Hens beat Indianapolis 4-2
4/12/2011
A solid outing by Mud Hens pitcher Andy Oliver helped with the 4-2 win Tuesday over Indianapolis.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Mud Hens finished their six-game season-opening road trip the way they stared it: winning a game thanks in large part to a good effort by starter Andy Oliver.
Toledo earned a split of its two-game series with Indianapolis — and snapped a four-game losing streak — by claiming a 4-2 victory Tuesday over the Indians.
Oliver allowed just three hits and one earned run in six strong innings to earn his first win of the season. The lefty struck out eight and walked one.
Toledo got on the board in the second inning when Scott Thorman lined a 3-2 pitch by Indy starter Brian Burres over the right-field fence for his first home run of the second.
The Hens added a run in the fifth when Clete Thomas slammed his second home run in as many days, a line drive down the right-field line off Burres.
Indianapolis got its only run off Oliver in the bottom of that inning when Josh Harrison homered, his first of the year.
The Mud Hens added two insurance runs with a two-out rally in the sixth. Scott Sizemore led off the inning with a walk, then stole second before moving to third on a groundout.
With two outs Ryan Strieby singled home Sizemore. Thorman singled Stieby to second, and Cale Iorg walked to load the bases.
Thomas then hit a hard grounder off the glove of Indians second baseman Pedro Ciriaco for an error that scored Strieby.
Indianapolis got a run back in the eighth off Hens reliever Fu-Te Ni. Gorkys Hernandez walked with two outs, then raced to third on a single by Chase d’Arnaud.
A wild throw by Iorg allowed Hernandez to score and d’Arnaud to reach second, but Ni struck out Alex Presley to end the threat.
In the ninth the Indians were able to bring the tying run to the plate thanks to a one-out double by Matt Hague, but Ni got a fly out and Zach Simons got the final out on a fly ball to earn his first save.
The Mud Hens have Wednesday off before opening the home schedule with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Thursday against Columbus.