Mud Hens stay hot

8/24/2009

A deluge of doubles propelled the Mud Hens to their eighth straight victory Sunday at Fifth Third Field.

Toledo banged out six doubles - all after the sixth inning when the Hens trailed by two - to post a 6-3 comeback victory over Louisville.

Jeff Frazier, Brent Dlugach and Brent Clevlen all doubled and scored in the decisive seventh inning when the Hens scored three runs to take the lead for good. Toledo (67-62) had 11 hits to back up a quality start by Ruddy Lugo in a briskly played contest (2 hours, 16 minutes) before 9,061 fans.

Dlugach, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, also drove in two runs and scored twice.

"We have a lot of confidence now," Dlugach said. "The whole team is putting together quality at-bats. It's contagious. We have a lot of guys that are hot right now."

Down 3-1, Toledo opened the seventh with three straight doubles. Dlugach drove in Frazier and Clevlen plated Dlugach to tie it at 3. With two outs, Scott Sizemore doubled off the leftfield fence to score Clevlen for a 4-3 lead.

Toledo added two more runs on back-to-back doubles by Frazier and Dlugach in the eighth. The Hens matched a season-high with eight consecutive wins.

"We're on a good roll," Hens manager Larry Parrish said. "A couple guys got some big knocks for us tonight. There's no doubt we're more confident."

Lugo (12-8) gave up three earned runs and struck out three over seven innings. Jeremy Bonderman, who is on rehab assign-ment from Detroit, picked up his first save. Bonderman gave up one hit while striking out three over the final two innings.

"The last few outings he has thrown the ball much better," Parrish said. "His breaking ball was much tighter. It's good to see."

Frazier went 2-for-4 with two doubles and scored two runs. Clevlen went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Dlugach, who clubbed his team-high 34th and 35th doubles, said he liked the pace.

"Ruddy was awesome tonight. He had a good tempo," the shortstop said. "We were in and out of the dugout. He was challenging guys."

Louisville starter Matt Maloney, who grew up in Sandusky, allowed four runs on six hits over six innings.

The Hens took an initial 1-0 lead on designated hitter Will Rhymes' sac fly in the fifth. But the Bats countered with three runs in the seventh. Todd Frazier, the younger brother of Hens' leftfielder Jeff, lined a two-run home run over the leftfield fence.

Toledo improved to 17-5 in August and is now four games behind Durham in the IL wild card race with 15 games to play.

"We were coming off a series where we swung the bats well," Parrish said. "They know where they are at. You can't get too caught up in it. You just play as best you can."

ODDS AND ENDS: The Mud Hens promoted infielder Maxwell Leon from Single A Lakeland yesterday. It was the first of an eight-game home stand for the Hens. On July 29, Toledo was 48-57 having dropped nine of 16 after the All-Star break. It has since won 19 of 24. Lugo entered the game with a 5-0 record and 1.23 earned run average since the All-Star break. The season-high for doubles in a game this season for Toledo is eight Maloney, a graduate of Huron High School, seemed to have the Hens' number. On April 24 at Fifth Third Field, Maloney allowed just five hits and one run in six innings, striking out seven while not walking a batter. He didn't get a win, however, as the Hens won 5-4 in 10 innings.

Contact Mark Monroe at:

mmonroe@theblade.com

or 419-724-6354.