Hens rally to top Bats in 11th
Turner makes his debut with Toledo
Toledo's Argenis Diaz, left, is chased by teammates after he drove in the winning run in the 11th inning to beat Louisville last night. Diaz's fourth hit of the game scored Ben Guez from third base.
But that's to be expected, since his previous start was his Major League debut with Detroit on July 30.
But Toledo made Thursday night's game a contest to remember, bouncing back from a 4-0 deficit and eventually claiming a 6-5 victory in 11 innings over Louisville in front of 10,500 fans at Fifth Third Field.
Turner allowed six hits and four runs in 5⅓ innings, walking two and striking out six in a start he said was, "OK."
"I wasn't commanding my fastball as well as I wanted to, which put me behind some hitters," Turner said. "But at the end of the day I left one pitch up -- and gave up a three-run homer. If you take that pitch away, it wasn't a terrible outing."
In the next breath, Turner said he needs to make some improvements in his next start.
Before the game Hens manager Phil Nevin said that start won't come until Sunday, Aug. 21 when the Hens host these same Bats at Fifth Third Field.
"Most times I have better fastball command, so that's what I'll be working on in my next bullpens," he said. "Keeping the change-up down in the zone will help me."
Top-prospect Jacob Turner struck out six batters in his first start with the Mud Hens.
"I saw a guy who hasn't pitched in 10 days, and who was a little rusty," Nevin said of Turner. "But you can see that the stuff is there.
"He can get good hitters out. They hit a couple of balls decently, but for the most point he kept the ball on the ground."
Turner walked the first batter he faced, Kristopher Negron, then gave up an RBI double to Chris Valaika on the next. But he quickly righted the ship and struck out the next three batters.
Then with two outs in the third he gave up back-to-back singles, then left a change-up high and Jeremy Hermida slammed it over the fence in deep right-center for his 15th home run of the year.
Turner, who rebounded to retire seven of the final nine hitters he faced after the home run, said he isn't feeling any pressure to hurry his development and return to the Tigers to help in a pennant race.
"I don't think anybody looks at it like that -- well, maybe the media looks at it that way," Turner said. "For me, I'm just trying to get better. I'm just trying to give my team a chance to win.
"Hopefully in the future I can just get back to Detroit."
The Mud Hens kept Turner from absorbing a loss by scoring twice in the fifth on a two-run homer by Clete Thomas, then scoring three times in the sixth thanks to a two-run double by Brandon Inge and a two-out RBI single by Argenis Diaz.
After Louisville tied the game in the top of the seventh, Diaz became the hero in the bottom of the 11th. Ben Guez and Clete Thomas hit back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third with no one out for Diaz, who collected his fourth hit of the night with a run-scoring single.
"It's a good way to get on the bus," Nevin said before the Hens began a busride to Allentown, Pa., to begin a four-game series against Lehigh Valley Friday night. "We were here a little bit longer, but it was worth it to get the win.
"Now we can get on the bus and relax, knowing we had a nice homestand."
NOTES: After the game, the Mud Hens sent RHP Lester Oliveros to Double-A Erie. His spot on the roster will be taken by LHP David Purcey, who will join the Hens Friday. ... Inge's double in the sixth extended his on-base streak to 15 straight games. ... Thursday night's sellout was Toledo's 24th this season.
Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com or 419-724-6481.