TOLEDO, Ohio – The Memphis Redbirds couldn’t take advantage of golden opportunities on Thursday night, falling 7-2 at the Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A affiliate, Detroit Tigers) on a warm night in Ohio. The Mud Hens have now taken two of the first three games in the six-game series.
Early on, the news wasn’t good for Memphis (17-28), as Toledo (23-21) raced out to an early 4-0 lead after the first. Zack Short (solo shot) and Aderlin Rodríguez (three-run home run) both played long ball in the bottom of the first to push the Mud Hens out to a healthy early lead.
After that, Matthew Liberatore settled into maybe his most impressive outing as a Triple-A pitcher. The top prospect in the Cardinals’ system struck out nine batters in 5.1 innings of work, retiring 14 of the final 16 batters he faced. The lefthander has struck out 18 batters in 15.1 innings over his last three starts.
The ‘Birds began chipping away at the plate, scoring lone runs in the fourth and fifth to slash the Toledo lead in half to 4-2. Justin Williams launched a home run over the left-center field fence in the fourth that actually flew out of Fifth Third Field, while Kramer Robertson brought home a run in the fifth via an RBI fielder’s choice.
Ultimately, however, the game came down to missed opportunities for the Redbirds. Memphis left 10 runners on base in the ballgame, including six runners in scoring position. The ‘Birds left multiple runners on base in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings.
Toledo put the game away with two more home runs in the seventh from Yariel Gonzalez (a solo shot) and Dustin Garneau (a two-run dinger). Four of the six hits in the game for the Mud Hens were home runs.
Mick Lite served for 12 years in the military and is now an entrepreneur and photographer. Has worked as the official scorer and social media manager for the River City Rascals, Statistician for the Missouri Monsters and St. Louis Attack arena football teams, and as the Team Photographer and social media consultant for the St. Charles Chill, SLU Hockey, St. Louis Slam, and Gateway Grizzlies.
