Stephenson "absolutely nails" in Bats' 3-1 win

LOUISVILLE Ky.- Robert Stephenson tossed eight scoreless innings to help get the Louisville Bats (51-54) a 3-1 win against the Charlotte Knights (58-47) on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field. Stephenson (W, 4-0, 2.40) gave up just three hits and a walk while striking out a Triple-A career-high 10.

The start by Stephenson earned a game score of 85, the highest by a Bats pitcher this season. The previous season high was a 77 earned by Jon Moscot in a 3-1 win over Rochester on May 10 at Louisville Slugger Field. That afternoon, Moscot allowed one run over eight innings on a walk and three hits with seven strikeouts.

"The kid was absolutely nails tonight," said Bats veteran reliever Sam LeCure of Stephenson's performance on Twitter.

Both teams went scoreless through the first four innings until the Bats were able to break through in the fifth.  

In the bottom of the fifth, Juan Silva walked to lead off the inning and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan LaMarre before a throwing error advanced Silva to third. Silva then scored off a sacrifice fly to center by Hernan Iribarren.

The Bats were able to pick up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. Kyle Waldrop singled before a Ramon Cabrera double. Both Waldrop and Cabrera were then brought in by a Josh Satin single to give the Bats a 3-0 advantage.

The Knights scored their lone run in the ninth but they would ultimatley fall short. Collin Balester (S, 3) picked up the save for the Bats. 

Cabrera finished 2-for-3 and Satin was 2-for-4 with two RBI on the night. 

Erik Johnson (L, 8-6, 2.43) suffered the loss for Charlotte. He pitched six innings and gave up five hits, one unearned run which and three walks while striking out two. 

The Bats will play game three of the four-game series against the Knights on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m.