Play Resumes Saturday, Bats Drop Two

LOUISVILLE, Ky.-The Louisville Bats (34-53) dropped the resumption of Friday's series opener, 16-4, and the regularly scheduled contest, 1-0, to the Charlotte Knights (38-48) Saturday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
Wasting little time getting on the board, Louisville scored first courtesy of a triple off the right field wall by Brandon Dixon. The designated hitter's third triple of 2017 plated Dilson Herrera from second base to give the Bats a 1-0 lead after the first inning of play.
Not to be outdone, Charlotte plated five runs in the top of the second with 10 batters coming to the dish. Five hits and two walks allowed in the inning resulted in Louisville starting right-hander Tyler Mahle having his outing cut short after just one and one-third of an inning.
With the Knights taking a 5-1 advantage, the Bats cut the deficit to a single run in the bottom half of the inning with the first three batters reaching on a leadoff double followed by consecutive singles. The first run of the inning scored on an Eric Jagielo single scoring Phil Ervin. Herrera plated two with a line drive to center field making it 5-4 after the first two innings.
Severe weather began to move in over the next inning until forcing a delay after the top of the fourth inning with Charlotte maintaining their 5-4 lead. The series opener would resume Saturday at 5 p.m. with right-hander Robert Stephenson and righty Chris Volstad on the mound for the Bats and Knights.
Both pitchers came out dealing facing a combined two batters over the minimum spanning the bottom of the fourth through the top of the seventh. Charlotte blew the ball game open with a nine run top of the eighth where the first nine batters reaching base and crossing home plate.
The Knights added two more runs in the top of the ninth to increase their lead to 16-4, proving too much for the Bats, who failed to score a run in the final seven innings.
After dropping the series opener, right-hander Lisalverto Bonilla got the start in the day's second game against righty Lucas Giolito for Charlotte. Volstad picked up the win for the Knights moving to 2-4 on the season, while Mahle moved to 0-3 at the Triple-A level.
Game-two of the series saw both pitchers start the game strong neither team scoring until the top of the fourth inning of the seven inning contest. The Knight had four batters reach in the frame with two down including three walks to plate the first run of the ball game.
Despite trailing 1-0 at his exit, Bonilla made a second-consecutive strong outing going five innings while allowing just a single run on four hits and three walks. Bonilla faced the minimum in three of his five innings while also striking out six batters.
Neither team scored after the Knights' half of the fourth inning, giving Charlotte a 1-0 win in Saturday's nightcap. Offensively, Louisville managed just two hits in the seven inning game Saturday. Dixon and Sebastian Elizalde each recorded singles while Dixon also reached on a walk twice.
The series finale and the final game before the all-star break is set for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch Sunday afternoon. Left-hander Amir Garrett (1-1, 6.08 ERA) is scheduled to start for Louisville with righty Reynaldo Lopez (6-5, 4.03 ERA) getting the start for Charlotte.