Mud Hens hit three home runs in road win

4/18/2014

COLUMBUS – The Mud Hens smacked three home runs tonight to drop the Columbus Clippers 5-3.

Center fielder Ezequiel Carrera, left fielder J.D. Martinez and catcher Luis Exposito all homered to help Toledo snap a three-game losing streak.

Carrera and Exposito each hit their first home runs of the season and each were two-run shots. Martinez connected on his sixth of the season.

The Mud Hens trailed 3-1 in the eighth inning when Exposito and Martinez homered to give Toledo the lead for good. Martinez led off the inning with a solo home run and Exposito followed with his two-run blast.

Carrera tied the game at 2 with his two-out homer in the third inning.

Jose Ortega (1-0) earned his first win of the season by pitching one inning of relief. Kevin Whelan then closed it out with two scoreless innings to get his first save.

Toledo starter Derek Hankins gave up two earned runs on five hits over five innings. Nate Robertson then pitched a perfect sixth inning before Ortega took over and yielded one earned run.

Exposito was 2 for 4 and drove in his first two runs of the season. Danny Worth and Jordan Lennerton also had singles for the Mud Hens, who finished with just six hits.

Martinez has now driven in 15 runs this season, while Carrera has 10 RBIs.

Columbus starter Josh Tomlin gave up three hits and two earned runs over six innings.

The teams meet again for a double header on Saturday in Columbus starting at 3:05 p.m. After a day off on Sunday, the teams will play on Monday night in Columbus.

The Mud Hens return home next Tuesday to host Indianapolis.