Wind plays big roll in Mud Hens 8-4 loss to Express
For the first time ever, the Toledo Mud Hens faced off against the Round Rock Express in the Triple-A Interleague series. The Hens would fall 8-4 to the Express. The windy conditions in Round Rock played a big role in the game, having game-changing impacts on both squads. Standing in
For the first time ever, the Toledo Mud Hens faced off against the Round Rock Express in the Triple-A Interleague series. The Hens would fall 8-4 to the Express. The windy conditions in Round Rock played a big role in the game, having game-changing impacts on both squads.
Standing in the way of the Mud Hens early was pitcher Dane Dunning. Dunning has seen some time in the MLB with the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox.
The Hens were quick to get on the board. Jace Jung drew a two-out walk, before finding his way home on a missed routine pop-up off the bat of Andrew Navigato. Bligh Madris then extended the Toledo lead to 2-0 with an RBI double to score Navigato.
Matt Gage would make his Mud Hens debut, signing a minor-league contract with Detroit following his stint with the Syracuse Mets. Gage relied heavily on his four-seam and slider, but Justin Foscue quickly got the best of him with a 390 ft solo shot to make it 2-1.
While Round Rock starter Dunning had some troubles at the beginning of the game, things only got worse for him when Tomas Nido took him 417 ft deep. From there, the Hens would load the bases, but Dunning would collect himself and escape without allowing any further damage
In his second inning, Gage began to sprinkle in more of his sinker and changeup into his pitching rotation. That was effective in finding the first two outs of the inning, but Cody Freeman would best him with a two-run homer to cut the lead 4-3.
In the third inning, with two outs, Carlos Pena would take the mound for Toledo for his first ever appearance as a Hen. Unfortunately, his first batter, Trevor Hauver, hit a two-run homer to take a 5-4 lead.
The bottom of the fourth inning opened with a Chad Wallach walk and a Tucker Barnhart double, before Cody Freeman’s sac-fly extended the Express lead 6-4.
Toledo would turn to Bailey Horn to try and keep the Round Rock lead within reach in the fifth. Despite Horn’s arsenal of off speed pitches, two walks and a single from Wallach would be enough to make it 7-4.
Horn’s tenure continued into the sixth inning, but the Express continued to extend their lead over the Hens. The wind was fully in favor of Round Rock with Freeman earning his second home run of the day, which carried deep into left field. The wind continued to trouble Toledo as they lost track of multiple infield-fly balls.
The Express pitching staff would be the most dominant factor of the game. The five pitchers combined for twelve strikeouts and seven-straight scoreless innings. Emiliano Tedeo had a particularly strong night, going 2.0 innings with no hits and four strikeouts.
After scoring four runs in the first two innings, Toledo was only able to piece together two hits in the final seven innings. This led to their demise as they officially fell to the Express 8-4.
The two squads will face off again Wednesday at 8:05 p.m. with four more games to follow in the International League vs Pacific Coast League series.
Notables:
- Tomas Nido (1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, K)
- Tyler Owens (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR)
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