Navigato and Madris go yard in Hens' 8-5 loss to Saints

The Toledo Mud Hens went into Thursday night’s game having fallen short to two-straight St. Paul Saints’ rallies. This problem plagued the Hens once again as they lost a 4-1 lead and went on to lose 8-5.

Drama would consume the minds of fans before the game could even begin as Jace Jung was mysteriously scratched from the Hens’ lineup. The reasoning would not be released to the public, but that wouldn’t impede the game.

The game went on regardless. Bryan Sammons hoped to do some damage against the Saints, but they came ready. Though Sammons picked up nine strikeouts in his last outing against St. Paul, Matt Wallner was quick to take a sinker deep to center for the 1-0 lead.

Despite the success that Saints’ pitcher David Festa had been seeing, Andrew Navigato didn’t blink when he tied the game with a no-doubter into left-center field. The homer would be Navigato’s eighth of the season.

Toledo would finally find some confidence at the plate in the fourth inning. Back-to-back doubles by Dillon Dingler and Ryan Vilade would take it 2-1. Bligh Madris followed that up with a 105 mph home run to take the 4-1 lead.

St. Paul would find some success of their own with two outs in the forth as Diego A. Castillo took Sammons’ yard to cut into the Hens’ lead.

The Mud Hens were right back into scoring position as Riley Unroe reached first on a lead-off bunt and Navigato took his base after being drilled in the elbow. Nothing came of the opportunity though as Festa forced three-straight outs to keep it a 4-2 game.

The Saints would return the favor and execute on their opportunity as a Will Holland double put runners on second and third. Chris Williams was then able to score on a base hit by Edouard Julien. Things then took a familiar, yet still unfortunate turn as Brooks Lee hit a three-run homer to take a 6-4 lead.

The sixth inning brought an end to both starters’ days. Festa would be replaced by Scott Blewett after 5.2 innings and Sammons would be replaced by Andrew Magno after 5.1 innings.

Lee made sure to make himself known to Magno with his second home run of the game. The two-run homer gave St. Paul an 8-4 lead before Magno could strike out Wallner to escape the inning.

Brennan Hanifee dueled with Austin Brice to close out the game, but neither side saw much of any action.

Winder would give up a base hit to Vilade and another to Madris, before Justice Bigbie hit into a double play while Vilade took home. The run wouldn’t help the Hens rally though as they lost on the following at bat.

Toledo will take on St. Paul again on Friday at 8:07 p.m. The game will feature a duel between Matt Manning and Randy Dobnak. The Hens will fight for a chance to escape with a series split, while the Saints look to continue their sweep.

Notables:

• Bligh Madris (2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R)
• Andrew Navigato (1-2, HR, RBI, R)
• Ryan Vilade (2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R)
• Dillon Dingler (1-4, 2B, R)