The Toledo Mud Hens were plagued by the long ball in a 6-1 defeat to the St. Paul Saints on Saturday at Fifth Third Field.
Half of the Saints' eight hits in the game left the yard as Chris Williams, Tony Wolters, Ryan LaMarre, and Matt Wallner each hit a home run for the Twins' Triple-A affiliate.
A day after recording 13 hits in the season opener, Toledo managed just three on Saturday.
Tyler Nevin, on a rehab assignment from Detroit, provided the Toledo scoring with a solo home run off of St. Paul starter Aaron Sanchez.
Dereck Rodriguez (1-0) picked up the win in relief for the Saints, and Mud Hens starter Reese Olson (0-1) took the loss.
What happened: Williams led off the second inning with his solo shot off Olson. With one out, Elliot Soto reached on an error from Toledo shortstop Zack Short. The next batter was Wolters, who took Olson deep for a two-run shot and a 3-0 St. Paul lead.
In the bottom of the second inning, Nevin led off with a solo shot, his fourth hit in the past two games.
St. Paul followed with two more solo shots, one from LaMarre in the fourth and one from Wallner in the fifth.
In the eighth inning, Mud Hens reliever Trevor Rosenthal ran into trouble with two singles, a balk, and a walk that loaded the bases with no outs. He then threw a wild pitch that scored Williams to make it 6-1. He retired the next three batters, however, to limit the damage.
Game MVP: St. Paul's Williams was 2-for-5 with a homer, an RBI, and two runs scored.
Make a note of it: Bryan High School graduate Matt Wisler made his Mud Hens debut with a scoreless inning. He gave up one hit with a strikeout and no walks.
Up next: The Mud Hens and Saints finish their three-game set at 2:05 p.m. Sunday at Fifth Third Field. Ashton Goudeau is scheduled to start for Toledo, while Simeon Woods Richardson is set to take the mound for St. Paul.
First Published April 1, 2023, 11:50 p.m.
