Bryan baffles Bats as Hens blank Louisville

TOLEDO, OH.: Bryan Garcia paced a dynamic pitching performance from the Toledo Mud Hens, matching his career-high innings total and setting a new strikeout mark in a 3-0 shutout victory over the Louisville Bats at Fifth Third Field on Saturday evening.

Garcia hurled six innings for the second time in his professional career, matching his August 15 start with Detroit against Cleveland. He also set a new career mark with seven punch outs, working around a hit and a walk while not factoring in the decision.

Angel De Jesus (1-0) retired all four batters he faced to earn the victory. Sam Howard walked one but retired a pair of hitters as well. Drew Carlton escaped a jam in the ninth to secure his first save of the season.

Of the eight shutout victories the Mud Hens have logged this year, three of them have now come in the month of August.

Brendon Davis and John Valente began the Mud Hens seventh inning rally with consecutive singles off Bats starter Randy Wynne. After a perfectly executed bunt by Chris Rabago moved both runners over, Daz Cameron stroked a two-run triple to right center field to put the Hens on the board. Ryan Kreidler’s knock drove in Daz to cap the busy inning and bump the margin to 3-0.

Wynne (5-11) accepted the setback for Louisville, yielding nine hits and three earned runs over 6 and 1/3’s frames.

Kreidler, Andre Lipcius, and John Valente picked up the multi-hit efforts for the Mud Hens, each swatting 2-4 on the night. Kreidler is now 5-12 at the plate over his last three assignments. Valente is averaging .421 during his current five-game hitting streak.

Josh Lester extended his hit streak to eight consecutive contests when he smacked a base hit in the sixth inning.

NEXT UP: Toledo will seek a series victory against Louisville at Fifth Third Field on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is slated for 2:05 p.m.