Seventh inning déjà vu leads to Mud Hens loss

TOLEDO – The Toledo Mud Hens fell to the St. Paul Saints 7-5 on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field.

The pitching matchup consisted of Jack O’Loughlin for the Mud Hens and Aaron Sanchez for the Saints.

Andrew Stevenson would work an eight-pitch walk to lead-off the game for the Saints. O’Loughlin would work back-to-back popouts by Jose Miranda and Matt Wallner. Gilberto Celestino would lineout to end the inning for the Saints against O’Loughlin.

Parker Meadows would leadoff for the Mud Hens for the 17^th consecutive game against Sanchez. Meadows would flyout to open the game for the Mud Hens offense. Nick Solak would work a one-out walk to put the Mud Hens on the bases. Sanchez would get Justyn-Henry Malloy to ground into an inning-ending double play, erasing Solak and retiring the side.

O’Loughlin would get Trevor Larnach via the strikeout to open the second inning. Andrew Bechtold would double to left to get the Saints rolling. After a lineout from Jair Camargo, Anthony Prato would hit a RBI single to left and would be thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double for the third out. But that would put the Saints ahead 1-0.

Aaron Sanchez would begin the bottom of the second inning by hitting Tyler Nevin with a pitch to put a runner on base. Sanchez would send Johan Camargo down on strikes for the first out. Andre Lipcius would double to put runners on second and third with one out in the inning. Donny Sands would reach on a fielder’s choice and drive in Nevin, tying the game at 1-1. Joe Rizzo would draw a two-out walk before a strikeout of Corey Joyce would strand the runners and leave the game tied at 1-1.

O’Loughlin would get Elliot Soto to groundout for the first out in the third inning. Stevenson and Miranda would connect for back-to-back singles to put some Saints on the bases. Stevenson would get caught stealing as the Saints ended up in a rundown and ended with two outs and Miranda on second base. Wallner would draw a walk to put the Saints back to two runners on base. O’Loughlin would get Celestino to groundout to end the inning.

Sanchez would make quick work of the Mud Hens in the third inning, striking out Meadows, inducing a popout by Solak and striking out Malloy to end the inning.

O’Loughlin would return in the fourth inning for the Mud Hens. Larnach would flyout and Bechtold would popout for the first two outs of the inning. Jair Camargo would hit a ground-rule double, then would be stranded after a flyout by Prato that ended the inning.

Nevin would open the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk against Sanchez. Johan Camargo would ground into a double play, erasing Nevin and putting two outs on the board. Back-to-back singles from Lipcius and Sands would set-up a huge hit from the Mud Hens. Rizzo would club a three-run home run over the center field fence to put the Mud Hens up 4-1. Joyce and Meadows would follow with two more singles. Meadows would extend his hitting streak to 14 games with that single. Meadows would then be caught stealing to end the inning and the threat. That would be the end of the line for Sanchez, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits (one home run), three walks and four strikeouts.

Soto would ground out to open the fifth inning against O’Loughlin. Stevenson would single and move to third on a double by Miranda. Wallner would then hit a two-run single to make it 4-3 in favor of the Mud Hens. O’Loughlin would then get Celestino to ground into an inning-ending double play to get the Mud Hens out of the jam.

Josh Winder would be the first reliever into the game for St. Paul. Winder would make quick work of the Mud Hens, striking out Solak, inducing a groundout by Malloy and striking out Nevin for a quick inning in the fifth inning.

O’Loughlin would head to the mound one more time for the night. O’Loughlin would get two quick outs, inducing a groundout by Larnach and striking out Bechtold. Jair Camargo would pick up a single to keep the inning alive. O’Loughlin would get Prato to flyout to end the inning and his night. O’Loughlin pitched 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, two walks and two strikeouts.

Winder would return to pitch the sixth inning for the Saints. Johan Camargo would flyout to begin the inning. A walk of Lipcius and a Sands single would put two runners on base for the Saints. Winder would strike out Rizzo and induce a fielder’s choice force out from Joyce to end the inning at 4-3 Mud Hens. That would end Winder’s night, claiming the win, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing one hit, one walk and three strikeouts. Winder improved his record to 5-1 on the season.

Anthony Misiewicz would enter the game as the first reliever for the Mud Hens. Misiewicz would get greeted by Soto with a first-pitch leadoff single. Soto would score on a RBI triple by Stevenson that tied the game at 4-4. After a Miranda strikeout, Wallner would put the Saints in front with a RBI double, giving them a 5-4 lead. Misiewicz would then induce a first-pitch groundout by Celestino. Larnach would draw a two-out walk, which would chase Misiewicz from the game, in favor of Matt Wisler. Bechtold would bounce a two-run double into the left field corner, putting the Saints up 7-4 in the seventh inning. That would close the book on Misiewicz, who took his first I.L. loss, falling to 0-1 while pitching 0.2 inning, allowing four runs on three hits, one walk and one strikeout. Bechtold would move up to third base on a wild pitch, but would be stranded after Wisler struck out Jair Camargo to end the inning.

Oliver Ortega would enter the game for the Saints in the bottom of the seventh inning. Meadows would greet him with a leadoff single to try to start a Mud Hens rally. Meadows would however be erased on a double play off the bat of Solak. Ortega would induce a lineout by Malloy to end the inning.

Wisler would return to the mound in the eighth inning, and would make quick work of the Saints. Wisler would get Prato to popout in foul territory for the first out. Wisler would then pick up back-to-back strikeouts of Soto and Stevenson to end the inning and his night. Wisler pitched 1.1 inning, allowing one hit and three strikeouts.

Ortega would return to pitch in the eighth inning for the Saints. Ortega would strikeout Nevin for the first out. Johan Camargo would ground out and Lipcius would draw a two-out walk to put a runner on base. Sands would follow Lipcius with a single to put two runners on base for Joe Rizzo. Rizzo would groundout to end the inning and strand the runners, leaving the game at 7-4 St. Paul. That would be the end of the road for Ortega, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing two hits, one walk and one strikeout en route to his second hold.

Garrett Hill would enter the game in the ninth inning for the Mud Hens. Hill would pick up back-to-back strikeouts of Miranda and Wallner for the first two outs. Celestino would single and swipe second base to get into scoring position. Hill would strike out Larnach to end the inning and the night for Garrett Hill. Hill pitched 1.0 inning, allowing one hit and three strikeouts.

Patrick Murphy would enter the game for the Saints in the ninth inning, looking for his fourth save. Joyce would smack a leadoff single to attempt to start a rally. Meadows would hit one hard but would flyout to left field for the first out. Murphy would then get Solak to strikeout for the second out. Joyce would move up to second base on defensive indifference on the first pitch to Malloy, who singled on the next pitch to score Joyce and make it 7-5. Murphy would then induce a groundout by Nevin to end the game. Murphy pitched 1.0 inning, allowing one run on two hits and one strikeout, picking up his fourth save.

NOTABLES:

• Donny Sands: 3-4, RBI, R
• Joe Rizzo: 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB, K
• Parker Meadows: 2-5, K (14 game hitting streak)
• Andre Lipcius: 2-2, 2B, R, 2 BB
• Corey Joyce: 2-4, R, K
• Jack O’Loughlin: 6.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

The Mud Hens will play host to the St. Paul Saints for the series finale tomorrow, Sunday, June 25^th at 4:05 pm at Fifth Third Field.