Hens stay hot with win over Syracuse
6/15/2013SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Toledo Mud Hens stayed hot as an eighth inning, two-run double by Argenis Diaz put Toledo up for good in a 7-6 win over Syracuse on Friday.
Diaz delivered with two outs, giving the Hens a 6-5 lead and helping Toledo to its fourth straight victory and its eighth win in its last nine games.
Ben Guez walked with the bases loaded in the ninth, extending the Hens' lead to 7-5.
Bruce Rondon came in to pitch the ninth and was shaky, but held on to notch his 12th save of the season. Rondon allowed three Syracuse hits including an RBI single by Chris Rahl that brought the Chiefs within a run. With runners on second and third and two outs, Rondon struck out Will Rhymes to strike out the side and secure the 7-6 win.
Toledo (28-41) jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. Ramon Cabrera hit a two-out, two-run single in the second and Danny Dorn added a two-out, two-run double in the third.
Hens’ starter Jose Alvarez cruised through the first three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth. Tyler Moore blasted a two-run home run to cut the Toledo lead in half. Zach Walters followed with a two-run shot of his own, which tied the game at four.
A Walters solo home run, his second homer of the night, broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Chiefs a 5-4 edge, before Diaz continued Toledo's timely hitting.
Before Guez's bases loaded walk in the ninth, six Hens' runs came on two-out hits.
Alvarez pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, with eight strikeouts.
Brayan Villarreal (1-0) pitched one inning of scoreless relief with two strikeouts, earning his first win of the season.
Tanner Roark (3-3) was saddled with the loss for Syracuse after giving up two runs in two innings of work.
The Mud Hens had 13 hits on the night, with Cabrera, Dorn and Jordan Lennerton collecting three each. Diaz finished with two hits in four at-bats.