LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - The Louisville Bats (46-72) lost for the third straight evening to the Gwinnett Braves (58-60) by a score of 7-3 at Coolray Field.Louisville started fast as Darnell Sweeney extended his hitting streak to eight games with a leadoff double to center field. Sweeney then scored on a
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA - The Louisville Bats (46-72) lost for the third straight evening to the Gwinnett Braves (58-60) by a score of 7-3 at Coolray Field.
Louisville started fast as Darnell Sweeney extended his hitting streak to eight games with a leadoff double to center field. Sweeney then scored on a RBI sacrifice fly from Hernan Iribarren to put the Bats on top, 1-0.
From that point forward Kris Medlin (2-5, 5.48) cruised through six innings allowing just one run on two hits. He walked one batter and struck out four.
Luke Farrell (0-1, 20.25) worked a perfect first inning in his Bats debut but hit a rough patch following the first frame. The Braves scored twice in the second inning and then four more times in the third inning. Kyle Kubitza provided the knockout blow with a two-run triple in the third inning, as Farrell was pulled after that hit with two outs. He allowed six runs on five hits, walked two, and struck out four.
Ismael Guillòn came on in relief of Farrell in the third inning with two outs and walked the first two batters he faced. The tarp was then brought on the field as the Bats and Braves sat through a rain delay of 41 minutes. Guillon came back out after the delay and stranded the two runners on base, keeping it a 6-1 Braves lead after three innings.
Gwinnett continued to pile on in the fourth inning off Guillon with a leadoff home run from Ronald Acuña Jr., his fifth of the season. The Braves 7-1 lead held all the way until the eighth inning when Phil Ervin cracked a two run double to left field, chopping the deficit to 7-3. Ervin collected two of the five Louisville hits on the night.
In the ninth inning, the Bats threatened with runners on first and second with only one out, but Tyler Goeddel popped out to second, and Alex Blandino struck out to end the game.
The Bats will look to salvage a game in the series as the four-game set against the Braves wraps up tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Left-hander Amir Garrett (1-3, 6.25 ERA) will take the mound for Louisville while left-hander Luiz Gohara (0-1, 4.22) will start for Gwinnett.
