Hens drop three straight in St. Paul

Toledo, OH - The Toledo Mud Hens dropped their third straight game in St.Paul losing 4-2 on the Thursday night matchup.

The Mud Hens got the offense going quickly in the top of the first inning. Nick Solak was hit by a pitch then Justyn-Henry Malloy worked a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs for Colt Keith. Keith then lined a double a gap into right field to score Solak and give the Hens a 1-0 lead.

Mud Hens starting pitcher Bryan Sammons kept the Saints off the board through the first three innings and only allowed two hits.

Through the first six innings of the game, the ball game would be nothing more than a good ole' fashioned pitchers duel. Saints starting pitcher Randy Dobnak would only allow one run to score in the first inning before pitching five straight scoreless to keep the Hens at one run. Bryan Sammons would pitch six straight scoreless innings for the Hens taking the 1-0 lead into the seventh inning. Sammons recored 8 strikeouts in six innings.

With the game being stagnant on offense the Mud Hens tried to break away a little bit in the top of the seventh inning. Dillion Dingler worked a walk then Michael Papierski singled to put runners on first and second with one put. Nick Solak then walked and the Hens had the bases loaded. Justyn-Henry Malloy then hit a sacrifice fly to score a run and the Hens went up 2-0.

Andrew Vasquez then entered the game in the bottom of the seventh inning to replace Sammons. Brooks Lee started the inning with a single, then later in the inning with one out, Ryan Garlick reached on a fielders choice, but then a throwing error from Justyn-Henry Malloy allowed the Saints to score their first run of the game. Jair Camargo was then hit by a pitch and the Saints had runners on first and third. A wild pitch from Vasquez allowed Garlick to score from third and the game was tied at 2-2. With a runner on second and two outs, Hernan Perez singled to left field to score Camargo from second which gave the Saints the lead. Michael Helman then singled to put runners on first and second for Byron Buxton. Buxton then singled to score Perez and give the Saints a 4-2 lead after seven.

In the top of the ninth inning, the Saints went to Ronny Henriquez to recored the save. Henriquez entered the game with a two run lead for the Saints. The Hens were able to get the tying runs on base but Henriquez was able to pitch a scoreless frame and recored the save and victory for the Saints.