Mud Hens, Charlotte suspended by rain
Toledo, Charlotte had been tied at 4 in 8th
5/9/2012FORT MILL, S.C. -- A tie game in the late innings can be exciting for baseball fans.
Unfortunately for the Mud Hens, their contest against the Charlotte Knights will not be finished until today.
The Hens' road contest against the Knights was suspended because of rain in the eighth inning with the score tied at 4-4.
Tuesday night's contest saw the importance of Brad Eldred to the Mud Hens' lineup.
The slugger, who recently returned from the Tigers, smashed a two-run home run over the center-field fence in the top of the third inning, scoring Ryan Strieby and giving Toledo a 3-0 advantage.
The hit came right after Strieby hit an RBI double, which sent Justin Henry across the plate.
Yet the Knights came right back in the bottom of the third. Tyler Kuhn connected on an RBI single to get Charlotte on the board. Hector Gimenez then singled to left field, scoring Kuhn and Greg Golson to tie the game at 3.
Gimenez gave Charlotte a 4-3 lead in the seventh when he rapped a fly ball to center field, scoring Greg Golson.
In the eighth before the rain delay, Toledo managed to tie the game at four after Eldred reached base on a single, advanced to second on Eric Patterson's walk, to third on Matt Young's sacrifice bunt and then scored on a wild pitch by Gregory Infante.
Toledo starter Casey Crosby went six innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits and four walks to go with seven strikeouts.
He was replaced in the eighth by Darin Downs, who gave up one run in an inning of relief.
Charlotte starter Charles Shirek went seven innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out two.
The Mud Hens and Knights will meet again today to finish their rain-delayed game before playing the third game in their four game series later today at 7:15 p.m.