Tyler Nevin hit a grand slam in the eighth inning that broke open a tie game, and the Mud Hens held on for a 12-8 win over the Louisville Bats on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field.

Nick Solak and Nick Maton also homered for the Mud Hens, and Toledo starting pitcher Ashton Goudeau was effective in his five innings of work, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk to go with three strikeouts.

What happened: Parker Meadows walked to open the bottom of the first inning, and Solak followed with a two-run shot to right field. 

In the second inning, Louisville’s Chuckie Robinson came up with a two-out RBI single to cut the Toledo lead to 2-1.

In the bottom of the second inning, Grant Witherspoon followed a single by Johan Camargo with a double that put runners on second and third with one out. Meadows then recorded a sacrifice fly to score Camargo, and Solak grounded out to end the inning with the Mud Hens leading 3-1. 

Maton then launched a solo shot deep to right field in the third inning to stretch the lead to 4-1.

Nevin added an RBI single in the fifth inning, and Maton scored on a balk from Louisville reliever Shea Spitzbarth to give Toledo a 6-1 lead.

Matt Reynolds and Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit back-to-back solo homers off Mud Hens reliever Sean Guenther to lead off the sixth inning, and Jose Barrero added a two-out solo shot of his own as Louisville pulled within 6-4.

Louisville got another run in the seventh when Michael Siani scored from third when baserunner Nick Martini was hung up between first and second on a caught stealing.

In the bottom of the seventh, Corey Joyce came through with a 2-RBI double.

Encarnacion-Strand hit another solo home run in the eighth off Mud Hens reliever Sam Clay, and Siani drove in two runs on a double down the third-base line to tie the game at 8.

In the bottom of the eighth, Louisville reliever Jared Solomon walked the first three batters of the inning before getting pulled from the game. Silvino Bracho came on in relief and got a ground ball that cut down the lead runner at home. Then he struck out Maton, but Nevin came through with a two-out grand slam.

Game MVP: Nevin was 2 for 5 with five RBIs.

He said it: “Nevin has done that kind of stuff all year. He is very good to right field. That ball was up and away, which is a ball he hits very well. He hits doubles and homers that way when he is going good. That was right where he hits the ball well, so he was able to not do too much with it. When you are down two strikes, you see what the averages are, so to be able to put the barrel on that was really big for us.” — Mud Hens manager Anthony Iapoce.

Comings and goings: Outfielder Riley Greene and right-handed pitcher Beau Brieske returned to Detroit from their rehab assignments in Toledo. Right-hander Alex Faedo was optioned to the Mud Hens from Detroit. Outfielder Steele Walker was designated for assignment.

Up next: The teams will close out their six-game set on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. The Mud Hens will send Joey Wentz (0-0, 3.86 ERA) to the mound to oppose Louisville starter Christian Roa (0-2, 14.73 ERA). 

First Published July 9, 2023, 2:13 a.m.