Mud Hens fall in slugfest

Toledo, OH - The Toledo Mud Hens opened up game one of a two-week road trip against the St. Paul Saints and fell 14-7 on the Tuesday slugfest.

The starting pitcher for the Mud Hens was Bryan Sammons. Sammons entered the game with an 0-2 record and a 5.29 ERA on the season.

Both teams were held scoreless until the bottom of the second inning where Gilberto Celestio roped the Saints' first hit and run of the game, hitting a home run over the left field wall to take a 1-0 lead.

After the Saints took a lead in the second, the Mud Hens responded quickly in the third bringing home four runs. The first run came in with Joe Rizzo scoring Justyn-Henry Malloy and moving Tyler Nevin to third. The next batter Donny Sands decided to clear the bases by smashing a three-run home run over the left field wall to take a 4-1 in the top of the third inning.

Looking for an answer quickly, the Saints were able to score their second run of the game thanks to a sacrifice fly from Chris Williams scoring Andrew Stevenson.

In a 4-2 ball game in the top of the fourth inning, the Mud Hens continued to have tough at-bats making it hard on St. Paul's starting pitcher Louis Varland. With runners on second and third Tyler Nevin singled to right field to scoreJustyn-Henry Malloy and* Colt Keith* to make it a 6-2 ball game. Michael Boyle entered the game out of the bullpen and recorded the final out of the inning.

Once again the Saints did not back down easy. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Andrew Stevenson roped a three-run homerun out to center field to make it a 6-5 ball game. That marked the end of Sammons day on the mound doe the Mud Hens, allowing five earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched. Aneyurs Zabala entered the game and recorded the final out for the inning.

The Saints never quit in this game scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The first run came across to score after a double from Anthony Prato that scored Gilberto Celestino to tie the game at 6-6. With a game tied and a runner in scoring position, Alex De Goti singled to center that scored Prato to make it a 7-6 ball game.

The Mud Hens battled back to tie the game in the seventh inning. Joe Rizzo sliced a double to lead off the inning, but the Saints pitching was able to get two outs and Rizzo on third for Grant Witherspoon. Witherspoon then singled up the middle to score Rizzo and tie the game at seven heading to the bottom of the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, things got ugly in a hurry for the Hens. Six runs came across to score for the Saints to blow the game open and put the Mud Hens in a six-run deficit heading to the eighth inning. The Hens used five pitchers in the first seven innings.

The Saints didn't finish with slugfest in the seventh. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Saints loaded up the bases with two outs. Tony Wolters worked a walk to score a run and make it a 14-7 lead.

Kody Funderburke entered the game in the ninth inning and closed the game out to defeat the Mud Hens 14-7 to ope the series.

Notables:

Donny Sands: 1-4, 3 RBI, R, BB, HR

Tyler Nevin: 2-5, R, 2 RBI

Joe Rizzo: 2-5 2 R, RBI, 2B