ROCHESTER, New York – After winning the first two game of the series, the Mud Hens fell in game three last night, with a blowout score of 17-0. Bryan Garcia looked to get the Mud Hens back to eleven games over .500, and to guarantee Toledo a series split with
ROCHESTER, New York – After winning the first two game of the series, the Mud Hens fell in game three last night, with a blowout score of 17-0. Bryan Garcia looked to get the Mud Hens back to eleven games over .500, and to guarantee Toledo a series split with the Rochester Red Wings.
It wouldn’t take long for the Red Wings to pick up where they left off last night, as Rochester’s Andrew Stevenson blasted a leadoff home run, giving the Wings an early 1-0 lead. The Mud Hens would respond in the second. Detroit Tigers #23 prospect, Andre Lipcius would blast his third home run of the series to tie the game at one apiece.
In the bottom half of the second, Bryan Garcia would fall into some trouble after walking the first batter (Israel Pineda) to lead off the inning. On a danger of walking the second batter (Nick Banks) with a full count, the Rochester Red Wings would hit a single to left, but Jack Lopez would throw out Israel Pineda stretching from second to third. Next, the Red Wings would ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. The momentum would carry on in the third inning for Toledo, as Daz Cameron hit his seventeenth double of the season with two away. This would lead to Josh Lester to drive in Cameron, giving the Hens a 2-1 lead. Lester now has 81 RBIs this season (leads team, 3rd in IL). The Red Wings would also show their clutch hitting in the third with two outs, as they drove in two more runs. Rochester led 3-2, after tallying four hits on Garcia in the third inning alone.
Once again, the Hens would respond and score in their third straight inning of offense. Jamie Westbrook would leadoff the fourth with an infield single. With one away, Jack Lopez would hit his second triple of the season to score Westbrook tying the game at three. Then with two away, Zack Short would drive in Lopez with a double deep to left field, giving the Mud Hens a 4-3 lead. In the bottom half of the fourth, Bryan Garcia would once again fall into trouble, as he gave up a leadoff double. Following a flyout to center, the runner would advance to third off the tag. Then, the Red Wings would hit a line drive to Zack Short, as he made a diving catch to catch the runner on a 6-5 line drive double play.
To begin the fifth, the Mud Hens would tally a couple of singles by Josh Lester and Brendon Davis. Then, Andre Lipcius would obtain his second hit of the ballgame to move the runners up ninety feet. An error by the Red Wings left fielder, Adrian Sanchez would move Lester from third to home. Jamie Westbrook would ground into a fielder’s choice, followed by Chris Rabago grounding into a double play to end the top of the fifth. The Mud Hens had now scored in four straight innings up to this point in the game. In the bottom half of the fifth, the Red Wings would lead off with a single. Then, Bryan Garcia and Chris Rabago would obtain a strike him out, throw him out double play. Bryan Garcia struck out the next batter looking, as the Hens held their lead 5-2 heading to the sixth.
The Hens would go down 1-2-3 to begin the sixth inning and was the first time they went down in order since the first inning of the ballgame. Garcia would stay in the game on the mound, giving up another leadoff hit to the Red Wings. However, the defense would tally their fourth double play. Another groundball would end the inning, as the score stayed 5-3 in favor of the Mud Hens. Bryan Garcia would finish his start after six innings. He allowed eight hits, three earned runs (including the home run), and one walk. He struck out three Red Wing batters in the process. Luis Castillo would replace Garcia in the seventh inning. After striking out a batter, he gave up a solo shot, as the Red Wings cut the Toledo lead down to just one run (5-4). The Red Wings would tally another hit in the next at-bat on an 0-2 count. Castillo would get the next batter out on a 4-3 putout. Manager Lloyd McClendon would bring in Miguel Del Pozo for a lefty vs lefty matchup, as the Hens were looking to hold their lead. The Hens would accomplish that task, as Del Pozo tallied a 3-1 putout to end the seventh.
In the top of the eighth, the Mud Hens would lead off with a walk drawn by Andre Lipcius, and Jamie Westbrook hitting a single to left. Chris Rabago would hit a sacrifice bunt, moving Lipcius and Westbrook to second and third with one away. The Red Wings would intentionally walk Jack Lopez to load the bases, looking to get the groundball to turn two. A strikeout and a flyout would follow as the Hens left the bases full, failing to drive in the insurance run. Miguel Del Pozo would continue his outing through the eighth inning as he tallied two strikeouts and a flyout, keeping the score at 5-4 in favor of Toledo. After a 1-2-3 inning for the Mud Hens in the top of the ninth, the Mud Hens looked to hold their lead for that guaranteed series split. Miguel Diaz would come in to replace Del Pozo to close out the ninth. Diaz would tally a 1-2-3 inning to obtain his first save of the season. The Mud Hens held on to win, with a final score of 5-4. The Mud Hens are now 68-57, and currently place third in the IL West standings, trailing 8.0 games behind the first place Nashville Sounds.
NOTABLE BATTERS:
Andre Lipcius: 2-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
Josh Lester: 2-5, RBI, R, K
Jamie Westbrook: 2-3, R, BB
NOTABLE PITCHERS:
Miguel Del Pozo: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Miguel Diaz: SV (1), 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
NEXT UP: The Mud Hens will continue their series with the Rochester Red Wings, tomorrow at 7:05 pm ET. Toledo will look to clinch their first series victory over the Red Wings this season and avenge themselves from losing the first series during opening week. Ricardo Sanchez (6-5, 4.96 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Hens tomorrow.