Manning marvels on Mother's Day against WooSox

TOLEDO, OH.: Detroit Tigers pitcher Matt Manning was dominant in his first rehab start for the Mud Hens, and Toledo pieced together a five-run first inning as part of a 7-2 victory over the Worcester Red Sox on a Mother’s Day Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Field.

Manning got the ball for Mud Hens on Sunday, making his first start since April 16 when he threw for Detroit in Kansas City. He tossed three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, racked up four strikeouts, and pounded the zone with 24 strikes over 36 pitches. He is currently rehabbing from right shoulder inflammation that forced him to be placed on the Tigers Injured List back in April.

Ricardo Pinto (1-0) kept the momentum going on the mound by firing three shutout frames, also working around two hits and two walks in relief of Manning to secure the win.

Daz Cameron started off the two-out rally in the bottom of the first with a double opposite Carlos Martinez, who was making his first start since signing with the Red Sox organization earlier this week. Josh Lester drew a walk ahead of Ryan Lavarnway, who swatted an RBI knock to get the Hens on the board. Two batters later, Dustin Garneau pulled a two-run single to left. Jack Lopez got in on the action with a two-run double as well to balloon the Hens lead to 5-0.

Martinez (0-1) didn’t make it out of the first, suffering the loss for Worcester by giving up four hits and five earned runs over eight batters and 2/3’s of an inning.

Cameron and John Valente each extended their hitting streaks to ten and eight games, respectively, in that busy first inning. Daz is hitting .282 during this stretch with eight runs scored, crossing the plate once in seven of those ten contests. Valente is maintaining a .400 average with 4 RBIs, three walks, and just five strikeouts over the span of his hitting streak.

Lopez and Valente were issued free passes to begin the bottom of the fourth opposite Darwinzon Hernandez. Zack Short moved the runners up on a ground ball, and Kody Clemens drove in Lopez with a sacrifice fly to jump the lead to 6-0.

The Red Sox scratched across single tallies against Drew Carlton in the seventh and the eighth to avoid the shutout. Ryan Fitzgerald and Triston Casas each belted solo homers to account for the scoring.

Back-to-back doubles from Lester and Lavarnway produced the final run of the afternoon in the eighth. The Mud Hens designated hitter finished up 2-4 with that double, two RBIs, and a run scored. Lavarnway has now hit safely in his last three Mud Hens assignments.

Jason Foley came out of Toledo’s bullpen to chip in a scoreless ninth inning and finish off the game.

NEXT UP: Toledo will look to extend its four-game winning streak on Tuesday evening in Louisville. The Mud Hens begin their 12-game road trip with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch time against the Bats.