Mud Hens drop second straight game in Columbus

The Mud hens dropped their second straight game in Columbus.

The Mud Hens dropped their second straight game to Columbus as the Clippers earned a 5-3 win on Tuesday night at Huntington Park. It was the third loss for Toledo in its last four games after the Mud Hens cruised to a season-long six game win streak.

What happened: The Mud Hens scored one run in the first inning when Christin Stewart crossed home plate on a play where Chad Huffman reached on an error by Clippers’ shortstop Yu Chang. Columbus scored three in the fifth as Mike Papi recorded an RBI single and Yandy Diaz drove in two runs with a double. The Clippers added on in the sixth when Eric Haase hit a solo home run.

The Mud Hens struck for two runs in the eighth as Jim Adduci came up with a two-out, two-run single to put Toledo within one run at 4-3. Columbus got an insurance run in its half of the eighth when Brandon Barnes came through with an RBI single. Matt Belisle shut the door on Toledo in the final 1⅓ innings.

Mud Hens starter Kyle Dowdy was solid in five innings of work, giving up three runs on six hits, while striking out eight. Zac Reininger and Phillipe Aumont gave up the other two Clippers’ runs.

Game MVP: Columbus third baseman Yandy Diaz was 3-4 with two RBIs and a walk, raising his season batting average to .282.

Comings and goings: The Detroit Tigers signed left-handed pitcher Kevin Chapman and assigned him to Toledo…Right-hander Kurt Spomer was sent down to Double-A Erie to make room for Chapman on the Mud Hens roster.

Make a note of it: With his first-inning infield single, Mud Hens shortstop Ronny Rodriguez extended his hit streak to 18 games, the longest active hit streak in the International League…Dawel Lugo made his third start at third base this season as he normally serves as the starting second baseman…Jason Krizan meanwhile started his seventh game at second base…Kevin Chapman made his Mud Hens debut and worked around two walks to pitch a scoreless seventh inning.

A look ahead: The Mud Hens will send right-hander Drew Verhagen (0-0, 1.88 ERA) to the mound in the third game of a four-game series. The Clippers starter is yet to be determined.

Contact Brian Buckey at bbuckey@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @BrianBuckey.