TOLEDO, OH.: Bryan Garcia tossed another gem on the mound, the Mud Hens bullpen held the Saints bats to just five hits, and Toledo scraped together a couple effective offensive rallies to take down St. Paul, 5-2, and secure its first victory of the seven-game series on Thursday evening at
TOLEDO, OH.: Bryan Garcia tossed another gem on the mound, the Mud Hens bullpen held the Saints bats to just five hits, and Toledo scraped together a couple effective offensive rallies to take down St. Paul, 5-2, and secure its first victory of the seven-game series on Thursday evening at Fifth Third Field.
Despite the positive final result for Toledo, it was Matt Wallner that ignited the first rally of the contest for St. Paul by smacking a one-out double off Garcia. He advanced to third during the double because of a throwing error from the Mud Hens, and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Chris Williams to give the Saints an early 1-0 edge.
Patience against St. Paul starter Simeon Woods Richardson was the key to Toledo tying the game right back up at 1-1 in the bottom of the first. A single from Ali Sanchez was followed up by three straight walks, the last of which being drawn by Andre Lipcius, to force in Sanchez for the Hens first tally.
Sanchez finished the night 2-4 at the dish and is now 6-13 during his three-game hitting streak. He is averaging .364 over his last ten assignments and has multiple hits in three of those contests.
Lipcius delivered again with a huge two-out RBI double in the bottom of the third, bringing home Zack Short, to push Toledo in front for the first time at 2-1. Thursday marked the ninth multi-hit and third multi-RBI effort at the Triple-A level for Lipcius, who finished 2-3 at the dish.
Andrew Bechtold and Elliot Soto each climbed aboard ahead of Michael Helman in the fifth, who put the ball in play for an RBI groundout to even the game back up at 2-2.
Woods Richardson didn’t factor in the decision for St. Paul, surrendering three hits, two earned runs, three walks, and racking up seven punch outs over five frames.
Garcia (3-3) tossed six innings for his third straight outing and for the fourth time in his last five starts, holding the Saints to just four hits, two runs, issuing a single free pass, and fanning six. He has yielded three earned runs or less over his last five starts between Toledo and Detroit.
The Mud Hens caught a break and took advantage of it in the bottom of the sixth, plating the go-ahead run in the process. New Saints pitcher Brock Stewart (0-1) began his outing with a strikeout of Daz Cameron, but he was able to reach base on a wild pitch. He would go on to steal second and touch up later in the frame on a clutch RBI double from Jamie Westbrook to give the Mud Hens a 3-2 lead.
Toledo turned to Sam Howard and its bullpen in the top of the seventh. Sam retired two of the three he faced before Drew Carlton came in to strike out Soto and end St. Paul’s threat. He would also power through a scoreless eighth inning.
Brendon Davis shrugged off a difficult start to his night by pulling a key run-producing knock into left, scoring Cameron, as part of the bottom of the eighth. Davis reached third and Lipcius came home courtesy of a Saints throwing error by Williams during the play, bringing in an additional run to make it 5-2.
Miguel Diaz secured his second save of the campaign by striking out the side in the ninth and working around a two-base hit.
NEXT UP: The next encounter between the Saints and Mud Hens is slated for a 7:05 p.m. first pitch on Friday evening.