Guerrero homers twice in Bats loss

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On a tough night for the Louisville Bats offense, Gabriel Guerrero shined with two home runs in an 8-2 loss to the Columbus Clippers in the series finale Sunday evening at Louisville Slugger Field. Guerrero's performance marked the fourth multi-home run game of the season for the Bats, the first since Dilson Herrera and Phillip Ervin each posted two on June 27.

The Bats (35-54) were only able to muster three hits against a strong pitching effort from the Clippers (49-43), who completed the four-game sweep in the final trip to Louisville this season. The loss gave the Bats their fourth losing streak of at least four games this season and their first since May 20-22.
Clippers starter Adam Wilk (4-7, 4.13) tossed a terrific outing, only allowing three hits and two runs with seven strikeouts over 7.1 innings. Bats right-hander José López (3-8, 4.72) picked up the loss in a five-inning effort, giving up seven hits and three runs.
Columbus opened the game in aggressive fashion, stealing three bases to bring home Drew Maggi on a RBI single from Brandon Barnes. The Clippers' success continued into the second with their first two batters reaching with Nellie Rodríguez scoring on a grounder from Maggi. Bolstered by strong play at the plate, Wilk held the Bats in check in the early going, only allowing one hit through the first 3.2 innings.
The Bats finally reached the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with Guerrero's first homer, a 408-ft. shot that reached the top of the berm in left-center. The Clippers responded quickly in the fifth as consecutive two-out hits allowed Barnes to bring the score to 3-1. Another rash of movement on the base path in the sixth added two more runs on a two-out, RBI single from Yandy Díaz. The damage continued in the following inning with a leadoff home run to left from Eric Haase.
In the bottom half, the Bats matched with their own leadoff homer as Guerrero notched his second blast of the night, a 392-ft. fly ball over the fence in right-center. Despite Guerrero's strong showing, the rest of the Bats offense was unable to replicate his output. Columbus finished the night with two additional insurance runs in the ninth, resulting from consecutive doubles from Haase and Yu Chang.
The Bats will now head to New York for a seven-game road trip against a pair of North Division foes, opening with the first meeting of the season with the Rochester Red Wings on Monday at 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Keury Mella (1-0, 0.00) will start for Louisville against right-hander Zack Littell (1-3, 2.84) of Rochester.