Daniel’s Dominant Day Leads Bats to 2-1 Win
Davis Daniel’s outstanding outing, coupled with JJ Bleday’s two-run homer, led the Bats to a 2-1 victory in the series finale against the Mud Hens on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats wasted no time tacking on damage offensively. Noelvi Marte crushed a two-out double in the bottom
Davis Daniel’s outstanding outing, coupled with JJ Bleday’s two-run homer, led the Bats to a 2-1 victory in the series finale against the Mud Hens on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
The Bats wasted no time tacking on damage offensively. Noelvi Marte crushed a two-out double in the bottom of the first and Bleday followed that up with his fifth homer of the season to get the Bats on the board early. His two-run shot was hit 109 MPH and 418 feet to right field to give Louisville a 2-0 lead. Daniel cruised through his first four innings of work, allowing just three hits and a walk, while striking out three.
The Bats danced with drama in the top of the fourth when Michael Toglia recorded a one-out single followed by Francisco Urbaez’s walk. Both were erased when Ivan Johnson grounded into an inning-ending double play to keep the score deadlocked at 2-0. Daniel cruised through seven innings, striking out the side in the fifth, and retiring the final 10 batters he faced. He became the first Bats starter to pitch into the seventh inning this season and recorded the Bats’ most dominant start all year.
Louisville’s offense remained stagnant throughout, with just two hits, two walks and a hit-batter following the first inning.
Lyon Richardson retired the side in the eighth inning, which extended his unearned-run streak to 12.1 innings this year, and 17 innings dating back to last season. His perfect ERA is the best among any Louisville pitcher with more than one game this season.
Luis Mey entered in the ninth and allowed back-to-back leadoff singles, followed by a sac-fly to pull the Mud Hens within one at 2-1. Mey induced a groundout and struck out the final batter to finish the job and record his first save of the season.
Daniel allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out eight over seven scoreless innings of work. Sunday was his first scoreless outing since he threw six scoreless innings for the Gwinnett Stripers on July 6, 2025. Michael Toglia was the lone Louisville hitter to get aboard twice, with a single and a walk.
The Bats (12-9) will visit the Iowa Cubs to begin a six-game series on Tuesday. Jose Franco (0-1, 18.00) will be on the hill for Louisville. Nick Curran will be on the call on Sports Talk 790.