O'Brien Paces 4-Hit Shutout, Bats Split Series

Des Moines, Iowa. – Riley O’Brien worked 5.0 innings of no-hit baseball, while Jose Barrero continued his torrid pace with another multi-hit effort to lead the Louisville Bats to a 2-0 win over the Iowa Cubs on Sunday at Principal Park.

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Louisville turned to Reds’ rehabber Lucas Sims (1.0ip) as an opener on Sunday before handing the ball to originally-scheduled starter O’Brien. O’Brien set the tone for Louisville with the longest relief outing of the season, recording six strikeouts and one walk while the minimum 15 batters. The right-hander has now pitched five-plus innings in all but one of his last six appearances.

The Bats broke into the scoring column in the sixth, using back-to-back doubles from Mike Moustakas and Barrero to plate their first run of the game. Moustakas is now hitting 3-5 in his latest rehab appearance with Louisville.

Narciso Crook added one more in the seventh to increase the lead to 2-0. TJ Friedl led off the frame with a base-hit and stolen base to place himself in scoring position. With two outs, Crook drove an RBI single to left field to plate Friedl and provide Louisville with some late insurance.

Nick Howard and Dauri Moreta covered the two innings out of the bullpen before Tony Santillan struck out one in the ninth to pick up his first save.

After securing the series split this weekend, the Bats will now enjoy a much-deserved day off before a six-game set with the St. Paul Saints. The starters for Tuesday’s opener have yet to be announced.