Game recap: Mud Hens fall short in bullpen game against Indianapolis

The Toledo Mud Hens got a three-run home run from Bligh Madris in the bottom of the ninth inning but could not complete a comeback in a 9-7 loss to the Indianapolis Indians on Sunday at Fifth Third Field.

Toledo trailed 6-4 in a bullpen game entering the ninth, but normally steady Mud Hens reliever Devin Sweet gave up three earned runs in the top half, which meant Madris’ shot in the bottom of the inning still left the Mud Hens on the short end of the scoreboard.

Toledo reliever Wilmer Flores, after a visit on the mound from the trainer, stayed in the game and allowed four earned runs in the third inning on a grand slam from Josh Palacios to pick up the loss.

What happened : Andrew Navigato put the Mud Hens ahead in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single.

Indianapolis answered with two second-inning runs on a Palacios RBI double and an RBI single from Andres Alvarez.

Toledo center fielder Oscar Mercado doubled home a run in the bottom half of the second, and Ryan Vilade added an RBI single before the Indians broke open the game in the third against Flores.

Mud Hens shortstop Eddys Leonard launched a long home run off the left-field scoreboard in the bottom of the third to cut the deficit to 6-4.

That was all the scoring until the top of the ninth, when Alvarez launched a three-run homer off of Sweet to extend the lead to 9-4.

Madris hit his ninth-inning homer with two outs before Justice Bigbie grounded out to end the game.

Game MVP : Palacios was 3 for 3 with a grand slam and five RBIs in the game.

He said it : “It was tough because if we get a normal Devin Sweet outing, it’s an easy win for us with the comeback we made in the ninth. So it was tough. I feel like we could have pitched a little better. Obviously, Wilmer wasn’t himself, and that led to some runs for them, and that was the big inning for them. That was probably the main difference. [Flores’] velocity was down, so we had to make sure he was doing alright. We checked on him to make sure he was doing alright, he said he was fine, and it was just unfortunate that he wasn’t able to finish the inning.” — Mud Hens manager Tim Federowicz.

Up next : The Mud Hens are off Monday before heading on the road for a six-game set at Omaha beginning Tuesday.