Malloy, Joyce Propel Mud Hens to Victory

TOLEDO – The Toledo Mud Hens came from behind to beat the St. Paul Saints 5-4 in walk-off fashion on Wednesday afternoon at Fifth Third Field.
The Mud Hens would send the rehabbing Tarik Skubal to the mound, while the Saints would send Randy Dobnak to the hill.
Skubal would

TOLEDO – The Toledo Mud Hens came from behind to beat the St. Paul Saints 5-4 in walk-off fashion on Wednesday afternoon at Fifth Third Field.

The Mud Hens would send the rehabbing Tarik Skubal to the mound, while the Saints would send Randy Dobnak to the hill.

Skubal would retire the Saints in order to begin the game, forcing Andrew Stevenson to groundout, then picking up back-to-back strikeouts of Jose Miranda and Chris Williams to end the inning.

Parker Meadows popped out to open the inning against Dobnak. Nick Solak would put the Hens in the hit column with a one-out single. Dobnak would retire the side and strand Solak after a lineout by Justyn-Henry Malloy and a strikeout of Tyler Nevin.

Matt Wallner put the Saints in the hit column with a leadoff single against Skubal. However, Wallner would be erased after Gilberto Celestino grounded into a double play. Skubal then induced a groundout off the bat of Mark Contreras to end the inning.

Dobnak would send the Hens down in order in the second inning. Joe Rizzo struck out, Andre Lipcius grounded out and Michael Papierski flied out, each on four pitches.

Skubal would return for the third inning, walking Anthony Prato to begin the inning. Prato would steal second base prior to a Mark Kolozsvary strikeout, then would swipe third before an Alex De Goti strikeout. With a runner on third and two outs, Stevenson would club a two-run home run to put the Saints up 2-0. That would finish the day for Skubal and beckon Garrett Hill from the bullpen. Hill would walk Miranda, but would bounce back to strikeout Williams to end the inning. Skubal would finish with 2.2 innings pitched, allowing two runs on two hits (one home run), one walk and four strikeouts.

Dobnak would return for the third inning, opening the half-frame with a strikeout of Grant Witherspoon. Corey Joyce would hit a one-out single to get the Mud Hens on the bases. Dobnak would strikeout Meadows and get Solak to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Hill would come back out for the fourth inning, and Wallner greeted him with a leadoff home run to put the Saints up 3-0. Celestino would follow Wallner with a double to try to keep the Saints in the run column. Hill would strikeout Contreras, induce a lineout by Prato and a flyout by Kolozsvary to escape the jam with minimal damage. Hill’s day would be over, finishing with 1.1 innings pitched, allowing one run on two hits (one home run), one walk and two strikeouts.

Dobnak would retire the side in order in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting Mallow, Nevin and Rizzo all three to groundout. De Goti would suffer an injury and would be forced out of the game, with Elliot Soto coming out to replace him at shortstop.

In the top of the fifth inning, the freshly entered Soto smoked a leadoff double against new Hens pitcher Ashton Goudeau who is fresh off of the injured list for the Mud Hens. Soto would move to third on a groundout by Stevenson. Goudeau would strikeout Miranda for the second out. Goudeau would walk Williams, but then induce a first-pitch flyout by Wallner to end the inning and escape the jam. That would be the end of the road for Goudeau, who pitched 1.0 inning, allowing one hit, one walk and one strikeout.

Dobnak would remain in the game for the Saints in the bottom of the fifth inning. Dobnak would once again make quick work of the Mud Hens, striking out Lipcius, inducing a groundout by Papierski and striking out Witherspoon to keep mowing through the Toledo order.

Blair Calvo would enter in the sixth inning for his Mud Hens debut. Calvo would get one pitch and one out to start his Hens tenure with a groundout by Celestino. Calvo would plunk Contreras, who would swipe second base before Prato would draw a walk. Calvo would bounce back with back-to-back strikeouts of Kolozsvary and Soto to escape the inning unscathed, keeping the game at 3-0. Calvo’s afternoon would end with 1.0 inning pitched, allowing one walk, two strikeouts and one hit-by-pitch.

Dobnak would stay out for the sixth inning, as he was on a roll. Joyce would flyout to open the inning. Meadows would triple and then come home to score on a Nick Solak sacrifice fly, making it 3-1 in favor of St. Paul. Malloy would single and then get stranded after a groundout by Nevin.

Sam Clay would enter the game in the seventh inning for the Mud Hens. Stevenson would lineout and Miranda would flyout for the first two outs of the inning. Williams would hit a solo home run to put the Saints lead back to three runs at 4-1. Clay would induce a groundout by Wallner to end the inning.

Dobnak would return for the seventh inning, getting Rizzo to groundout to open the inning. Lipcius would hit a one-out double to get the offense in scoring position. Dobnak would induce a groundout by Papierski to end his dominant day. Kody Funderburk would enter the game for St. Paul and strikeout Witherspoon to end the inning. Dobnak would finish with 6.2 innings pitched, allowing one run on five hits and six strikeouts.

Clay would return for the eighth inning, inducing a flyout by Celestino and a groundout by Contreras. That would be the end of the day for Clay, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit (one home run). Aneurys Zabala would enter the game from the Hens bullpen. Zabala would get Prato to groundout to end the inning in order.

Funderburk would return for the eighth inning, surrendering a leadoff double to Joyce. Meadows would strikeout to end the day for Funderburk. Austin Schulfer would enter for St. Paul. Schulfer would walk Solak and then surrender a game-tying three-run home run from Malloy that cleared the scoreboard and tied the game at 4-4. Schulfer would walk Nevin and then induce a flyout from Rizzo. Nevin would swipe second base before Lipcius popped out to end the inning. That would be the end of the day for Funderburk, who pitched 0.2 inning, allowing one run on one hit and two strikeouts, picking up his fifth hold.

Zabala would return for the ninth inning for the Mud Hens, trying to keep the game tied. Zabala would retire the Saints in order, picking up back-to-back strikeouts of Kolozsvary and Soto and a Stevenson groundout to give the Hens a chance to win it in the bottom half. Zabala would finish with 1.1 innings pitched, striking out two batters and picking up his fourth win to move to 4-2 on the season.

Schulfer would remain in the game for the Saints in the ninth inning. Papierski would work a six-pitch leadoff walk to start the Hens rally. Witherspoon would put the first pitch to him up the middle for a base hit, moving Papierski to third base. With runners at the corners and no outs, Joyce swung at the first pitch from Schulfer and hit a walkoff sacrifice fly to right field, winning the Mud Hens the game at 5-4. Schulfer would take the loss and a blown save for the Saints, falling to 3-1 and picking up his first blown save. Schulfer tallied 1.0 inning pitched, allowing three runs on two hits (one home run) and three walks.

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