Mud Hens fall in 14th inning

Toledo catcher Rob Brantly among 3 traded to Marlins

Mud Hens second baseman Cale Iorg waits for the throw as Indianapolis' Brandon Boggs steals second during a game at Fifth Third Field on Monday evening.

There was a stirring in the Mud Hens clubhouse before the team's contest against Indianapolis on Monday night.

Just about an hour before the game was scheduled to start, rumors began to circulate regarding a trade between Detroit and Miami.

Just before the game started, the rumors became fact. And it turned out that one Mud Hen, catcher Rob Brantly, was among the three players sent to the Marlins in the deal.

"It's a new experience for me," Brantly said before the game, which saw Indianapolis score a run in the 14th inning to win 2-1. "It's a part of the game. I'm excited to go play.

"It's kind of a new start somewhere [else] and there's always excitement with that. I'm curious to see what's going to happen, and I'm excited and optimistic about it."

While Brantly was disappointed not to stay with the organization that drafted him, he was excited for the opportunity with a new organization.

"I would like to think there was a high value of me," said Brantly, who hit .254 with no homers and six RBIs in 36 games. "But it's still baseball: Going out every day and competing, trying to get better.

"But it's in a new setting with a new team."

Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said the depth of catching in the Tigers organization was a reason to team could make the trade.

"We've still got a young starting catcher in Alex Avila," Dombrowski said. "You aren't going to have both of them in the organization at some point, because you usually aren't going to have two left-handed hitting catchers at the major league level.

"Those two names [pitcher Jacob Turner and Brantly] were pretty much in stone [for the Marlins' asking price]."

The good news for the Tigers is they also have other catchers considered good prospects, including the Hens' Bryan Holaday and James McCann, a second-round pick last season who is at Double-A Erie.

As for the game itself, the two teams were tied at 1-1 before the Indians claimed the win in the 14th.

With one out in the 14th, Indianapolis got a single by Eric Fryer, who raced around the bases to score on a double by Brandon Boggs.

The Indians' other run came in the top of the third inning off Toledo starter Adam Wilk. Boggs led off by beating out a grounder down the third-base line for a single, stole second, then came around to score on a single by Starling Marte.

The Mud Hens' lone run came in the fifth when Audy Ciriaco led off by slamming a long home run, his ninth of the season, over the fence in left-center.

Otherwise the Hens failed to take advantage of the wildness of Indianapolis starter Jeff Locke, who walked seven batters in five innings. Toledo got two walks in the first, one in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth, and one of the three batters Locke faced in the sixth -- and stranded nine baserunners in those six frames, leaving the bases loaded in the third and sixth.

Wilk was strong outside of the third, when he got a strikeout of Matt Hague to leave the bases loaded. The lefty allowed just four hits and four walks in seven innings, striking out seven.

NOTES: Before the game the Mud Hens activated IF Cale Iorg from the disabled list. They sent 3B Bryan Pounds to Double-A Erie to make room for Iorg on the roster. … Andy Dirks continued his rehab assignment with the Hens and went 1-for-2 with a single and a pair of walks.… The attendance for Monday's game was 10,500 for the team's 17th sellout this season, fourth in a row, and 314th in Fifth Third Field history. ... manager Phil Nevin was ejected for arguing a strike call in the sixth inning.

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481, or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.