Louisville Bats 2, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)Toledo and Louisville combined for just nine hits in the series finale, and each team had just 32 plate appearances. Low-offense days mean good things for the pitching staff, but the Mud Hens haven’t fared well in these low-scoring games this weekend. Toledo dropped the series 4-3 with a 2-1 loss.
Both of Louisville’s runs came in the first inning off Sawyer Gipson-Long. Noelvi Marte and JJ Bleday hit a double and a two-run home run with two outs, and that ended up deciding the game. Both guys are no longer considered prospects, and Marte was recently demoted to Triple-A after 10 games with the Cincinnati Reds. If someone on the Bats is going to beat you, it’s going to be these two.
The good news is that Gipson-Long was better after that. He retired seven of the next eight batters he faced and induced a double play after allowing two consecutive baserunners in the fourth. The off-speed stuff worked well with Gipson-Long working a 50% whiff rate or better on his slider and changeup. The fastball remains hittable as his velocity hasn’t returned to pre-Tommy John levels yet. He ended the day with six of Toledo’s 10 strikeouts.
Drew Sommers got the sixth and started the seventh, but he was pulled after walking the leadoff man. Cole Waites cleaned things up despite hitting a batter, and Burch Smith went 1-2-3 in the eighth. Overall, it was a good day for the staff, but that first frame proved costly with little to no offensive support.
The Mud Hens struggled to string anything together against Davis Daniel Gage Workman singled in the first, and Ben Malgeri singled in the third after Max Burt walked. Max Clark stranded both runners in the third with a pop-up to second base. Jace Jung singled in the fourth, and that was it for a few innings. Daniel settled in and retired the next seven batters he faced. He ended the day with eight strikeouts and just the one walk to Burt through seven frames.
Lyon Richardson went 1-2-3 for Louisville in the eighth, but Toledo had a chance in the ninth against Luis Mey. Malgeri led off with a single, and Clark moved him to third with a 105.8 exit velocity base hit.
Max Clark gets 96 and turns it around at 106 for a single. The Mud Hens bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the 9th. pic.twitter.com/Qi2P5ubE0q
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026
Workman did a job and brought in Malgeri with a sacrifice fly, but Eduardo Valencia and Jung couldn’t bring Clark around to extend the game.
we rally we rally(2-1) Bats pic.twitter.com/QWmgwKfF6J
It’s a bit rare to see minor league teams pitch this well in a series finale, but both teams were solid.
Gipson-Long (L, 0-2): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Coming Up Next: Toledo is at home against Omaha next week, starting on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.
Erie’s suspended Saturday game first, which was left at a 1-1 tie in the top of the second. The SeaWolves added eight runs on as many hits on Sunday to beat Harrisburg, 9-5. (The Twitter admin might be a bit confused…)
SeaWolves take down the Senators 5-2 @PALottery #Sponsored pic.twitter.com/HpOHSYLhx3
Moises Rodriguez took over for Dariel Fregio, with two outs and two on, and struck out Cayden Wallace to keep Fregio’s line where he left it yesterday. Rodriguez returned for the third after a 1-2-3 frame for the offense and worked around a leadoff walk. So far, so good.
John Peck broke the tie in the third. He reached on a one-out double, stole third base and made his way home after an errant throw from Harrisburg’s catcher. Unfortunately, Colin Fields couldn’t hold that lead very long, as he gave up a three-run homer in the top of the fourth. Fields put himself in a jam with a one-out walk and hitting a batter before the big fly from Seaver King.
John Peck doubles off the left fielder’s glove and then steals 3rd and comes around to score when catcher Caleb Lomavita throws a knuckleball to 3rd. pic.twitter.com/p0zUfrzdiF
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026
Fields didn’t make it out of the third, allowing another single and a two-out walk. Wandisson Charles had to clean things up for him.