Mesoraco, Alonso fuel Louisville win

Louisville's Devin Mesoraco and Yonder Alonso, two of the top prospects in the Reds' system, have both been hot of late. So it figures that when the Bats needed clutch hits Tuesday, the pair was able to deliver.

Mesoraco tied the game in the ninth inning with a two-out single as part of his five-hit night and Alonso smacked an RBI double in the 10th as Triple-A Louisville defeated the Durham Bulls, 11-8. Alonso finished the day 3-for-5 with a homer.

Alonso put the Bats on the board in the first inning, depositing a 2-0 pitch from Edgar Gonzalez over the right-field wall. He lined a double to right field to plate Louisville's second run of the 10th. MLB.com's preseason No. 49 prospect has hit safely in 12 straight games.

Selected by the Reds with the seventh overall pick in 2008, Alonso has raised his average from .296 to .341 during the streak. The 24-year-old outfielder has doubled his RBI output with 10 in his past 12 games.

Mesoraco, meanwhile, has gone 11-for-19 in his past four games. Ranked as MLB.com's No. 45 prospect in the preseason, Mesoraco has homered, driven in six and scored five times during the run. The 22-year-old catching prospect, who was taken No. 15 overall in 2007, has improved his average from .270 to .319 and his OPS from .838 to .944 since May 12.

The biggest of Mesoraco's five hits Tuesday came in the top of the ninth, when he lined a two-out, bases-loaded single to left field to tie the game at 8-8. Louisville would go on to win the game after starting off the 10th inning with four straight hits -- including two doubles and a homer -- and scoring three runs.

Bats reliever Carlos Fisher (1-0) took the win after tossing two scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit.

Mike Ekstrom blew the save for Durham by giving up three runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings. Dane De La Rosa (3-3) followed up by surrendering three more runs on four hits in just one inning, taking the loss for the Bulls.