Mud Hens finish road trip with a win before coming home

The Mud Hens earned a hard-fought 6-3 victory over the Iowa Cubs to ultimately split their series. Toledo benefitted from some hard hits and their bullpen depth.

The Mud Hens would give Lael Lockhart some confidence in his start as they picked up a first-inning 1-0 lead. Spencer Torkelson worked a walk and then made his way to third thanks to Jace Jung’s seventeenth double of the season. From there, Dillon Dingler earned the RBI with a groundout to third baseman BJ Murray Jr. to give Toledo the lead.

Lockhart's confidence and command was on display in his first start of the month. He picked up two quick strikeouts as his slider showed some of the strongest break that he’s seen all season.

It wouldn’t take long for the Cubs to take advantage of the 26-year old lefty. In the bottom of the second Owen Cassie hit a two-out homer deep into center field that benefited heavily from the whirling wind.

Dingler was able to extend his hitting streak to thirteen games with a solo shot that fans could just hear was gone. From then on Iowa looked rattled trying to close the top of the fourth as they dropped two easy foul pop outs.

The Cubs would shake off the nerves in the bottom of the inning though, as a familiar face throughout this series continued to make a huge impact for Iowa. Following a Cole Roederer hit by pitch, Alexander Canario hit a two-run home run to make it a 3-2 game. The homer was his twelfth of the season and his third of the series. After Lockhart conceded two more bases, the Hens would see some action in the bullpen. Lockhart would escape the jam with a groundout, but Andrew Magno continued to warm up.

Iowa would also turn to their bullpen in the fifth inning as Dan Straily’s day came to an end and Ethan Roberts made his third appearance of the series. Roberts loaded the bases for Toledo by walking Torkelson, but nothing would come of it.

As Magno took the mound, Ryan Kreidler would replace Navigato at shortstop. The pair would see some immediate action, but were able to help the Hens go one, two, three.

Despite Roberts having only pitched 0.1 innings, the I-Cubs would hand the ball over to Colton Brewer to open the sixth inning. Brewer began the season with Iowa, but has recently spent time in Chicago. He now rejoins Iowa after being sent for a rehab assignment.

Brewer began by dealing a walk to Dingler, but that would quickly come back to haunt him. Ryan Vilade had a hard hit grounder to third base that moved Dingler. The Cubs tried for the out at first, but then Dingler went running for third. Matt Mervis tried to get the ball back to third, but overthrew it, allowing Dingler to take home and tie the game. Things didn’t get any better for Brewer as Eddys Leonard found a base hit and Toledo put runners on second and third. Kreidler then took the lead with an RBI single that was well placed into a gap in left field.

The Hens continued to move through their bullpen, bringing out Alex Lange in the bottom of the sixth. Lange had on and off command issues with his off-speed pitches, but was able to escape runners on second and third with three strikeouts.

Hoping to halt the Hens, the Cubs brought hard-throwing righty Eduarniel Nunez to the mound with Jung on first. Toledo would also switch things up on the mound as Easton Lucas took over for Lange.

After Nunez had worn himself out, Brad Wieck would enter to open the ninth inning as the Mud Hens looked to expand their 4-3 lead at the top of their lineup. Toledo was able to find some insurance as Torkelson and Vilade both hit doubles to eventually put the Hens ahead 6-3.

The game would be put into the hands of Trey Wingenter. He alternated between off-speed pitches and his four-seam fastball to earn the save.

The Mud Hens will return to Toledo for a series against the Omaha Storm Chasers, beginning on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

Notables:

• Dillon Dingler (1-4, HR, BB, 3 RBI, 3 R, SB)
• Ryan Vilade (2-4, 2B, BB, RBI, R)
• Spencer Torkelson (1-3, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R)
• Jace Jung (3-5, 2B)