IL1 Toledo Mud Hens

Hens Scramble for Offense in Game Two Loss

Published on August 4, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Toledo Mud Hens News Release


The Battle of the breakfast was on once again Tuesday night as the Mud Hens took on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in game two of their four game series. The Hens looked to kick things back into gear after dropping their Monday night game in extra innings. Monday's most notable star, Mike Hessman, had the night off Tuesday after his record breaking evening in game one. Toeing the slab for Toledo was Mike Belfiore looking for his sixth win of the season and coming off a start against Rochester in which he went 5.2 innings surrendering two runs on eight hits.

Belfiore's first frame got off to a rocky start, as the Lehigh Valley offense put together an unconventioanl scoring attack. Chase d'Arnaud came around to score the first run of the game on an error from left fielder Jeff McVaney. With the bases full, the second run came around to score as Belfiore walked Cord Phelps to force in Brian Bogusevic, followed by an RBI single from Kelly Dugan as the lead extended to 3-0 in the IronPigs favor.

The Hens had an up hill battle from there as they took an 18-46 record into the game when opponents scored first. Lehigh Valley's Jerad Eickhoff kept the Toledo offense scoreless through the first four innings, until the fifth when Jeff McVaney led off the bottom half with a ringing double down the left field line. McVaney advanced on a base hit from Bryan Holaday and came around to score on a sac fly from Dixon Machado, closing the gap to 3-1. However, that was all for Toledo in the fifth as Belfiore went back to work. The left hander settled down after his rough start, retiring nine straight in innin

gs two through four. With the bullpen entirely spent after the back-to-back extra inning affairs, Larry Parish kept his southpaw out on the mound despite a high pitch count. Belfiore seized the opprotunity and kept the IronPigs' offense in check through seven, as an Aaron Altherr solo home run was the only other run allowed by Belfiore. Jerad Eickoff earned the win for the IronPigs, his first of the year.

The Hens and IronPigs are back at it on Wednesday night at 7:00PM. Luis Cessa will make his Toledo debut after being acquired in the trade that sent former Detroit Tiger's outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to the New York Mets. Cessa had a 7-7 record with a 3.98 ERA between Binghamton (AA) and Las Vegas (AAA) this season.

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