Mud Hens out-slug Rochester to win series finale

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Eight Toledo players registered a hit and six scored at least one run as the Mud Hens beat the Rochester Red Wings 8-7 in Sunday’s series finale at Innovative Field.

Keston Hiura and Ryan Vilade continued productive weeks for Toledo (12-9) with four and three hits, respectively, in the win. Hiura scored two runs, and Vilade scored one and drove in two.

Rochester (9-9) was no slouch offensively, either, with five home runs in the game, including solo shots from Travis Blankenhorn and Jake Alu in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Toledo responded in the third when Akil Baddoo and Justyn-Henry Malloy got on base to set up Jace Jung’s three-run bomb.

The home run parade continued in the bottom of the fourth with Juan Yepez and Alex Call leaving the yard to put Rochester up 4-3. Mud Hens starter Austin Bergner was pulled with two outs in the inning, finishing with four runs allowed on five hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

The pendulum swung back to Toledo in the fifth when Ryan Vilade’s double scored Jung and Hiura and Corey Joyce singled home Vilade. Rochester pitcher Joan Adon departed with a 6-4 deficit, having allowed six runs on nine hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Darren Baker’s RBI double brought the Red Wings back within one run in the bottom of the fifth, but a Bligh Madris home run following a Hiura single in the sixth put Toledo up 8-5.

Blankenhorn’s second home run of the game and fifth of the series made it 8-6 in the bottom of the sixth, and a pair of Jung errors at third base allowed Rochester’s Jack Dunn to get on base and score in the ninth.

With the lead down to one run and one final out to get, Andrew Vasquez took the mound for Toledo in place of Brenan Hanifee. Vasquez yielded a single to James Wood before striking out Juan Yepez for his first save of the season.

The Mud Hens earned a split of the six-game series and find themselves in sixth place in the International League. The team returns to Fifth Third Field for a six-game series against the Worcester Red Sox, with Tuesday’s opener set for 6:05 p.m.