Bats Pitching Leads Way To 7-1 Win Over Indians
The Louisville Bats, supported by nine strong innings of two-hit pitching and early offense, defeated the Indianapolis Indians 7-1 on Thursday evening at Victory Field. Ben Wereski (W, 2-1) took the mound for the Bats in his fourth career Triple-A start, opposed by Indianapolis right-hander Noah Davis (L, 2-10). Both
The Louisville Bats, supported by nine strong innings of two-hit pitching and early offense, defeated the Indianapolis Indians 7-1 on Thursday evening at Victory Field.
Ben Wereski (W, 2-1) took the mound for the Bats in his fourth career Triple-A start, opposed by Indianapolis right-hander Noah Davis (L, 2-10). Both starters worked perfect first innings, combining for three strikeouts and as many fly outs.
Ivan Johnson opened the scoring with a towering 409-foot home run to lead off the top of the second, his 11th long ball of the season. It would be the only offense of the frame, as Davis struck out the remaining three Bats batters.
Wereski continued to keep the Indians offense at bay by inducing soft contact in the second. The lefty preserved an early one-run advantage with a pop out and two ground outs.
Francisco Urbaez’s two-out single sparked the Bats in the third. Leo Balcazar collected an RBI with a line-drive double to left-center field, scoring Urbaez from first; and two pitches later, Juan Brito homered into the berm in right-center field, extending the Louisville advantage to four runs.
The first Indians baserunner of the game reached with a walk to open the home half of the third. Wereski responded with two quick outs before Mitch Jebb legged out an infield base hit, and Duce Gourson found the hole between first and second to score a run. With runners on the corners, Wereski ended the inning on a ground out; the Bats leading 4-1.
Michael Chavis drew a leadoff walk to open a productive offensive frame for the Bats in the fourth. The inning could have looked a lot different, had it not been for a fielding error by the Indians shortstop on a potential double-play ball, but the Bats took advantage of the mistake, loading the bases on a single by P.J. Higgins.
Dominic Pitelli doubled down the left field line to score two, his ninth and 10th RBI of the season. Then, a batter later, and with two runners in scoring position, Urbaez worked a nine-pitch at-bat that resulted in an RBI single. The Bats stranded two in scoring position but were buoyed by a 7-1 lead after three consecutive run-scoring innings.
Wereski’s second straight gem contniued with shutdown innings in the fourth and fifth. He collected two more strikeouts and walked one Indianapolis batter along the way, keeping the Indians well off pace with the Louisville advantage still at six runs.
Despite a Bats baserunner per inning in the fifth and sixth, the Indians bullpen maintained the deficit; still, Indianapolis failed to gain traction offensively.
Wereski’s final inning came in the sixth, when he paired a walk and strikeout to deliver another scoreless frame. Across his quality start, Wereski allowed one earned run, two hits, and three walks, complemented by four strikeouts.
Connor Phillips pitched two dominant innings in relief in the seventh and eighth. He struck out five Indians and allowed two baserunners.
After a scoreless ninth from Louisville’s offense, Hunter Parks sealed the deal with the team’s 10th strikeout of the night and a sixth consecutive shutout inning from Bats pitching.
The Bats outhit the Indians 10-2 in the ballgame, led offensively by Brito’s two-run homer, his second in the Reds organization; and Urbaez’s 2-for-5 performance, scoring his 44th run of the season.
The Bats (56-65, 17-31 second half) continue a six-game road series against the Indianapolis Indians (60-63, 29-19 second half) on Friday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Victory Field. Nick Curran will be on the call for Sports Talk 790AM.