Bats fall despite Tomko's excellence
Tomko pitched another outstanding game but had nothing to show for it in the win column as the Bats' offense was held in check by Syracuse in a 2-1 loss to the Chiefs.
A night after registering 12 hits, Louisville (17-37) managed only six against Syracuse (25-28), which got a terrific outing in its own right by starter John Lannan. The Bats' only run came on Tomko's first RBI in five years, when he was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jarrett Hoffpauir had an RBI single in the fourth and Carlos Rivero drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh for the Chiefs, who have won two straight over the Bats following a four-game losing streak. Hoffpauir and Jim Negrych combined for four of Syracuse's seven hits.
Lannan improved to 4-5 after losing three of his previous four starts. The 28-year-old left-hander allowed five or more earned runs in all of those losses but rebounded by yielding a single earned run on five hits over six innings against the Bats. Lannan, who has five years of big league experience with the parent Washington Nationals, allowed two baserunners over the first four innings.
Tomko fell to 0-6 despite notching his team-best sixth quality start and pitching at least six innings for the fifth straight outing. The 39-year-old right-hander gave up two earned runs on six hits in 6.2 innings. The Bats have scored just 20 runs in his 10 starts.
There was a moment to cause the Bats pause in the fourth inning as Tomko tumbled to the dirt after throwing a ball four to Brett Carroll. Tomko rose slowly and threw a couple warm-up pitches before pronouncing himself fit to continue.
The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead a batter later when Hoffpauir lined a single to right center. Mark Teahen, whose background includes nearly 3,000 big league at-bats, scored on the play after doubling for the 15th time. He came into the game tied for first in the International League in two-baggers.
Tomko helped himself in the fifth inning when he collected his first RBI since 2007 when he drove in a run for the Dodgers against the Florida Marlins. It happened on a two-out single up the middle after Cody Puckett singled and Corky Miller walked, tying the score at 1-all.
After Tomko began the seventh with two outs, James Skelton doubled and Rivero brought him in with the go-ahead run on a pinch-hit single. Travis Webb, in his league-leading 24th appearance, came on to get the final out of the inning.
Neftali Soto singled with two outs in the eighth, and Miller drew a two-out walk in the ninth but the Bats couldn't manage to score. Pat Lehman picked up his first save after Hassan Pena pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
The Bats made several stellar defensive plays. In the fifth inning, third baseman Kristopher Negron lunged over the railing in the Bats' dugout to snatch a pop-up by Skelton, and in the seventh, he made a diving stop on a grounder by Hoffpauir to rob him of a hit.
Bats second baseman Cody Puckett made an outstanding leaping catch on a line drive by Xavier Paul to start the second inning. Chiefs centerfielder J.R. Higley nearly returned the favor in the bottom half, but he couldn't hang on after nearly making a diving catch.
Joey Gathright has hit safely in all six games since being acquired by the Reds' organization. After hitting a slow roller toward first base in the sixth, Gathright dived safely into the bag while eluding the tag of Teahen.
Carlos Fisher followed Webb and didn't give up a run over two innings. He allowed just one hit. Tomko and Lannan both struck out three.
Bats manager David Bell served the second of a two-game suspension issued by the league after his Monday ejection. Louisville hitting coach Ryan Jackson took over in Bell's absence.
The Bats and Chiefs will conclude their four-game series at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at Louisville Slugger Field. Scheduled to start on the mound are Syracuse's Yunesky Maya (3-4, 2.57 ERA) and Louisville's Pedro Villarreal (2-1, 3.70).