Mud Hens pull away late, rout Bats 13-3

Louisville had the lead after five innings and still lost by 10. The Bats carried a 3-2 edge deep into Thursday night at Fifth Third Field, then watched the Toledo Mud Hens rip the game open and cruise to a 13-3 win.

That was the turning point in a game that looked competitive for half the night. Louisville did enough early to pressure Toledo and put itself in position to steal one on the road, but once the Mud Hens found a sustained offensive burst, the margin ballooned fast and the Bats never recovered.

The collapse mattered because of where it happened. Fifth Third Field, at 406 Washington St. in Toledo, opened in 2002, serves as the home of the Mud Hens, the Detroit Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate, and hosts 71 regular-season games a year. Louisville walked into a venue built for long home stretches and came out with a loss that never felt as lopsided until Toledo started stacking runs late.

The game also fit the recent back-and-forth between the clubs. Louisville had beaten Toledo 9-0 in a separate July meeting, and the Mud Hens answered with a 5-1 win in another game that same month. Thursday’s result was the most extreme swing yet, with Toledo turning a one-run deficit after five into a runaway by the final out.

For Louisville, the ugly finish made the early work disappear. Holding a 3-2 lead after five innings should have given the Bats a clear path to close it out, but Toledo’s offense kept rolling and the game got away before Louisville could reset the pace. The final score reflected the ending, not the first half, and the sixth inning was where the night changed for good.