Hens staying hot to the finish line

Weber, who was promoted to Toledo on Aug. 23, was impressive in his third straight start in pitching the Hens to a 9-1 win over Columbus at Fifth Third Field Sunday night.

Weber allowed just six hits and one walk in seven strong innings, giving him a 2-1 record and 1.64 ERA in Toledo this year.

Weber was 9-12 with a 4.08 ERA in 25 starts for Double-A Erie before coming to the Hens, but he still has been impressed with Triple-A hitters.

"Guys up here have an idea of what they want to do," the 25-year-old right-hander said. "If you miss with a pitch in the zone, more times than not they're not going to miss it.

"They're also more patient. They're going to take more pitches in the strike zone to see what you've got, even from at-bat to at-bat."

Weber gave up just 16 hits and six earned runs over 23 1/3 innings in his last three starts for the SeaWolves, and in his first two starts for the Mud Hens he allowed just eight hits and three earned runs in 15 innings.

"I made an adjustment six starts ago, when I was in Double-A, to be more aggressive," Weber explained. "I'm committing to each pitch and trying to pound the strike zone. And I've been able to do that in each start."

He certainly has made abeliever out of Mud Hens manager Larry Parrish.

"He's looked really good and pitched very well," Parrish said of Weber. "He has commanded the fastball, and he's got a good breaking ball.

"And if they hit the ball well, we played good defense on it."

Weber set down the Clippers through the first six innings with little trouble, giving up just three hits and allowing just one runner to reach second base while fanning four.

Columbus avoided the shutout in the seventh when Wes Hodges homered, but Weber got a double play to avoid further trouble and Josh Rainwater pitched the final two innings, also benefiting from a pair of twin-killings.

Meanwhile the Mud Hens rolled to five runs in the first inning, sending nine batters to the plate against Columbus starter Paolo Espino.

Scott Sizemore got the Hens rolling with his ninth homer of the year, off the left-field scoreboard. Cale Iorg then hit a hard liner to center that Ezequiel Carrera lost in the sun; it bounced off his glove, allowing Iorg to reach third with a triple. Iorg came home on a single by Andy Dirks, and Dirks moved to second on a single by Jeff Frazier before Ben Guez was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Andy Bouchie cleared them by slicing a two-out double into the right-field corner. The hit was Bouchie's first at the Triple-A level.

"We came out smokin' in this one," Parrish said. "Dirks has been swinging the bat well, but we really bunched our hits well.

"Bouchie really got a big hit for us. Without it we leave the bases loaded and score only two runs. We needed to get at least one more out of that; when we got all three, it was pretty much clear sailing."

Toledo added three runs in the fourth, sending eight men to the plate and collecting four more hits. Chris White got the rally started with a one-out single that extended his current hit streak to 12 games, and Sizemore singled White to second.

With two outs Dirks singled home White, and Frazier walked in front of Michael Bertram, who lined a two-run single to right.

The Hens tacked on their final run in the sixth when Sizemore led off with a double and Dirks doubled him home.

NOTES: After the game Detroit called up Sizemore, who will join the Tigers today when they begin a home series against the Chicago White Sox. … Sunday night's crowd of 9,816 was the Mud Hens' 30th sellout this season and the 268th full house in the nine-year history of Fifth Third Field.