Mud Hens fall flat late in loss

TOLEDO, Ohio - The Memphis Redbirds bested the Toledo Mud Hens 7-4 at Fifth Third Field on Saturday night.

Southpaw Locke St. John made his 13th appearance and third start of the season for the Mud Hens. His first start of the year came against Memphis at the beginning of June where he went 2.2 innings and allowed one run.

Right away, St. John came out firing to start this one. He struck out the leadoff man looking and then recorded back-to-back swinging strikeouts as part of a perfect 1-2-3 inning.

In the bottom half of the first, center fielder Derek Hill, who was making the first start of his rehab assignment, hit a one-out triple to center. The hot-hitting Renato Nunez then doubled off of the left field wall to give the Hens an early 1-0 lead.

After scoreless second and third innings, the Mud Hens went back to work on offense in the fourth. Kody Clemens singled to start the inning and after working a full count, Aderlin Rodriguez detonated a ball on a line to center field that left the yard and extended the Toledo lead to three runs.

This time, the Redbirds responded. St. John exited after four scoreless innings, his longest appearance of the season. Right-hander Wladimir Pinto entered to pitch the fifth inning and was greeted by a Kramer Robinson solo shot to left to get Memphis on the board.

The sixth inning was not any smoother for Pinto, unfortunately. He walked Nogowski and then hit Yepez with a pitch. Capel plated both runners with a triple down the right field line to tie the game. Then, Robertson singled to right to score him and the Redbirds took a 4-3 lead. Following the go-ahead hit, righty Drew Carlton came on, attempting to keep the Hens’ deficit at just one run. After getting Heineman to fly out for the second out, Rayder Ascanio hit a two-run blast to left to make it 6-3 Redbirds, topping off a five-run inning for the away team.

The Hens would not go away quietly though. Back-to-back doubles in the sixth from Clemens and Rodriguez closed the Redbirds’ lead to two. After a flyout and a strikeout, Christin Stewart singled to left, putting runners at the corners. Dustin Garneau stepped to the dish as the potential go-ahead run, but was unable to come through and the game remained 6-4 after six.

Following scoreless seventh and eighth innings, the Redbirds added an insurance run in the ninth after a single and a double.

Chasing three, the Mud Hens needed a ninth-inning rally to keep this game alive. JaCoby Jones worked a walk to start the inning, but the Toledo offense was unable to make anything of it, falling 7-4 in this one.

What’s Next:

The Toledo Mud Hens and Memphis Redbirds clash for the series finale Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Field with the first pitch scheduled for 2:05 p.m.

Hens Notes:

• Infielder Aderlin Rodriguez hit his 10th home run of the season and also doubled, recording 3 RBI.
• Left-hander Locke St. John threw a season high four innings and also allowed no runs in his start tonight.
• Already the leader in team triples in the Triple-A East, Derek Hill added to that tonight with his first inning three-bagger.