Mud Hens fall 10-7 in slugfest

Toledo, OH - The Toledo Mud Hens fell in a slugfest against the Iowa Cubs 10-7.

Zach Logue started on the mound for the Toledo Mud Hens for the Thursday night matchup and ended the first inning without allowing a run.

Caleb Killian was the starter on the mound for the ICubs. The Mud Hens wasted no time to put a runner in scoring position after Justyn-Henry Malloy roped a one-out double. Later in the inning, with two outs and a runner on, Andre Lipcius smashed a two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Mud Hens a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second inning, Ryan Kreidler worked a leadoff walk to get on base for the Hens. With one out, Kreidler would then steal second base to put himself in scoring position. In the same at-bat, Kreidler was able to advance to third on a wild pitch. With two outs in the inning, Wenceel Perez lined a single to left field to put the Hens in front 3-0.

Zach Logue finished the first three innings of the ball game, keeping the ICubs' offense to a minimum.

In the top of the fourth inning, the ICubs' offense came alive. Yonathan Perlaza started the inning with a leadoff double to put himself in scoring position. The next batter P.J. Higgins doubled to score the ICubs' first run of the game. Logue was able to get the next two batters out without allowing the runner to advance but Chase Strumpf rocketed a two-run home run out to right-center field to tie the game up at three.

The Mud Hens responded quickly in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out in the inning, Ryan Kreidler slugged a solo home run into the Mike Hessman Alley in left field to give the Hens their lead back, making it a 4-3 ball game.

Mud Hens manager Anthony Iapoce went to the bullpen to start the fifth inning and chose Mason Englert to come on to pitch. The Cubs got back-to-back singles to start the inning with no outs. Englert got two straight strikeouts but a big two-out double from Matt Mervis scored two runs and put the ICubs in front. David Bote followed Mervis with an RBI double of his own to give the Cubs a 7-4 lead.

The Mud Hens offense once again responded to the scoring outburst by the ICubs. Wenceel Perez led off the inning with a triple down the right-field line to get things going. The next two batters, Justyn-Henry Malloy and Colt Keith hit back-to-back home runs to give the Hens a 7-6 lead.

The Iowa Cubs offense did not let up. In the top of the sixth inning. Sean Guenther started on the mound out of the bullpen in the sixth inning. the ICubs quickly loaded up the bases with no outs in the inning putting pressure on the Mud Hens defense. Pete Crow-Armstrong singled to left field to tie the game at 7-7. Still, the bases loaded and no outs Yonathan Perlaza singled up the middle to score two more ICubs and put Iowa in front 9-7. Gunther was able to get back-to-back strikeouts for the first two outs in the inning. David Bote was then hit by a pitch to load the bases up once again, then Chase Strumpf worked a walk to score the fourth run of the inning for the ICubs and the tenth run in the last three innings to hold a 10-7 lead over the Mud Hens. The Mud Hens went to Sam Clay to get the final out of the inning which he did.

The score remained at 10-7 in the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Michael Rucker came into the game to try and secure the saved win for the ICubs. The game ended on a line drive double play to end the game and the ICubs secured the 10-7 victory over the Mud Hens.

Notables:

Wenceel Perez: 2-3, R, RBI, 3B

Justyn-Henry Malloy: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR

Colt Keith: 1-4, R, RBI, HR

Andre Lipcisus: 1-3 R, 2 RBI, HR

Ryan Kreidler: 1-2, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB, HR