Mud Hens win 5th straight, sweep Charlotte
5/17/2018
Starting pitcher Kyle Dowdy picked up the win for the Mud Hens in his first start in Triple-A. The Hens pitcher yielded five hits over five innings, allowing one run while striking out two.
Blade/Jetta Fraser
Kyle Dowdy pitched five strong innings in his Mud Hens debut Thursday as Toledo earned its fifth straight win and completed a sweep of Charlotte with a 3-2 victory. Christin Stewart, Chad Huffman, and Jim Adduci knocked in runs to spark the Mud Hen offense.
What happened: Stewart laced an RBI double down the right-field line. Chad Huffman knocked in Stewart on a sacrifice fly as the Mud Hens took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Adduci added an RBI single in the third inning. Charlotte scored in the fifth on an RBI groundout from Charlie Tilson. Mason Robbins doubled in a run in the top of the ninth, but the Knights could not complete the late-game comeback.
Paul Voelker and Phillipe Aumont combined to pitch three scoreless innings in relief, and Kevin Comer worked around a pair of doubles to earn his third save of the season.
Game MVP: Dowdy gets the nod after pitching five solid innings and earning the win in his Triple-A debut. Called up from Double-A Erie on Wednesday, the 25-year-old finished with one earned run on five hits, with no walks and two strikeouts.
VIDEO: Mud Hens 3, Knights 2
He said it: “I’ve never seen [Dowdy] throw. I was getting a little worried there. The pitch count got a little high in the fifth inning. We had an idea of how many we wanted him to throw and we went over it. We were thinking 70 or 80 pitches, and we kept asking him if he was OK. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been a fan favorite if I pulled him out after 4⅔. I’m sure his parents wouldn’t have been too happy about that. I’m glad he got that last out because that was his last hitter. It was good to see him get a win in his first start. It doesn’t get much better than that.” — Mud Hens manager Doug Mientkiewicz.
Make a note of it: The sweep of Charlotte is the third series sweep of the season for the Mud Hens, who won three games against Durham from April 16-18 and took four straight from Columbus from May 7-10. … Dowdy is the 14th different pitcher to start a game for Toledo this season. … With his first-inning single, Toledo’s Ronny Rodriguez extended his hit streak to 13 games, the longest active streak in the International League.
A look ahead: Toledo begins a three-game set with Gwinnett at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Fifth Third Field. The Mud Hens will send right-hander Drew VerHagen (0-0, 0.87 ERA) to the mound while Gwinnett will start right-hander Matt Wisler (1-2, 3.90 ERA), a native of Bryan.
Contact Brian Buckey at bbuckey@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @BrianBuckey.