Walk-off hit-by-pitch in 10th inning gives Mud Hens 3-2 win over Bats

Jun. 11—The Toledo Mud Hens entered the ninth inning on Thursday with a one-run lead at Fifth Third Field. The Mud Hens' pitching staff held the Louisville Bats to eight shutout innings until Louisville tied the game in the top of the ninth.

After Louisville took its first lead in the 10th on a double from Alfredo Rodriguez, the Bats hit Zack Short with a pitch to bring in the game's winning run, a 3-2 final in favor of Toledo.

Toledo relied on its bullpen, and the teams contested a pitcher's duel until the ninth. Wladimir Pinto pitched two scoreless frames for Toledo.

The Mud Hens' relievers — Pinto, Drew Carlton, Buck Farmer, and Angel De Jesus — combined for eight scoreless innings with six strikeouts and three walks.

What happened: Short drove in the first run of the game on a groundout to shortstop. Christin Stewart, who walked in his first at-bat, scored on the grounder.

Toledo faced Louisville's Reiver Sanmartin on May 28 in which the left hand pitcher was tagged for four runs (three earned) over four innings. He adjusted against Toledo Thursday and gave up five hits over seven innings of one-run ball. Sanmartin punched out seven Mud Hens and allowed just one walk.

In the top of the ninth, Robbie Ross, Jr., allowed back-to-back walks and a base hit to load the bases. Brantley Bell scored on a fielding error by Aderlin Rodriguez, but the Mud Hens turned a double play to end the Bats' rally.

Louisville scored its second run on a double by Alfredo Rodriguez, the second extra-base hit for his team.

Aderlin Rodriguez was able to make up for the error by driving in the game-tying run on a double, his second hit of the game. After intentionally loading the bases, the Bats plunked Short, his third hit-by-pitch of the season, to bring in the winning run.

Game MVP: Aderlin Rodriguez had another multi-hit performance. He went 2-for-4 with his game-tying RBI.

He said it: "They've got some pretty good pitchers over there, especially that lefty [Sanmartin]," Mud Hens manager Tom Prince said of his club going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. "We've seen him twice now, and he's throwing the ball well against us. The left-hander [Phillip] Diehl comes out of the bullpen. He's been very good this year. And [Carson] Fulmer is coming from the big leagues. So quality pitching over there right now."

Make note of it: Pinto made his first start of the season and his first professional start in his six-year minor league career. The 23-year-old threw 31 of his 52 pitches for strikes. Pinto has a 2.53 earned-run average across 10 innings and eight games.

Comings and goings: Injuries to the Detroit Tigers have resulted in a few call-ups for the Mud Hens. Daz Cameron, Beau Burrows, and Alex Lange were promoted ahead of Thursday's Tigers and Mud Hens games.

"Daz has earned the right to go to the big leagues. He's played very well since coming here," Prince said. "And Alex made some adjustments, and he's going back up, and then Beau's pitched very well here. So they both have an opportunity to go back up at a good time when they're pitching good and swinging the bat good."

JaCoby Jones, who was designated for assignment by the Tigers, cleared waivers and was out-righted to Toledo. Logan Shore, who started Toledo's game on Tuesday, was placed on the seven-day injured list.

In corresponding moves to the roster transactions, Henry Martinez and Ricardo Pinto were promoted to Toledo.

A look ahead: The Mud Hens will continue their homestand against the Bats Friday at 7:05 p.m. Drew Hutchison (2-2) will start for Toledo against the Cincinnati Reds' No. 9 prospect Tony Santillan (1-3).

First Published June 10, 2021, 10:22pm