The Toledo Mud Hens continued their road trip in Louisville to finish their postponed game against the Bats, taking the long drawn out game, 7-2. Tonight’s game was a continuation of last night’s postponement, and after multiple delays both before the game and during it, baseball was finally able to resume. The official restart time was 7:45 p.m, with the first pitch being thrown in the bottom of the 2nd inning.
Toledo got off to a fast start, making quick work of the Louisville lineup in the bottom of the 2nd inning by retiring three batters in a row. Then, in the top of the 3rd, the Hens got their bats working. Seby Zavala led off the inning with a single into center field. Trei Cruz followed with a walk, then Max Anderson singled into right field, loading the bases with one out. Josue Briceño then came through with a bases-clearing double, giving the Hens an early 3-0 lead.
The Hens went back to work in the top of the 4th, with all of the damage coming with two outs on the board. Seby Zavala started the rally after being hit by a pitch, followed by an infield single from Trei Cruz. Jace Jung then drew a walk to load the bases once again. Max Anderson came through for Toledo, ripping a line-drive single up the middle to bring home two runs and extend the Hens’ lead to 5-0.
In the top of the 5th, Justice Bigbie tacked on another run with a solo home run to center field. The line-drive shot made it 6-0.
Even though the Hens had to wait around three hours to continue this game, they didn’t allow their bats to go quiet. Andrew Navigato led off the 8th with a deep fly-ball double to right field before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Up next, Seby Zavala hustled down the line and beat the first baseman to the bag for an infield single. Trei Cruz then delivered with a sacrifice fly to left field, extending the Hens’ lead to 7-0.
Louisville had been struggling at the plate throughout the night, collecting only a few baserunners but never being able to turn them into runs. However, in the bottom of the 8th, the Bats finally made something happen. Edwin Arroyo and Michael Chavis delivered back-to-back doubles down the right-field line. Chavis’ double brought Arroyo home, giving Louisville its first run of the game and cutting the deficit to 7-1.
In the bottom of the 9th, bullpen pitcher Beau Brieske had a tough time getting that final out. He loaded the bases before throwing a wild pitch that allowed another run to score. However, Brieske was able to lock in and record the final out to close out the game.
With that, the Hens shut down any other possible offense from the Bats and took the win, 7-2. The originally scheduled second game of the night will now be made up as part of another doubleheader on Thursday, August 13, with the first game beginning at 4:35 p.m.
Notables:
Andrew Sears
4.2 IP (2 H, 0 ER, 7 SO)
Trei Cruz
2-3 (2B, BB, RBI, 2 R)
Max Anderson
3-5 (2 RBI, R)