Mud Hens pitchers find no relief in loss

7/28/2012

COLUMBUS -- The Mud Hens' pitching didn't get any better Friday night.

Toledo, which allowed 27 runs in its previous two games, gave up 21 hits during a 13-2 loss against the Columbus Clippers at Huntington Park.

While the Mud Hens opened the four-game series with 5-3 victory -- the front half of a doubleheader on Wednesday night -- they gave up 40 runs on 54 hits during the last three games.

The Mud Hens (42-66) lost for the seventh time in eight games.

The Clippers, meanwhile, won for the ninth time in 10 games. In that span, Columbus has averaged 8.2 runs per game to climb into the lead for most runs scored per game in the International League, surpassing Pawtucket.

Columbus (58-50) wasted no time scoring on Friday.

Ramon Garcia (1-3, 8.46 ERA) took the loss in his sixth Triple-A start. He allowed six runs (all earned) on 10 hits in 4⅔ innings.

After scoring one run in both the first and second innings, Columbus broke the game open in the third with three runs.

Jared Goedert began Columbus' rally with a one-out single, then reached third base on Tim Fedroff's double. Both players scored when Matt Pagnozzi doubled to left field to make it 4-0.

Pagnozzi later scored on Gregorio Petit's single to give Columbus a 5-0 lead through three innings.

Columbus added one run in the fifth and sixth innings to lead 6-0.

Any chance of a Mud Hens rally quickly vanished in the seventh, when Columbus struck for six runs to push the lead to 13-2. All six runs came against Mud Hens reliever Jose Ortega, who recorded only one out before he was pulled.

The Clippers' first run during the seventh came on a wild pitch. Vinny Rottino followed with an RBI single, then scored on Russ Canzler's two-run home run to make it 11-2.

Goedert delivered an RBI single and Pagnozzi added a sacrifice fly to make it 13-2.

Corey Kluber (11-7, 3.59) earned the victory for the Clippers after he gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings. He struck out three batters and also walked three.

Toledo scored its only runs during the seventh, when Brad Davis drove in one run on a groundout and Justin Henry followed with an RBI single.

That cut it 6-2, but that was as close as the Mud Hens came.

The Mud Hens return home for a four-game series against Louisville at Fifth Third Field, with today's game starting at 7 p.m.