Lee, Cruz Hit Homers in 6-5 Loss to Indianapolis
IL Toledo Mud Hens

Lee, Cruz Hit Homers in 6-5 Loss to Indianapolis

July 27, 2025 - International League (IL)
Toledo Mud Hens News Release


INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Toledo Mud Hens fell just short to the Indianapolis Indians 6-5 Sunday afternoon. The Mud Hens got off to a hot start, but fell behind until a fifth-inning resurgence. In the end, Indianapolis would get ahead and use their bullpen to slam the door shut on Toledo.

The Mud Hens got off to a hot start against Thomas Harrington and the Indians. After earning his tenth home run of the season the night prior, Hao-Yu Lee easily got to number eleven with a 398 ft solo shot to center field.

With Wilkel Hernandez maintaining Toledo's 1-0 lead his first time up, the Hens got right back to work on offense. This time Trei Cruz led off the inning with his first Triple-A homer of the season. Cruz topped Lee's homer with a 430 ft solo shot of his own that nearly left the stadium, which extended Toledo's lead 2-0.

The Indians would begin working their way back into the game in the fourth inning. Matt Frazier got aboard with a one-out double to right field, before being brought in by a Nick Yorke RBI single. Things continued to go the way of Indianapolis as a challenged full-count walk was upheld and put runners on first and second. The Indians would take the lead with those baserunners as a Brett Sullivan double and an Alika Williams single made it 3-2.

After Indianapolis's big inning, Toledo responded with one of their own. Eduardo Valencia led off the fifth inning with a ground-rule double, before the Hens loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch and a drawn walk. Riley Unroe would take advantage of that situation with a hard-hit grounder toward first base. He would reach and two runs would score as Billy Cook overthrew the throw to home, putting the Hens up 4-3. Toledo was able to reload the bases and score once again on an Andy Ibáñez sacrifice fly, but left two runners stranded up 5-3.

The Mud Hens' scoring surge wouldn't be enough to stop the Indians. Indianapolis was able to cut into their two-run deficit with an RBI single by Yorke. He would look for extra bases, but a strong throw from right field by Unroe limited the further damage. Following a base hit by Jared Triolo, Jordan Balazovic would take over for Hernandez on the mound. He struggled coming out of the pen, allowing two walks, a hit, and a run on a wild pitch to tie the game 5-5.

In the bottom of the seventh, Indianapolis would get the go-ahead run in scoring position when Triolo hit a double down the left-field line. Williams would get the best of Matt Manning as he took the lead on an RBI double. It looked as though the Indians would get ahead even further on a base hit by Ronny Simon, but another impressive throw by Unroe ended the inning 6-5.

Looking to keep their hopes alive, the Hens brought out Drew Sommers in the bottom of the eighth. He picked up two strikeouts on his way to a one, two, three inning to give Toledo one last chance to get ahead. Standing in the way of the Hens was Kyle Nicolas. The closer would slam the door on Toledo, going one, two, three to solidify the 6-5 Toledo loss.

The Toledo Mud Hens will return to Fifth Third Field on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. to begin a six-game series with the St. Paul Saints.

Notables:

Trei Cruz (1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB, K)

Hao-Yu Lee (1-4, HR, RBI, R)

Drew Sommers (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR)

Check out the Toledo Mud Hens Statistics



International League Stories from July 27, 2025


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