Jack Anderson shines in front of Labor Day crowd

The Toledo Mud Hens and the Indianapolis Indians faced off for a special Labor Day game infront of over 8,000 fans at Fifth Third Field. Toledo did a good job of getting on base, but they really struggled to bring baserunners home. They would finish with 12 runners left on base as the Indians won 12-1.

The Indians came into Labor Day as the winners of six of their last seven games. They got on the board quickly with three base hits and a walk to score Billy Cook. Indianapolis could’ve seen themselves up 2-0, but Ryan Vilade threw out Andres Alvarez at home from right field.

Andrew Vasquez’s time on the mound would come to an end after three innings. He left the game with two runs allowed as he struggled to close his third inning. With two outs he threw a five-pitch walk to Cook and then allowed an RBI double off the bat of Jack Suwinski on a full count.

Toledo would finally start to get the best of Mike Burrows in the third as Anthony Bemboom led off with a hard-earned walk. Riley Unroe then put the Hens in scoring position with his sixteenth double of the season. A Vilade groundout would make it 2-1, but Toledo found themselves unable to bring in any further runs.

In the fifth inning, Wilmer Flores would make his first start for the Mud Hens since May 12. The righty was activated by Detroit earlier this season, before finding himself on the 60-Day IL. He got off to a rough start in his return as he loaded the bases with no outs. Jack Suwinski took advantage of this by sending a slider down the right-field line to make it 4-1. Malcolm Nunez brought in another two runs with a double of his own, down the right-field line. Three-straight flyouts would end the inning, but not before scoring Nunez to expand the Indianapolis lead to 7-1.

The Hens’ struggles on offense continued as they left five runners left on base from the sixth through the eighth inning. On defense though, the Toledo bullpen looked strong with Jack Anderson on the mound. The righty provided two scoreless innings, while picking up three strikeouts and only allowing one hit.

Austin Schulfer would be tasked with closing the game out. His showing in the eighth held the game at 7-1. He came back out for the ninth inning, but things got rough for Toledo. Schulfer walked the first two batters, before giving up a single to Malcom Nunez to load the bases. The Indians were able to expand their lead to 8-1 as Jake Lamb sent a grounder past Unroe to bring home Suwinski. Schulfer would be pulled with one out after allowing back-to-back base hits that put Indianapolis up 11-1.

Miguel Diaz would enter to close the frame. He was unable to do so without allowing another run as he delivered a five-pitch walk to his first batter and gave up an RBI single to Liover Peguero. Following that though, he struck out Cook before Vilade ended the inning with a diving, run denying, catch.

The Mud Hens were unable to make any difference in the score, certifying the 12-1 loss. Toledo and Indianapolis will face off again on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.

Notabless:

• Jack Anderson (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR)
• PJ Poulin (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR)