Hens almost pull off the impossible, but fall just short

The Toledo Mud Hens were unable to break their nine-game skid Saturday night against the St. Paul Saints. The Hens’ hitters struggled against ace Caleb Boushley and had pitching problems of their own. Toledo made a very strong effort in the ninth, but it would be too late as they fell 9-7.

Whereas the Saints have had to come from behind in prior games against the Hens, they were quick to take a lead in this one. Base hits by Edouard Julien and Brooks Lee put St. Paul in almost immediate scoring position. After both players advanced a base, Yunior Severino took the first-inning lead with a two-RBI single.

Toledo struggled at the plate with Boushley on the mound. This wasn’t much of a shock though as Boushley has dominated in the International League with a 7-1 record and a 3.90 ERA. He held the Hens’ hitless until the second inning when Ryan Vilade broke the streak with a grounder to left field.

Matt Manning found himself in a jam as he struggled to gain command over his curveball. This allowed the Saints to load the bases. St. Paul then expanded their lead when Matt Wallner hit a pop up that Andrew Navigato and Bligh Madris were unable to find in the sun, allowing two runs.

Manning’s struggles only worsened going into the bottom of the third. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Tony Kemp went back-to-back with solo homers to make it a 6-0 game. Toledo was able to escape the inning on a groundout from Alex Isola that hit Manning directly in the back before he picked it up and tossed it to first.

The Mud Hens looked to put themselves back in the game in the fifth inning with Vilade’s fourteenth double of the season. He then took third on a groundout by Riley Unroe, but Navigato was unable to bring him home.

In the bottom of the fifth, Severino would make sure he was seen yet again. This time with a homer on a four-seam fastball on the inside corner that flew 424 ft. Diego A. Castillo followed that with a double, which would end Manning’s time on the mound. Easton Lucas would be called upon to take over. Patrick Winkel then expanded the Saints’ lead with an RBI single to make it 8-0 going into the sixth.

In the sixth inning, Alex Faedo would make his second appearance of the series while on a rehab assignment from Detroit. Faedo was able to hold the Saints scoreless for only the second inning of the game.

Boushley continued to dominate in the seventh inning, continuing his shutout with a fourth one, two, three inning. This would be Boushley’s final inning as the bottom of the seventh dragged on. He held the Hens to just three hits, no runs, and picked up five strikeouts.

The Saints just wouldn’t let the night end. They added some insurance to their lead yet again as a Kemp double put Keirsey Jr. on third. St. Paul capitalized on this with a Wnkel groundout and then loaded the bases with a base hit from Julien. This forced Tim Federowics to pull Faedo and move on to Andrew Vasquez. Vasquez was able to escape the jam by picking up the final two outs to hold the game at 8-0.

With Boushley finally gone, Jordan Balazovic would look to keep Toledo off of the board. His one, two, three inning was a good start toward that goal. Balazovic then handed the closing responsibilities off to Austin Brice. Brice struggled to fend off the eager Hens hitters, giving up two runs and an Eddys Leonard double before suffering from an apparent injury and handing the ball off to Nick Wittgren.

Wittgren’s entrance would mark a huge swing in momentum for the Mud Hens. A base hit from Anthony Bemboom loaded the bases. Navigato made this a real game with a grand slam that left the entire stadium stunned. Meadows kept the good times rolling with a base hit, but the game came to a close as Spencer Torkelson went down swinging.

The Mud Hens and the St. Paul Saints will face off one last time on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. Toledo will look to bring an end to a, now, ten-game skid.

Notables:

• Andrew Navigato (1-4, HR, 4 RBI, R)
• Ryan Vilade (2-3, 2B, BB, R)