Mud Hens winning streak snapped with 7-1 loss to Clippers

Jul. 3—The Columbus Clippers turned the tables on Friday, defeating the Toledo Mud Hens 7-1 at Fifth Third Field after scoring a combined seven runs in the first three games of the six-game series.

Toledo (28-23) saw its four-game winning streak snapped.

Kirk McCarty made his fourth start against Toledo this season, surrendering one run on four hits across seven innings and picking up the victory to improve to 6-1.

In his previous three appearances against the Mud Hens, McCarty gave up eight runs in the span of 17 innings, but he struck out six and walked two on Friday.

Toledo's Robbie Ross, Jr. (2-5) started for the first time this season and took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out two in two innings of work.

Wladimir Pinto and Drew Carlton combined for four innings of one-run ball, striking out four and walking two.

What happened: Columbus (24-27) took the lead in the top of the second inning on a base hit from Gabriel Arias. The Clippers' shortstop drove in Owen Miller. A double by Trenton Brooks and a grounder from Connor Marabell led to two more runs in the three-run second.

Toledo loaded the bases in the third following a double by Dylan Rosa, Derek Hill being hit by a pitch, and a base hit from Jacob Robson. Isaac Paredes drove in the Mud Hens' run on a sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, Marabell drove in Brooks for his second RBI of the game. With two out in the seventh, Miller extended the Clippers' lead with a three-run home run to center field. It was his fourth homer of the season.

The Mud Hens failed to score with the bases loaded in the eighth. Toledo was 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base.

Game MVP: Robson went 4-for-4 with a triple and three singles.

He said it: "We were just looking for a couple of innings out of [Ross]," Mud Hens manager Tom Prince said. "He gave us that. We moved on from there, trying to keep things moving for our bullpen."

Make a note of it: Thursday's 4-2 win over Columbus was Prince's 500th career victory as a manager. He started his managerial career in the Pittsburgh Pirates system across three levels, as well as serving as the Pirates' bench coach from 2017-19.

The Mud Hens lead the Triple-A East in triples (19).

Renato Nunez's seven game hitting streak came to an end. With his walk in the sixth inning, he has reached base safely in the past eight games.

Cleveland's Roberto Perez began a rehab assignment Friday with Columbus. Perez batted third in the Clippers' lineup and started at catcher. At the plate, he went 0-for-3 with a walk. Perez went on the injured list in early May with a fractured finger. Cleveland has the ability to activate him as early as Saturday.

Comings and goings: Erasmo Ramirez wrapped up his rehab assignment with Toledo and was activated from the 10-day injured list and called up to Detroit. He made four appearances for the Mud Hens during his rehab stint, giving up three runs in eight innings.

Ramirez landed on the 10-day IL on May 7 with a right pectoralis strain.

A look ahead: The Mud Hens will play at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday against the Clippers in their fifth game of a six-game set at Fifth Third Field. Drew Hutchison (5-2) will make his 11th start for Toledo against Kevin Herget (2-3).

Toledo will wrap up its series against Columbus at 7:05 p.m. on Sunday at Fifth Third Field before a scheduled off day Monday.