Game 1

It was a day of firsts for Mud Hens starter Logan Shore. He made his first start of the season, his first start as a Mud Hen, and his first start in Triple A.

Shore showed out in his first inning, striking out two and making quick work of the Nashville lineup. In what looked like a pitchers duel early on, Sounds starter Aaron Ashby matched Shore stride for stride in the first, retiring the Hens in order.

Not to be outdone, Shore added another strikeout victim in the second while retiring the Sounds in order. Eric Haase worked a walk in the bottom of the second, but the Mud Hen’s weren’t able to bring him around to score.

The Sounds took a 4-0 lead in the third, causing an early departure from Shore. Nolan Blackwood entered the game in relief, successfully escaping the inning. Now working from behind, Daniel Pinero led off the inning with a double into the left field corner. A four pitch walk to Derek Hill then put two on with nobody out. A walk to Isaac Paredes later loaded the bases, but the Mud Hens lineup were unable to bring any into score.

After a leadoff walk by Blackwood, the Hens defense turned a quick double play in the fourth, giving the offense a chance to earn their third comeback victory of the year. Much to the chagrin of Mud Hens fans, Ashby continued dealing and escaped the inning with only a walk to Aderlin Rodriguez.

Going back to work in fifth, Blackwood got two quick outs before a base hit, fielder’s choice, and walk ended his outing before completing the inning. Miguel Del Pozo entered in relief and registered a groundout, ending the scoring threat. Still hunting for their first run of the evening, walks to Zack Short and Isaac Paredes made things interesting late in the fifth, but the Hens were unable to get any runs across.

Now going into the sixth, Del Pozo surrendered a first pitch home run, extending the Nashville lead, 5-0. Settling back into a groove, Del Pozo buckled down and retired the next three batters in order. Aderlin Rodriguez provided the Hens with their second hit of the day with a two out base knock to right. This was immediately followed up by a Daniel Pinero double down the right field line. Back in business with runners at second and third, the Hens were once again unable to plate runs with runners in scoring position.

Locke St. John entered the game for Toledo in the top of the seventh and quickly found himself in a jam with runners at the corners. Two key strikeouts later, St. John escaped the inning and kept the score 5-0. With their last chance for a comeback, the Hens offense came back up to the plate. The Sounds bullpen proved insurmountable however and closed out the game with a final score of 5-0.

Game 2

Looking to get back in the win column after a game one loss, the Mud Hens turned to starter Rony Garcia to get them back on track. Garcia would face off against former Hen turned Nashville Sound Blaine Hardy in the contest.

Garcia had a stress free first inning, logging two strikeouts in the process. Meanwhile, the offensive struggle from game one permeated into game two for the Mud Hens as Hardy retired the side in order.

In the second, Garcia gave up a leadoff solo shot before getting a groundout for the first out of the inning. Unfortunately, the moonshots kept coming with another solo homer making it 2-0. Garcia then struck out the next two batters faced, ending the inning. Renato Nunez led off the inning with a walk and two batters later Daniel Pinero walked as well. Putting runners at second and first with two outs. Mirroring most of game one, the Hens were unable to push any runs across.

Garcia got back on track with a scoreless inning in the third with the only real blemish being a single walk. Zack Short then broke the day’s scoreless streak with an absolute no-doubter to left field, cutting the Sounds lead in half, 2-1. Eric Haase singled later in the inning but would ultimately be left on base.

The Sounds led off the fourth with a walk followed up by a line drive single. Having to work himself out of a jam early, Garcia then induced a quick pop up followed by a strikeout and a quick groundout. Dustin Garneau led off the inning with a walk for the Hens but would be unable to score before the offense was retired.

Reliever Jason Foley took over for Garcia in the top of the fifth giving up a single to the leadoff hitter. The single would come back to haunt Foley as another homerun by the Sounds quickly made it 4-1. Now trailing by the largest deficit of the game, Toledo was looking to show some more life on offense. Derek Hill led off the inning with a walk and later stole second. Zack Short then walked as well, putting runners at first and second with no outs. Isaac Paredes then walked, loading the bases for the middle of the lineup. Eric Haase got the job done with a RBI single that scored Hill and Short. Now trailing 4-3, Renato Nunez doubled to left field scoring Paredes and tying the ball game, 4-4. A groundout, strikeout, and flyout would end the inning after that but the damage had been done. Toledo was right back in it.

Robbie Ross Jr. proceeded to take over for Foley in the top of the sixth. Back to back singles seemed to reel back the momentum in favor of the Sounds and a third single proved to do just that, giving Nashville the lead once again, 5-4. The Sounds offense did not relent there however, putting pressure on Ross Jr. as they loaded the bases with two outs. A clutch catch a Pinero at second ended the threat and limited the damage to just one run. Trying to mount a come back for the third win of the season, the Mud Hens were retired in order, saving any possibility of late inning heroics for the bottom of the seventh.

Drew Carlton entered the game in the top of the seventh with the task of keeping the game within one run. Carlton did just that striking out two and getting a fly out to center. Trying to avoid the double header sweep, the Hens came up to bet looking to tie or win the contest then and there. Unfortunately, the lineup was set down in order, cementing a 5-4 defeat.

What’s Next:

The Toledo Mud Hens continue their six game series against Nashville with game five taking place on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.