Mud Hens celebrate win, call-ups

Thad Weber was dominating in getting his first victory for the Mud Hens. He gave up a run and three hits in eight innings.

The Blade/Jeremy Wadsworth
Buy This Image

Thad Weber was dominating in getting his first victory for the Mud Hens. He gave up a run and three hits in eight innings.

There was nothing but good news in the Mud Hens clubhouse Tuesday.

"I had a great day - all I did was tell people they were promoted to Detroit, then tell guys to go out and play well," Toledo manager Larry Parrish said.

"And that's what they did."

For the Hens, the good news was the squad's eighth win in the last 11 contests, a 4-1 victory over Louisville at Fifth Third Field.

But the glad tidings began early in the day, when the parent Tigers announced they were recalling RHP Robbie Weinhardt Wednesday, when major league rosters expand from their usual 25 players to a maximum of 40.

Then Jeff Frazier got the news that he was one of just 12 players named to the International League's postseason all-star team.

The Mud Hens' Jeff Frazier smacks his 25th home run of the season Tuesday night in the fourth inning.

"It tops off the greatest season I've had as a minor leaguer - by far," said Frazier, who has hit .258 with a career-high 25 homers and 73 RBIs. "The work that I put into my new swing [with hitting coach Leon 'Bull' Durham and Parrish] has paid off.

"Being named to a midseason all-star team was an accomplishment in itself. The postseason all-star team is a hard team to make. Being on an elite level at the level just below the major leagues is something I can be proud of."

Frazier, who spent two weeks with the Tigers in early August, hopes he will get a call-up to Detroit when the Hens' season ends on Labor Day.

"You can think about [getting a call-up] a little bit, but if you think about it too much, it's going to affect your play," Frazier said. "That's not what I want. I want to get back to that mentality where

I was grinding every day to prove people wrong, to show that I belong up there."

The good news continued in the third inning of the game, when catcher Max

St-Pierre was removed from the lineup. The reason? The Tigers were purchasing his contract from Toledo, and Parrish didn't want St-Pierre to get hurt.

"I felt great - but this hasn't really registered yet," said St-Pierre, who has played in 978 minor-league games over a 14-year pro career, with all but one of those seasons in the Detroit organization.

"I have chill bumps all over. My whole career I've been working hard to get to the major leagues, and now I'm going there. I'm speechless."

The good news for the Hens continued soon after St-Pierre left the game as they scored single runs in four different innings to back the pitching of starter Thad Weber.

After giving up a second-inning home run to Louisville's Danny Dorn, Weber - who was making just his second Triple-A start -allowed just two more hits to stifle the Bats over eight innings.

Weber retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced and finished with four strikeouts and only one walk.

"He threw well," Parrish said. "He gave us eight innings, and he could have gone nine, but we wanted to get Weinhardt in because he hasn't pitched in three days.

"We also made some good plays defensively behind Weber."

The Hens tied the game in the third when Chris White singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Scott Sizemore. White's hit extended his current hit streak to eight games, while Sizemore now has at least one hit in 11 consecutive contests.

Frazier broke the tie with his 25th home run of the season leading off the fourth, and Mike Bertram opened the seventh with an opposite-field homer, his second of the year.

Toledo added an insurance run in the eighth when Max Leon singled, then scored from first on a double by Robinzon Diaz.

Weinhardt pitched a scoreless ninth to claim his first Triple-A save.

NOTES: Pitching coach A.J. Sager will not return to the Mud Hens for their final week's worth of games. Sager is dealing with a heart condition that caused him to miss time with the club in July. … IF Shawn Roof doubled in the seventh to extend his current hit streak to seven contests. … With tonight's contest, Parrish will tie the record for most games managed in Toledo. Cal Ermer managed the Hens for 1,115 games from 1978-85.