Hens win but will still miss playoffs

9/1/2009

INDIANAPOLIS - The Mud Hens made things difficult for themselves Monday night in the ninth inning against the Indianapolis Indians, but they held on to win 3-2 in the first game of a three-game series.

Unfortunately for Toledo, Gwinnett also won Monday night, eliminating any hope the Hens had of making the playoffs.

In the eighth, Mike Hessman and Jeff Frazier smacked doubles off of former Hen Corey Hamman to drive in runs and put Toledo up by a run.

But in the bottom of the ninth, Freddy Dolsi walked the Indians' Brian Myrow to start the inning. The next batter, Tagg Bozied, grounded to third baseman Brent Dlugach, who bobbled the ball, then pulled Hessman off the bag at first with his throw to put runners on first and second with no outs.

Dolsi regrouped, catching a sacrifice bunt attempt by Neil Walker, then coaxing Larry Broadway and Erik Kratz to fly out to end the game.

With the win, the Hens improved to 69-67 with seven games remaining. If they finish with a winning record, it will be the first time in more than 100 years the team has had five consecutive winning seasons.