Mud Hens overcome rain delay to beat Indy

Toledo Mud Hen Avisail Garcia raises his hands in protest after being picked off at first by Indianapolis Indians first baseman Matt Hague.

Blade/Andy Morrison

Toledo Mud Hen Avisail Garcia raises his hands in protest after being picked off at first by Indianapolis Indians first baseman Matt Hague.

The Toledo Mud Hens had to wait through a rain delay of more than two hours Saturday, but the wait was worth it.

Toledo starter Derek Hankins and two relievers limited Indianapolis to a single run on eight hits to claim a 3-1 victory at Fifth Third Field.

“We’re sure glad we played,” said Hens catcher Bryan Holaday, who had a home run and two RBIs in the win.

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After a rain delay of 2:11, the Indians jumped on top in the first inning. Felix Pie hammered a home run off the facing of The Roost in the right-field corner, his second homer in as many days and sixth this season.

And while Indianapolis collected seven hits and two walks off Hankins in his 7 1/​3 innings of work, the Toledo right hander never allowed another run.

He allowed Indianapolis to push runners as far as third base in the third and fifth innings, but the Indians were 0-for-5 when batting with a runner in scoring position against Hankins.

“Derek was outstanding,” Holaday said. “He gave up that solo home run in the first, and after that he just did his thing — he didn’t let [the home run] affect him.

“He pitched up-and-down, in-and-out, and pitched well.”

Mud Hens pitcher Derek Hankins throws against Indianapolis during the first inning.

Meanwhile Toledo took the lead with a pair of runs in the third. Holaday got that rally started with a home run off the bricks off the base of the scoreboard in left, Holaday’s third home run of the season.

Argenis Diaz singled with one out, took second on a wild pitch by Indianapolis starter Atahualpa Severino, and scored on a double by Avisail Garcia.

The Hens added an unearned run in the fourth when, with one out, Mike Cervenak reached on an error by the Indians’ Jared Goedert. Cervenak raced to third on a single by Danny Dorn and scored on a sacrifice fly by Holaday.

While Toledo didn’t score again, the Hens already had enough runs.

When Hankins gave up a one-out walk in the eighth, Brayan Villarreal came on and got an inning-ending double play.

Then Jose Valverde came on in the ninth and gave up a two-out single but nothing else to close out his first save as a Mud Hen.

The victory was just the second for Toledo in 12 games against Indianapolis.

“Indy plays us tough all the time, and they’re a great team,” Holaday said. “Any time we can get a win against them, that’s great.”

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