It was a night to remember for the Toledo Mud Hens, as they put on an absolute offensive clinic against the Omaha Storm Chasers, rolling to a lopsided 19-1 victory. From the very first pitch, the Hens made it clear they were in control, and they never let up.
The fireworks started early. Ben Malgeri kicked things off with a leadoff double, and Max Clark followed with a perfectly placed bunt single. A soft grounder from Paul DeJong was booted by Omaha pitcher Ryan Ramsey, allowing Malgeri to score. After an Eduardo Valencia flyout, Max Anderson delivered an RBI single to bring Clark home. That was just the appetizer.
In the second inning, the Hens really turned up the heat. Tyler Gentry singled, Andrew Navigato walked, and then Malgeri stepped up and launched a massive three-run homer—his sixth of the season—at 104.4 mph off the bat. Suddenly, it was 5-0 Hens, and the crowd knew they were in for a special night.
The onslaught continued in the third, thanks to another Omaha error. Then in the fourth, Anderson singled again and scored on a Jace Jung two-run blast. By the fifth inning, the Hens had fully broken the game open. After a couple of walks set the table, Valencia doubled in Clark, and Anderson crushed his first homer of the year—a two-run shot that made it 12-0. It was a special moment for Anderson, who had just returned from the injury list and was already making a huge impact.
For good measure, Tyler Gentry added a two-run homer in the sixth, and by then, it was clear this was a full-on beatdown of the Twins' Triple-A affiliate.
On the mound, Dylan File delivered a solid start, allowing just one run over five innings while striking out five and walking three. The rehab assignments also went well: Beau Brieske tossed a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts, and Connor Seabold, moving up from Lakeland, spun a clean seventh. Woo-Suk Go continued to impress as the Tigers' top upper-level reliever this spring, striking out three over two scoreless innings and keeping his ERA well under 2.00.
It was a complete team effort from the Mud Hens, and they'll look to keep the momentum going in Wednesday's 1:05 p.m. ET start.