Petty Shines As Bats Rout Indians In 8-0 Shutout

Just three days after turning 23, Chase Petty turned in a gem to help lead the Louisville Bats back on track in their first away game of the season, as the team took the 8-0 shutout win against the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field on Tuesday night.

The Bats got off to another hot start, doing damage to Indians starter Wilber Dotel (L, 0-2) in the first inning. Edwin Arroyo reached first for the Bats after a double to left field. A Hector Rodriguez sacrifice moved him to third, and a Michael Chavis single plated the first run for the Bats. Just a batter later, JJ Bleday plated Chavis on a double into the right-center gap to put Louisville up 2-0.

Making his third start of the season, Chase Petty got off to an amazing start in Indianapolis after struggling in his last outing against Iowa. Despite giving up a triple to Ronny Simon, Petty struck out three batters in his first inning and fanned another in the second. After consecutive singles by Will Banfield and Garrett Hampson, Blake Dunn helped extend the lead to 4-0 after scoring both runners on a single to right.

Petty (W, 1-1) returned to the bump in the third inning and continued his dominance with a 1-2-3 inning and a strikeout. He retired another three straight batters in the fourth inning with another strikeout.

The Bats loaded the bases with one out to end Dotel’s night in the fifth inning. Justin Meis relieved Dotel to mitigate any damage from the Bats, but walked Christian Encarnacion-Strand to plate a run. Just three pitches later, Michael Toglia flied a two-RBI double out to right field to increase the margin. Despite two runners in scoring position, Meis worked out of the jam with two straight outs to keep Louisville’s lead at 7-0.

After allowing the triple to Simon in the first, Petty retired the next 15 batters of the game until the sixth inning, where he allowed a walk with one out. Despite the base runner, Petty struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Hagen Danner relieved Petty in the seventh, ending his outing at six innings with one hit and one walk with nine strikeouts.

Danner got off to a shaky start, walking his first two batters faced with no outs in the seventh. He managed a strikeout and a groundout to retire two, but another walk quickly ended Danner’s outing. Kyle Nicolas came in relief in a reunion with the Indians and forced a groundout to help keep the shutout alive. He continued the scoreless effort into the eighth with two strikeouts and no hits allowed.

Encarnacion-Strand added a run in the ninth after barreling a triple off the wall in left field. A few pitches later, he would scurry home on a wild pitch to mark an 8-0 lead for the Bats heading into the ninth.

Luis Mey relieved Nicolas in an attempt to preserve the shutout, but struggled to find the zone against his first batter and gave up a four-pitch walk. However, Mey bounced back with two straight strikeouts and a groundout to solidify the Bats’ 12th one-hitter in a nine-inning game in franchise history.

The Bats (5-5) continue their six-game series against the Indians (2-8) on Wednesday morning, with the first pitch set for 11:05 a.m. at Victory Field. Nick Curran will have the call on Sports Talk 790 AM.