Hens snap 2-game skid with offensive output

6/6/2013

COLUMBUS — The Mud Hens exploded for 16 hits and scored multiple runs in four different innings on Wednesday to pound Columbus 9-4.

The 16 hits were one shy of Toledo’s single-game high this season as the Hens snapped a modest two-game losing streak.

The Mud Hens broke on top with a pair of runs in the second inning. Newcomer Mike Cervenak got the rally started with a double, moved to third on Ramon Cabrera’s groundout, and scored on a Brad Davis groundout.

Kevin Russo followed with a home run, his second this season.

Toledo got two more runs in the fourth when Cervenak singled with one out, took third on a double by Cabrera, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Davis. Russo again came up with an RBI hit, a single that brought home Cabrera.

The Clippers cut their deficit in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run rally against Hens starter Derek Hankins. Columbus got three singles and a walk while stealing three bases.

Hankins was strong otherwise, allowing just four hits and two walks. He fanned four in eight innings.

Meanwhile, the Hens kept scoring, adding two runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

In the fifth, Brandon Douglas singled and Nick Castellanos hammered his ninth home run of the year. In the sixth, Davis doubled with one out, moved to third on a Clippers error on Russo’s grounder, and Argenis Diaz singled to score Davis.

Douglas singled to plate Russo and send Diaz to third, and Diaz trotted home on Jordan Lennerton’s sacrifice fly.

Toledo’s Bruce Rondon struggled with his control in the ninth, walking four in two-thirds of an inning to force home a run.