Bats extend win streak to five games in 4-3 victory
The Bats (27-49) entered Friday's game riding the season's first four-game win streak, while the Red Sox (45-30) were on their first four-game skid. Their recent trends were heading in opposite directions, but when the teams met on the field in the series opener, nine innings weren't enough to decide a winner.
In a 3-3 game in the thirteenth inning, Felix Perez hit a one-out double to left field. After Corky Miller struck out looking, Daryl Jones delivered his eighth RBI of the year on a single that gave Louisville the 4-3 lead.
Louisville starter Pedro Villarreal had a fine outing, but it was the relief pitching that kept the Red Sox off the board. Nick Christiani, Donnie Joseph and Kanekoa Texeira combined for seven innings, giving up just four hits and no runs.
The Bats struck first, something they've done in just 22 games this season. With two outs in the opening frame, Paul Janish hit a single to left field. Mike Costanzo followed with a walk. Cody Puckett, who came in batting .362 in his last 10 games, then hit a single that glanced off of Pedro Ciriaco's glove at shortstop, scoring Janish and giving the Bats an early 1-0 lead.
In the third, the Bats put another run on the board on a lead off home run from Kristopher Negron. His sixth of the year came on the first pitch of the inning, and gave Louisville a 2-0 lead.
Villarreal was in top form in his first five innings, and for a while it looked like a 2-0 lead would be enough for the Bats to pick up a win.
In the sixth, however, the Red Sox finally got on the board. Jason Repko singled up the middle, just out of Negron's reach to lead off the bottom of the frame. Ryan Lavarnway followed with his 16th double of the year, a sharp drive that bounced off the wall in right-center field. Villarreal got Lars Anderson to ground out, but gave up a home run to Alex Hassan that gave the Paw Sox their first lead at 3-2.
Villarreal finished with seven complete innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs while tying a season-high seven strikeouts.
Louisville wouldn't trail for very long. With two outs in the top of the sixth, Miguel Rojas stepped to the plate having gone two for his last 22 at-bats. He was in a 3-1 hitter's count and got a pitch down the middle from Daniel Bard, and hit a line drive that cleared the fence in left field. The solo shot tied the game at 3-3, and was Rojas' first Triple-A home run.
Both teams had opportunities to end the game earlier. In the bottom of the ninth, J.C. Linares led off with a double to left field. With the winning run in scoring position and no outs, Louisville's Nick Christiani was able to retire three straight to push the game to extras.
In the tenth, the Bats threatened to take the lead. Gathright singled to right field to begin the frame, and Negron moved him over on a sacrifice bunt. Janish grounded out to shortstop for the second out, moving Gathright to third. Costanzo was put on intentionally. With runners on the corners, Puckett grounded out to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom, Jason Repko hit a grounder between third and shortstop that Rojas fielded on a diving stab. Needing to make a quick throw, Rojas sent the ball wide of Costanzo at first, and Repko made it around to third base on the error. With one out and a runner on third, the Bats decided to issue consecutive intentional walks to Lavarnway and Lars Anderson to load the bases. With Alex Hassan at the dish, Christiani threw a wild pitch that reached the backstop. Louisville catcher Corky Miller was able to field the ball and flip it to Christiani, who applied the tag on Repko, the would-be winning run at the plate. He eventually got Hassan to ground out to end the inning.
The two teams meet tomorrow at 6:05 at McCoy Stadium, where Louisville will have a chance to add to its season-high winning streak.