigers with vertigo symptoms. Meadows went 0-3 in his Mud Hens debut before being replaced in the seventh inning.
Consecutive hits from Tyler Freeman and Will Brennan put Columbus in position to score the first run of the game. A sacrifice fly from Alex Call plated Freeman and pushed the Clippers in front 1-0 after a frame.
The Mud Hens response was quick. Trayce Thompson blasted the first of his two solo home runs in the second inning, an opposite field shot off Adam Scott, to even the game at 1.
Zack Short provided some much-needed pop for Toledo with a solo homer of his own in the third. His sixth long ball of the year made it 2-1 in favor of the Hens.
Consecutive two-out hits enabled the Clippers to tie the game back up at 2 in the fourth inning. A triple from Mitchell Tolman against Nivaldo Rodriguez brought Bryan Lavastida across to account for the damage.
Thompson went deep again in the sixth off Scott, slashing his fourth home run to put Toledo ahead 3-2. His multi-homer evening marked the fourth time this season that a Mud Hens hitter left the yard more than once, the last occasion coming exactly a month ago on May 1 at Omaha when Kody Clemens crushed two home runs in a 7-4 loss to the Storm Chasers.
Rodriguez departed the game after five innings and ultimately ended up with an opportunity to earn the win for Toledo, scattering eight hits, two earned runs, two walks, and a strikeout. Short made a fine defensive play, gunning down Brennan who was attempting to score on a single from Bobby Bradley, to help Rodriguez escape from the fifth and preserving the 2-2 tie.
Scott tossed 5 and 2/3’s stanzas of three-run baseball for Columbus in his start, yielding three hits (all homers), two walks, and mixing in three punch outs.
A single and two walks against Luis Castillo loaded the bases full of Clippers in the sixth, but Miguel Del Pozo slammed the door by fanning Will Benson and inducing a Freeman flyout to help Toledo maneuver out of another dicey situation.
Jacob Robson, hitting in place of Meadows, provided some valuable insurance against the rehabbing James Karinchak with an RBI knock in the seventh, scoring Dustin Garneau for a 4-2 edge.
Columbus overcame some earlier close calls by breaking through to tie the game opposite Miguel Diaz in the home half of the eighth. Lavastida doubled to start the rally and Jose Fermin coaxed a two-out walk to place two on. Benson’s two-base hit was the swing the Clippers needed to force extra innings.
With Robson as the placed runner to begin the frame, a clutch two-out RBI single from Brendon Davis up the middle jetted the Mud Hens in front for good.
Anthony Castro (1-1) took the loss for the Clippers, surrendering two walks, a hit, and a run while recording just two outs.
Derek Law (1-0) set down all six hitters he faced over two innings to secure the win, also stranding the placed runner at third in the bottom of the tenth.
Drew Hutchison notably spun a scoreless seventh inning out of the Mud Hens bullpen.
NEXT UP: The Mud Hens will look to gain their first lead in the six-game set against the Clippers on Thursday evening at Huntington Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.