Article published August 26, 2008
Hens get much needed relief from Rusch in win
By JOHN WAGNER
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
Olympic heroes Mike Hessman and Blaine Neal returned to the Mud Hens before last night's game. But an all-day plane ride made both of them unavailable to play.
Luckily Matt Rusch stepped forward and filled the role of hero in Toledo's 3-2 win over Richmond at Fifth Third Field.
With the Hens bullpen already overworked heading into the contest, and starter Dontrelle Willis out with an injury after only one inning, Rusch threw five scoreless innings to help Toledo snap a two-game losing streak.
"Matt Rusch came up huge," Hens manager Larry Parrish said. "We just had enough pitching to finish the game. If we had gone one more inning, [catcher Max] St-Pierre would have been pitching."
Richmond broke on top with a two-out rally against Willis in the first. Scott Thorman lined an 0-2 pitch to left for a single, then stole second. Barbaro Canizares followed with a single to right and, while right fielder Brent Clevlen's throw home seemed to beat Thorman, catcher Dusty Ryan wasn't able to hang onto the throw.
Willis left the game after the first and declined to speak to reporters after the contest. Parrish said Willis came out of the game because of forearm tightness but had no other word about his condition.Fortunately for Toledo, Rusch came on and retired the first 14 Braves he faced before Brent Lillibridge lined a two-out triple into the right-field corner.
Rusch kept Richmond off the scoreboard when he got Scott Thorman to fly out.
"I had a good fastball, and I was going in and out to keep them off balance," Rusch said. "Plus, my breaking ball has been better at times, but it was pretty reliable for me. Those two pitches kept them off balance and did the job."
Relievers Freddy Dolsi, Jeremy Johnson and Ian Ostlund had logged multiple innings the previous two days, and both Francisco Cruceta and Clay Rapada had thrown on both Friday and Sunday. That meant Rusch and Casey Fien were the only pitchers available for more than one inning in a game where the bullpen had to cover eight.
"I knew we were shorthanded," Rusch said. "I just tried to give the team some innings, but I didn't think about going five.
"In my memory, I don't remember going farther than five innings."
Rusch threw 58 pitches, 42 of which were strikes, and fired first-pitch strikes to 11 of the 16 batters he faced. Parrish said that economy was the key to Rusch's success.
"He attacked the strike zone," Parrish said. "It was a night where we needed him to attack the strike zone and give us innings, and he gave them to us.
"They hit a couple of balls firmly, but we didn't care how they hit the balls as long as they were outs."
Fien relieved Rusch in the seventh and allowed two of the first three batters he faced to reach base. But he escaped that threat by coaxing Jason Phillips to ground into an inning-ending double play, then set down all three R-Braves he faced in the eighth.
Rapada, who had pitched the day before, gave up a home run to Scott Thorman in the ninth but avoided further trouble to claim his second save.
The Hens, who had scored just one run in the past two games, managed enough runs to support that strong pitching performance, scoring twice in the third and a critical run in the fifth.
Kody Kirkland got the third-inning rally started with a four-pitch walk, and he came all the way around to score when Max Leon's single to right was misplayed by former Hen Jason Perry into an error that allowed Leon to reach third.
Leon came home on a single by Freddy Guzman, giving the Hens their first lead of the homestand, a span of 21 innings.
The Hens added a run in the fifth thanks to back-to-back singles by Leon and Guzman and a fielder's choice by Clete Thomas. But Toledo left the bases loaded, and stranded eight in the game.
"We had a hit-and-run that worked to put Max in scoring position," Parrish said. "We bunched a few hits and a walk to push across three, and then we hung on for dear life."
NOTES: Former major leaguer Freddy Garcia saw his debut with the Mud Hens pushed back to Thursday. Garcia, who signed with the Tigers earlier this month, threw two innings for Single-A Lakeland Saturday. … Before yesterday's game Hessman was activated in place of Derek Wathan, who went on the disabled list with a sore lower back. Neal will be activated today when the Mud Hens lose pitcher Chris Lambert to Detroit. Lambert will start for the Tigers against Cleveland. … Last night's crowd of 7,215 broke the Mud Hens' string of consecutive sellouts at 16.
Contact John Wagner at:
jwagner@theblade.com
or 419-724-6481.
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