Bats rally comes up short against Clippers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite a mid-game rally, the Louisville Bats were unable to pick up their first victory of the second half, falling, 6-3, to the Columbus Clippers Saturday evening at Louisville Slugger Field.

For Louisville, reliever Brandon Finnegan (2-8, 4.78) earned the loss as he allowed three hits and a run with two strikeouts in two innings on the mound. Bats starter Justin Nicolino allowed nine hits and three runs (two earned) with one walk and four strikeouts over five innings of work. Clippers right-hander Mitch Talbot picked up the win as he went six innings, giving up six hits and three runs with four strikeouts. Columbus' George Kontos earned his second save of the season with one hit over two innings.
The Clippers wasted no time getting on the board, quickly racking up consecutive hits in their first two plate appearances. After Nicolino retired the following two batters, catcher Eric Haase continued his strong play as he brought home Drew Maggi with a line drive single to left. In the following inning, Columbus added another run with a Nellie Rodríguez RBI double to center.
In the top of the third, the Clippers threatened for more with two on and no out, but Nicolino used a pair of strikeouts to maintain the two-run margin. Even with five Clippers stranded in the early going, the Bats were unable to capitalize, only mustering three hits through four innings.
After a relatively quiet fourth, back-to-back singles allowed for Columbus to pad its lead to 3-0, with Haase tallying his ninth RBI of the series with a sac fly to center. Bats reliever Brandon Finnegan entered to begin the sixth and worked around a two-out double to close the frame.
The Bats finally challenged in the bottom half as Williams and Ervin both reached to lead off, with the latter's single resulting from an overturned double play. Two batters later, the Bats finally scored as Williams came home on a wild pitch by Talbot. In the same at-bat, right fielder Gabriel Guerrero added another run with a RBI double to left that scored designated hitter Brandon Dixon. The rally was completed as first baseman Hernan Iribarren singled to right-center, sending Guerrero home to tie the contest at 3.
Unfortunately for Louisville, the lead proved to be short-lived as Columbus quickly reassumed a 4-3 advantage thanks to consecutive base hits off Finnegan. In the eighth, right fielder Melky Cabrera added a pair of insurance runs with his fourth hit of the night, a two-out, line drive double to right. The Bats proved unable to muster any further comeback, although three consecutive batters reached in the bottom of the ninth.
The Bats and Indians will conclude their four-game set Sunday evening, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Louisville will send out right-hander José López (3-7, 4.68) to face Columbus southpaw Adam Wilk (3-7, 4.25).