Bats dominate Indians in 7-0 victory
INDIANAPOLIS, In. - The long ball was back for the Louisville Bats (58-59) as they took game two of a five-game series with the division-leading Indianapolis Indians (66-51) 7-0. Louisville now leads the season series with Indianapolis 8-7.
The Bats' 12th shutout of the season came on the back of an awakened offense that came into the game ranked last in runs scored. Mike Hessman and Josh Fellhauer both homered in the game, marking the first time since July 14 that Louisville has hit multiple home runs in a game. Their combined RBIs accounted for five of the Bats' runs. All seven Louisville runs came with two outs, with six coming in the first two innings.
Cincinnati Reds reliever Jonathan Broxton started the game for Louisville in his second rehab appearance with the team, pitching one scoreless inning while allowing two hits and striking out one.
Greg Reynolds (W, 11-2) took over in the second inning and was brilliant in his first Bats appearance since his start with the Cincinnati Reds on July 24. He threw seven shutout innings and allowed only five hits, striking out two.
Louisville struck first with a big first frame, putting up four runs to start the afternoon. It started with Billy Hamilton's bunt single. Fellhauer and Felix Perez followed suit with base hits, setting up a sacrifice fly from the red-hot Henry Rodriguez to put the Bats on the board. In the next at-bat, Hessman widened the Louisville lead to 4-0 with his 22nd homer of the season and his 400th in affiliated baseball.
Another Bats home run would make their lead 6-0 in the second. Fellhauer hit his fourth homer of the season to score Matt Kennelly. Fellhauer hit second in the lineup on Sunday, a spot where he was hitting with a .319 average and a .489 slugging percentage heading into the afternoon. He went 3-for-5 on the afternoon with two runs scored to go along with his 2 RBIs.
Kristopher Negron led off the sixth with his second walk of the game to set the table for another Louisville run. Hamilton delivered with a two-out single to center that made the Bats' lead 7-0.
Indians starter Stolmy Pimentel (L, 2-4) exited the game after six innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out eight.
The Bats and the Tribe will be back in action for game three of their five-game split series on Monday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Victory Field. RHP Daniel Corcino (5-11, 6.00) is the probable starter for Louisville, while Indianapolis will send highly touted Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon to the mound for his Triple-A debut.