Bats Drop Wild Slugfest To I-Cubs 15-9

In a crazy, back-and-forth slugfest on Wednesday afternoon, the Louisville Bats were unable to protect a number of leads and ultimately fell 15-9 to the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park.

Leading 9-8 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Louisville bullpen imploded with the game on the line, allowing Iowa to take the lead and pull away. A pair of ground ball hits put the tying and go-ahead runs on base with nobody out. Former Bat Eric Yang tied the game with an RBI single off Yunior Marte. Two hitters later, Murray put Iowa ahead with a single to center. Jonathon Long added to the lead with an RBI single of his own before Pedro Ramirez put the game out of reach with a grand slam to dead center field, capping a seven-run inning to put the I-Cubs up 15-9.

The Bats went quietly in the ninth as the I-Cubs evened the series at one game apiece. The game began better than it ended for the visitors.

Leading off the top of the second, Noelvi Marte connected on a towering 430-foot solo home run to left, his second home run in as many days, to open the scoring for Louisville. Three hitters later, Michael Toglia doubled the lead with a sharp single to center to plate JJ Bleday, who reached with a walk earlier in the inning.

Staked to a second-inning lead, Darren McCaughan cruised through the inning with ease before struggling in the third. A two-out walk to Brett Bateman came back to bite McCaughan, as Murray followed with a double to left to cut the Bats lead in half at 2-1 after three. An inning later, Dylan Carlson tied the game with a solo home run of his own.

Leading off the fifth, Toglia got a hold of one and drove it 445 feet to dead center against former Bat Charlie Barnes for his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to put the Bats back on top 3-2. Louisville would put runners on second and third with one out before Barnes escaped to keep the deficit at one.

The game unraveled for McCaughan in the fifth. Owen Miller got the inning started with a triple off the left field wall and scored the tying run on Yang’s sacrifice fly. Murray’s RBI double put Iowa in front, and Ramirez capped the inning’s scoring with a two-run homer to center to make it 6-3 Cubs. Over five innings, McCaughan allowed six runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts. He wouldn’t factor in the final decision.

The Bats were quick to respond in the sixth. Marte singled and Michael Chavis walked to put tow on with one out. On the first pitch from Iowa reliever Tyler Santana, Toglia crushed his second home run of the day, a 361-foot shot that just cleared the left field fence to tie the game at six.

Bleday put the Bats ahead again with two outs in the seventh, hitting a solo home run to left center for his sixth home run with the Bats. Will Banfield plated another run with a two-out RBI double to center, making it 8-6 Bats. Iowa again responded to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame with a two-run single from Ramirez.

Louisville once again took the lead in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Hector Rodriguez. The visitors then loaded the bases with two outs in a bid to add on. However, Chavis flew out to right to strand the runners and end the innings with the Bats up 9-8. But the lead wouldn’t last as Iowa rallied to win.

For the Bats, Toglia led the way by homering from both sides of the plate, becoming the fourth player in Louisville franchise history to accomplish the feat in a single game. He finished 3-for-4 with five RBI. Marte was 3-for-5 with two runs while Banfield added a pair of hits. Ramirez tied an Iowa franchise record with eight RBI in the win.

The Bats (13-10) and I-Cubs (12-10) continue their series with another matinee on Thursday afternoon at Principal Park. First pitch is set for 1:08 p.m. ET. Nick Curran will be on the call for Sports Talk 790 AM.