This game reminded me of the fight between Peter Griffin and Ernie the Giant Chicken (fitting since the Storm Chasers are playing a team called the Mud Hens).

At a point in the fight, Ernie gets flipped onto a truck that is speeding down the highway and mocks Peter by waving goodbye to him and smiling. Shortly after, Peter surprises him at the next bridge, jumps onto the truck, the fight continues, and eventually Peter beats Ernie.

Yep, that was the Storm Chasers in this one tonight.

It took six runs in the final two innings of the game for the Omaha Storm Chasers to rally once again and topple the Toledo Mud Hens 7-5 at Fifth Third Field in Northwest Ohio.

The win snaps a season-long four-game losing streak for the Chasers and lowers their magic number to six after Syracuse fell to Lehigh Valley earlier this afternoon.

Toledo jumped all over the Storm Chasers from the get-go for the second straight game. After two walks and a single, a double play allowed Parker Meadows to score and give the Mud Hens an early 1-0 lead after the first inning.

The Chasers tied it up in the third inning thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice from Nate Eaton. After Tyler Gentry singled and Cam Devanney walked, John Rave and Nate Eaton both hit into fielder’s choices to score Gentry and tie the game at one after two and a half innings.

Toledo loaded up the bases in the 4th Inning on two singles and a walk, ending Andrew Hoffman’s outing. He finished tossing 3 1/3 innings allowing seven hits, three earned runs, three walks, and striking out four.

Those other two earned runs came when Walter Pennington entered the game. A wild pitch scored Riley Unroe, then a sacrifice fly scored Andrew Navigato to give the Mud Hens a 3-1 lead after four innings.

Pennington’s lone run surrendered was on an error in the 6th Inning. With two men on and two men out, Ryan Vilade hit an infield single to third base. Alexander’s throw went wide left and allowed Jace Jung to score and give Toledo a 4-1 lead after six.

Given the way things have gone for the Chasers the last couple of games, especially with four hits through seven inningsit seemed like curtains for Omaha. One thing that I’ve learned this season, however, is to never count the Storm Chasersout.

The Comeback Chasers came to life in the 8th Inning. Cam Devanney led off with a single back to the mound. A batter later, Nate Eaton scored Devanney with a double to left. Eaton would score on another double from CJ Alexander to make it a one-run game. After Josh Lester walked with two outs, Devin Mann ripped a double into the left-center field gap to score both Lester and Alexander to give the Storm Chasers a 5-4 lead.

Toledo loaded the bases again in the 8th and scored the game-tying run on a Riley Unroe walk, but Tyler Duffey got Andrew Navigato to fly out to Tyler Gentry to set up a dramatic 9th Inning.

Gentry ripped a double down the left field line on the first pitch of the inning and scored on a single from John Rave that barely squeaked past Torkelson to give Omaha the lead again. Rave would score on a double from Eaton to make it a 7-5 Chasers lead. 

Duffey worked around a leadoff single and got the next three Hens to end the game. The Chasers manage to hang on and get a massive victory in Toledo 7-5 to even the series at one.

NOTES:

• Omaha now has a four-game lead on the IL for home-field advantage in the IL Championship with ten games left in the 1st Half. The magic number to clinch is at six games.
• Omaha has given up 26 hits in two games in Toledo. The Mud Hens’ offense has been dynamite, but it’s unusual to see the Chasers pitching staff look beatable.
• Don’t look now but Tyler Gentry is on a heater! 4-for-8 in his last two games. He doubled and scored two runs tonight, including the game-winner.
• Nate Eaton led the Chasers with three RBIs. He doubled twice tonight.
• Devin Mann had a perfect day at the plate. He went 3-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.
• Not much from new Chaser Josh Lester tonight. He was recently promoted from Northwest Arkansas and went 0-3 tonight. He did walk and score a run on Mann’s double in the 8th.
• Cam Devanney and CJ Alexander also doubled tonight. Devanney went 2-3 tonight. Another good game from him.
• Tyler Duffey got the win tonight, his second as a Chaser. He finished going 1.1 innings allowing a walk, a hit, and getting a strikeout.
• Will Klein pitched for the first time since being optioned back. He tossed a scoreless inning allowing two hits and a walk while striking out one.
• Chasers pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts. Each pitcher had at least one.

NEXT GAME:

Same teams, same time, same place tomorrow night as the Chasers and Mud Hens continue their six-game series. Jonathan Bowlan, who’s lost three of his last four starts, will be on the bump for Omaha tomorrow night.