LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Louisville Bats (14-30) dropped the first game of a ten-game homestand and a four-game series with the Durham Bulls, 8-1, on Friday night at Louisville Slugger Field.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Louisville Bats (14-30) dropped the first game of a ten-game homestand and a four-game series with the Durham Bulls, 8-1, on Friday night at Louisville Slugger Field.
Right hander Anthony DeSclafani (0-1, 10.80), making his third rehab start of the season and first appearance for Louisville since 2016, tossed five innings and was hung with the loss. DeSclafani gave up six runs on eight hits, including three home runs, but did manage to strikeout eight batters while only giving up one free base on 93 pitches, 70 strikes. Durham right-handed starter Chih-Wei Hu (1-3, 3.77) picked up his first victory of the season after giving up just three hits and one run in five innings of work.
The Bulls claimed a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning thanks to a two-run homer over the center-field fence by shortstop Andrew Velazquez and added the third score on an RBI double by left fielder Kean Wong. The Bats did answer in the bottom-half of the inning when Dilson Herrera's groundout to shortstop scored D.J. Peterson.
In the sixth, Durham added three more runs to its lead with a two-run blast by Wong and a solo shot by Jason Coats to give them a 6-1 advantage. The Bulls pushed another run across the plate in the seventh on groundout RBI by Justin Williams making it a 7-1 game.
Kyle Crockett (1-0, 2.86) threw two solid innings in relief giving up just the single unearned run before giving way to Evan Mitchell (1-1, 2.81) who recorded a scoreless eighth on the bump.
Durham capped its scoring in the final frame when Coats sent his second solo shot, and the fourth homer for the Bulls.
Louisville and Durham meet again Saturday evening with the game's first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. ET. Lefty Justin Nicolino (1-2, 4.33) will take the mound for the Bats while right hander Zach Lee will make his first start of the season for the Bulls. Tomorrow's game promotion is "Cheers to Bourbon night", as the Bats will become the Louisville Mashers for the evening donning special uniforms.
