Bats fall to first-place Indians, 10-3
Louisville starter Chad Reineke (3-6, 4.30) looked to be heading toward his third win in five appearances. Through five innings, Reineke gave up just one run, a solo homer to Jeff Clement I the second frame, and struck out seven Indians batters.
With the game tied 1-1 entering sixth inning, however, the Indians would take the lead for good. Chase d'Arnaud led off with a soft grounder to third base that Mike Costanzo couldn't grip in time to make a throw, and Gorkys Hernandez moved him up with a sacrifice bunt. Starling Marte then walked to put two on with one out. On the first pitch of his at-bat, Matt Hague hit a three-run home run over the left field fence to give the Indians a 4-1 lead.
Two innings later, Indianapolis would light up the scoreboard again. With one out, Hernandez doubled down the left field line, and Marte followed with his fourth hit of the game, an RBI single to center field. Hague then hit a single through the right side of the infield, moving Marte to third and chasing Louisville's Josh Judy from his relief duties. Carlos Fisher came in to relieve, and the first batter he faced, Jeff Clement, hit a triple down the right field line clearing the bases and giving the Indians a 7-1 lead. Jordy Mercer then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Clement.
In the top of the ninth, the Indians added some insurance. D'Arnaud singled to left field, and moved up to second with his 20th stolen base of the season. Hernandez followed with an RBI single, giving the Indians a 9-3 lead. An out later, Hague hit a single that scored Hernandez and increased the Indians' lead to seven.
The first five batters of the lineup collected all 13 of the Indians' hits, and scored all of the runs at two apiece. Marte stretched his multi-hit streak to six games, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Hague and Clement finished with a home run and 3 RBI each.
Daniel Cabrera (4-3, 4.48) pitched six innings for the Indians, giving up seven hits but just one run.
With two outs in the bottom of the third frame, Louisville's Denis Phipps singled to third base for his first hit since being activated from the DL. Dioner Navarro doubled to the left-center gap, moving Phipps to third base. Cabrera then threw his second wild pitch of the night, scoring Phipps and tying the game at 1-1.
The Bats would cut the lead slightly in the bottom of the eighth. Navarro began with his third hit of the game, a double down the left field line. With one out, Costanzo hit his sixth home run of the year on the first pitch he saw to bring the Bats within 8-3.
Navarro and Costanzo accounted for six of the Bats' nine hits, each going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
While the Bats sit at the bottom of the IL standings, they led the league with a .985 fielding percentage entering Saturday's contest. Before the game, the Bats had never committed more than two errors, but had four against the Indians. Negron and Costanzo each finished with two.
Game two of the series is Sunday at 6:05 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Field. Righty Tim Gustafson (3-1, 4.32) is expected to start for Louisville, facing Indians southpaw Rudy Owens (6-3, 2.51).