Mud Hens extend winning streak to 5 with win over Bats
Jun. 14—The Toledo Mud Hens' offense poured on the runs against the Louisville Bats on Sunday at Fifth Third Field, recording a 10-4 victory in the series finale.
Toledo used a nine-run second inning to extend its winning streak to five games. The Mud Hens (19-16) took five of six from an opponent for the first time this season.
Louisville fell to 12-23.
Toledo's powerful offense forced Louisville's Riley O'Brien, the Cincinnati Reds' No.14 prospect, out of the game after 1 1/3 innings. He allowed seven runs on four hits and four walks.
Toledo's offense entered the game in the top 10 of the Triple-A East in multiple offensive categories. The Mud Hens' .263 batting average is third best in the league, while the team is also fourth in on-base plus slugging (.784), fifth in slugging (.438), and seventh in on-base percentage.
What happened: JaCoby Jones struck in the first inning on a solo shot to center field. The center fielder turned on a 3-1 count to launch his first home run for the Mud Hens and third of the season.
The Mud Hens' patience at the plate helped lead to the productive second inning. Toledo walked seven times on top of five hits, including a grand slam from Renato Nunez.
Cole Peterson drove home the first run of the second inning with a sacrifice fly that plated Kody Clemens. Zack Short tacked on a run by scoring on a wild pitch.
Toledo sent 15 batters to the plate in the second. Short and Jones combined for four of the seven walks in that inning.
Jacob Robson added to the second-inning outburst with a single to center to drive in Christin Stewart. Peterson also scored Clemens on a line drive during his second at-bat of the inning.
Louisville's Alejo Lopez put the Bats on the board in the fifth inning with a solo home run to right field.
Toledo starter Ricardo Pinto loaded the bases, including two hit-by-pitches, in the sixth. Angel De Jesus worked out of the jam by limiting the damage to one run, on a ground out by Chris Okey.
This was Pinto's first start of year for the Mud Hens. He was promoted from Double-A Erie after posting a 3.19 earned run average and a 25:7 strikeout-walk ratio. He picked up the victory in 5 1/3 innings of work, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out six and walking one.
Dwight Smith, Jr., launched his first home run of the season in the seventh, a two-run shot for Louisville.
Game MVP: Nunez's grand slam in the second was his sixth home run of the season.
He said it: "[Pinto's] going to pitch backwards at times, and then he's going to light you up with a fast ball every once in a while," Mud Hens manager Tom Prince said. "The [splitter] works in the strike zone, and that's basically all he pitched today."
Make note of it: The Mud Hens entered Sunday's game in second place in the Midwest Division of Triple-A East, six games back of the first-place Omaha Storm Chasers. Toledo's also one of two teams in the Midwest Division that have a positive run differential, plus-30, trailing Omaha's plus-39 mark.
Sunday's 10-run game is the 16th time this season the Mud Hens have scored at least five runs. In games in which Toledo scores at least five, it is 13-3.
Comings and goings: Beau Burrows was optioned back to Toledo after being recalled to Detroit on June 10. As a corresponding move, Buck Farmer was promoted to the Tigers.
Grayson Greiner began a rehab assignment for Detroit on Sunday. Grenier, who started behind the dish for the Mud Hens, landed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain on May 13. He went 1-for-3 with a walk.
A look ahead: Toledo will have a scheduled off day Monday. The Mud Hens will begin a six-game series against the Clippers in Columbus, with Tuesday's game set for a 7:05 p.m. start.
After the road series, the Mud Hens will be back at Fifth Third Field for a two-week homestand. Toledo will face the Memphis Redbirds and Columbus Clippers.
First Published June 13, 2021, 8:06pm