The opening weekend of the minor league season was a tough one for the Toledo Mud Hens.

Not only did they have to face Zach Wheeler and Orion Kerkering on Saturday night, but they also lost all three games of their series against the IronPigs. Wheeler and Kerkering were both pitching in rehab assignments, and they were both in good form.

Wheeler threw three innings, and needed just 38 pitches to get his work in for the night. The veteran is rehabbing after having offseason surgery to repair a condition known as thoracic outlet syndrome, where nerves or blood vessels get pinched between the collar bone and the first rib. The surgery removed his rib to keep the area open and prevent any further issues.

“Obviously, it felt good,” Wheeler said. “At the end of the day, I wanted to focus on coming out healthy. That’s really all that mattered to me.”

Wheeler’s velocity was a little off, but that’s to be expected since this was essentially his first spring training start, and the cold weather didn’t help to grip the ball. His highest velocity was 94.3 mph, which is up from his velocity during bullpen sessions in Florida.

Kerkering, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, followed Wheeler to the mound and threw a clean inning against the Mud Hens. Kerkering is healed from the injury, but didn’t have enough time to get in pitching shape to start the season in the majors.

Velocity was higher for Kerkering, who threw two pitches at just under 97 mph in his outing. He was also able to mix in a couple of splitters, a pitch that he has just begun to throw.

Kerkering admitted that the pitch is still somewhat of a work in progress, but is coming along well.

“The last two weeks have been probably the most that I have been comfortable with it. I’ve been talking it over with a lot of different guys, and trying to get what their cues are has helped a lot,” said Kerkering, who also said that the cold weather didn’t hamper his ability to grip the pitch or to throw it.

Wheeler is likely to make another start for Lehigh Valley this week when the team plays in Durham. Kerkering is also joining the Pigs in Durham, where they play a six-game series.

THROWING MUD... Christian Cairo got into a bit of a “discussion” with Toledo’s Max Burt after a hard slide into second in Saturday’s game.

In Sunday’s game, Cairo took a fastball to the back in his first at-bat. Cairo looked out at pitcher Keider Montero, but catcher Tomas Nido and the home plate umpire got between the two to prevent any altercation from happening.

Cairo is the son of former Lehigh Valley infielder Miguel Cairo, who played for the Pigs in 2009.

WALK THIS WAY... Toledo pitchers gave up 22 walks in the three games, with Bryan De La Cruz drawing seven of them. De La Cruz, who signed with the Phillies over the winter and was the MVP of the Dominican Winter League, turned those seven walks into three runs scored.

Felix Reyes, who was the Eastern League MVP last season, hit .357 (5-14) over the weekend with a pair of doubles. He was in left field Friday, the designated hitter Saturday, and at first base on Sunday.

Rob Moore hit the only home run of the weekend for the Pigs.

CADE FOR THE WIN... Cade Fergus opened last season with Lehigh Valley, but was sent to Reading early on and did not return to the IronPigs.

He figures to be here for good this season, and proved his value in Sunday’s win. The game went to extra innings in a 4-4 tie, and it didn’t look good for the home team when Toledo put up three runs in the top of the 10th.

The IronPigs scored one run, and with the bases loaded and two outs, Fergus doubled to clear the bases for a walk-off win, and a series sweep for Lehigh Valley.