Mud Hens Overcome Late RailRiders Rally in Series Finale

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IL Toledo Mud Hens

Mud Hens Overcome Late RailRiders Rally in Series Finale

May 18, 2025 - International League (IL)
Toledo Mud Hens News Release


SCRANTON, PA - The Toledo Mud Hens and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders had an offense driven series finale Sunday, ending in a 10-8 victory for the Mud Hens. Toledo got ahead early, but was forced to overcome a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre resurgence late.

Getting the nod for the RailRiders in the series finale was MLB veteran Carlos Carrasco. He successfully sat his first two batters, but things fell apart after Hao-Yu Lee found an extra base thanks to a throwing error. He would be brought in by Gage Workman, making his center field debut for Toledo.

The Hens didn't stop there though, they kept things moving as Manuel Margot made it 3-0 with a blooper into shallow left field which was enough to score Jahmai Jones and Workman.

With the early lead, Lael Lockhart held up his end of the bargain as he went one, two, three with two strikeouts to open the game.

Toledo's offense continued to cause problems for Carrasco with two outs. After Jake Rogers was issued a walk for a pitch-clock violation, Jace Jung took Carrasco deep into right field to make it 5-0. That would end Carrasco's day early as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre moved to Leonardo Pestana to close the frame.

Lockhart got back up for his second inning of work, but struggled to find his command. Alex Jackson would wait for his pitch, torching a fastball over the left-field wall to make it 5-1. Lockhart was able to find his stuff after that, seating the next three RailRiders batters.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre continued to try and dig out of their deficit in the third inning, doing so with two outs on the board. Cooper Hummel got aboard with a base hit, before Everson Pereira joined him after being clipped by a Lockhart curveball. Back-to-back singles from T.J. Rumfield and Jackson cut into the Hens' lead making it 6-4.

The Mud Hens would bully another RailRiders pitcher off the mound when Riley Unroe got a line drive past Hummel in left field. Hummel hustled to try and get the ball in, but Unroe showed off some serious speed as he slid into home for an inside-the-park home run. That would end Pestana's day and bring Eric Reyzelman to the rubber.

Neither team would be able to score, until Dominic Smith hit a solo shot deep into right field to make it 7-5 and to earn his eighth-straight game with a hit. Things continued to be a struggle for Jordan Balazovic as he immediately followed the homer by giving up a double to Bryan De La Cruz. Jose Rojas would make it 7-6 with an RBI single, forcing Toledo to get PJ Poulin up and moving in the bullpen.

Poulin would attempt to close out the inning, but Andrew Velazquez snuck a grounder past Lee at second to tie things up 7-7. Hummel would then give Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the lead with a pop-up just inside of right field to make it 8-7.

Looking to keep their deficit manageable, Matt Manning would make his first appearance of the series in relief of Poulin in the seventh inning. He picked up three strikeouts while only seeing four batters.

The Hens wouldn't just let the RailRiders walk all over them, so they began to work on a response in the eighth. Lee picked up a base hit and Jahmai Jones joined him on base after drawing a walk. Toledo then tied things up with a Margot single, but the inning came to a close as Jones attempted to also score on the Margot hit.

Out of arms, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was forced to put Ismael Munguia on the mound with the game tied 8-8 in the ninth. Bligh Madris got aboard with a one-out single, before Unroe took the lead with an RBI double down the left-field line. Jung would extend that lead with an RBI single, making it 10-8.

Matt Gage would have enough left in the tank in his second inning to close things out and secure the 10-8 victory over the RailRiders.

The Toledo Mud Hens will return to Fifth Third Field on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. to begin a series against the Indianapolis Indians.

Notables:

Riley Unroe (2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB)

Jace Jung (2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, 2 BB)

Manuel Margot (4-5, 3 RBI, R)

Check out the Toledo Mud Hens Statistics



International League Stories from May 18, 2025


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