Valencia Hits Two Home Runs to Give Toledo 7-4 Win
IL Toledo Mud Hens

Valencia Hits Two Home Runs to Give Toledo 7-4 Win

Published on August 20, 2025 under International League (IL)
Toledo Mud Hens News Release


ROCHESTER, NY - The Toledo Mud Hens won game two of their series against the Red Wings on another rainy night in Rochester Wednesday. Toledo's offense struggled early, but the late-game heroics of Eduardo Valencia propelled the team to a 7-4 victory.

Continuing a lengthy rehab assignment, José Urquidy made his Mud Hens debut against the Red Wings Wednesday night. He opened his outing looking dominant until Yohandy Morales took him deep on a first-pitch two-out homer to right field. Urquidy quickly recovered with a strikeout to close the first inning, as Rochester moved ahead 1-0.

Matt Seelinger would take over for Urquidy in the third. Seelinger kept things clean in the third, escaping the inning in just six pitches. His second time up would not go as smoothly however, as he found himself with two runners aboard, no outs, and Trey Lipscomb at the plate. Lipscomb did what he's done well all season and hit an RBI double, his twenty-fourth of the season, to put the Wings ahead 2-0.

The 2-0 deficit was enough to queue Gabe Alvarez to move on to Drew Sommers to try and prevent any further damage. He worked through the next three batters quickly, escaping the no-outs jam in just eight pitches.

Toledo's offense continued to stay oddly silent as they were sat in order for the third time in the night. Coming off of an eight-strikeout outing, Andrew Alvarez remained hot from the mound for Rochester.

The Mud Hens would move onto their fourth pitcher of the night in the fifth inning. Codi Huerer was sent to Toledo by Detroit to work on his fastball. The righty is known for his dominant slider, but has had some command issues with his fastball. That was emphasized as a lead-off walk that featured all fastballs turned into an unearned run when a groundout allowed Nasim Nuñez to score.

Alvarez would see his first real jam of the night in the sixth as a Ryan Kreidler walk and a Justyn-Henry Malloy base hit put two runners on with one out. Max Anderson put runners on the corners with a deep flyball, before Trei Cruz drew a walk of his own to load the bases. That ended Alvarez's night, as Eduardo Salazar entered the game to try and keep the Wings ahead 3-0.

Salazar would have to battle against one of Toledo's hottest hitters, Valencia. Valencia, who hit a home run in Tuesday night's game and went for the cycle earlier this season, looked ready for the moment as he waited for his opportunity. The big man would seize his opportunity, taking a 4-3 lead with one swing of the bat. The grand slam would travel 411 ft into center field and quickly propel the Mud Hens ahead.

The Red Wings were able to tie things back up in their half of the sixth as a wild pitch by Huerer allowed a run to score from third base. This run would go marked as unearned as an error by Andrew Navigato initially allowed Lipscomb to get on base and avoid a double play earlier in the inning.

In the eighth inning, the Hens threatened to retake the lead. Just three pitches into the inning, Anderson and Cruz teamed up for a pair of base hits to put two on with no outs. Valencia would be the hero yet again, taking Julian Fernández 392 ft into left-center to put Toledo ahead 7-4.

With their newfound lead, the Mud Hens would put the ball into the hands of Tanner Rainey. Rainey spent some time early this season in the MLB with the Pittsburgh Pirates, before signing with the Detroit Tigers in free agency after being released by the Indianapolis Indians. Rainey kept the lead intact and brought the game into the ninth.

Unable to find any more insurance runs, the Hens relied on Rainey to close things out in the bottom of the ninth. He would do just that, only allowing a base hit in the final frame to make the 7-4 victory official.

The Toledo Mud Hens and the Rochester Red Wings will face off again Thursday at 1:05 p.m.

Notables:

Eduardo Valencia (2-3, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 R, BB)

Jordan Balazovic (W, 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR)

Check out the Toledo Mud Hens Statistics

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International League Stories from August 20, 2025


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