Hens Rally to Defeat Indians, 4-3
IL Toledo Mud Hens

Hens Rally to Defeat Indians, 4-3

July 25, 2025 - International League (IL)
Toledo Mud Hens News Release


INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Toledo Mud Hens rallied to defeat the Indianapolis Indians 4-3 Friday night. The Hens struggled as the Indians' bullpen turned the Hens away multiple times in the middle innings. Toledo would stay in it thanks to their own bullpen and eventually take the game thanks to the late-game spark from their offense.

Looking to shake a four-game skid, the Mud Hens needed to get things moving early offensively. Hao-Yu Lee jumped at that opportunity, hitting a lead-off double off of Drake Fellows to open the game.

Fellows and the Indians would keep the first-inning damage limited to that, as they looked to cause some damage of their own. Troy Watson, making his first Triple-A start of the season, was welcomed with some big swings by the Indians. Ji Hwan Bae led the way with a triple, before Billy Cook brought him in with a two-run homer to left field.

After a shaky first inning, Watson shut down the Indians offense. His day came to an end after five innings of action. He forced two one, two, three innings and picked up three strikeouts in the process.

Trevin Michael would take Watson's place on the mound in the sixth inning. Michael has spent most of this season with High-A West Michigan, but began to move between Toledo and Double-A Erie in late June.

The Indians would expand upon their 2-0 lead in the sixth inning as Matt Frazier led off with a stand-up double. A Cam Devanney walk and a Jared Tirolo single would load the bases with just one out, before Brett Sullivan made it 3-0 with an RBI single.

It looked as though Indianapolis would continue to tack on runs when Tsung-Che Cheng hit a grounder lightly back to Michael on the mound. Michael attempted to throw Cheng out at first, but the ball drilled him in the back as two runners made their way home. The runs would be taken off the board, however, as it was ruled that Cheng obstructed the throw at first, ending the inning.

After a lengthy lull in action for the Toledo offense, the Hens surged back to life in the eighth inning. Lee got aboard by drawing a lead-off double, before Justyn-Henry Malloy put runners on second and third with his eighth double of the season. Though the Mud Hens had left six runners on base through the first seven innings, Andy Ibáñez did his part to bring an end to that trend. He sent a Kyle Nicolas slider into center field to bring in both Lee and Malloy to make it 3-2.

With one last chance guaranteed, the Mud Hens' bats remained hot in the top of the ninth. Ryan Kreidler led off with a line-drive single, before Eduardo Valencia put runners on the corners with a line-drive single of his own. Lee was able to tie things up 3-3 without sacrificing any runners on a fielder's choice which Nicolas flubbed. Nicolas fell apart from there, as Toledo loaded the bases and took a 4-3 lead with back-to-back four pitch walks to Malloy and Jace Jung.

With the game on the line, Toledo put the ball in the hands of Matt Seelinger to close things out. Seelinger effortlessly sat the Indians in order, securing the 4-3 victory.

The Toledo Mud Hens and the Indianapolis Indians will meet again Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

Notables:

Andy Ibáñez (3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K)

Matt Seelinger (1.0 IP, S, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR)

Check out the Toledo Mud Hens Statistics



International League Stories from July 25, 2025


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