Bats' Late Offensive Rally Secures 6-3 Victory in Indianapolis
The Louisville Bats’ late offensive push propelled them past the Indianapolis Indians 6- 3 in the series opener on Tuesday night at Victory Field. Indianapolis got on the board in the bottom of the first after a one-out walk later scored on Duce Gourson’s RBI double. Bats starter Jose Acuna
The Louisville Bats’ late offensive push propelled them past the Indianapolis Indians 6- 3 in the series opener on Tuesday night at Victory Field.
Indianapolis got on the board in the bottom of the first after a one-out walk later scored on Duce Gourson’s RBI double. Bats starter Jose Acuna struck Jack Brannigan out to limit further damage, which left the score 1-0.
Michael Chavis didn’t let the deficit last long as he hit a 442-foot leadoff homer in the top of the second inning. His 22nd bomb moved him into second on the team in homers and tied the game at one.
Acuna settled down and retired six of the next seven batters, including two strikeouts.
The Bats' offense was lively again in the fourth as a walk and single provoked a rally. Will Benson walked to load the bases before P.J. Higgins smacked a two-run single to boost the lead to 3-1.
Johnathan Harmon entered in relief in the fourth to end Acuna’s day. The righty allowed just one run on three hits and struck out three over three innings of work. Both offenses were relatively quiet until the bottom of the sixth when Harmon allowed back-to-back two-out doubles which brought the Bats' lead to just 3-2.
Tony Santillan entered in the seventh and threw another scoreless inning with two strikeouts. He’s retired all nine batters across three rehab games since Friday, with five punchouts.
Chase Petty threw a perfect eighth inning in just his second game since being optioned to Triple-A.
The Bats’ offense awoke in the ninth after being quieted since the fourth. Higgins punched a double off the left field fence with one out in the ninth to record Louisville’s first hit since Leo Balcazar doubled in the fifth.
Dominic Pitelli walked before Francisco Urbaez was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Balcazar. On the second pitch, Balcazar smashed a curveball deep to right-center field past the outstretched diving glove of Mitch Jebb and off the wall.
He coasted into third base with a bases-clearing triple to boost the Bats' lead to 6-2. The triple was Balcazar’s second extra-base hit with Louisville, and his first triple since being promoted.
The Indians refused to go out quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Hunter Parks walked Palacios with one out before Nick Cimillo crushed an RBI double to left-center field to close the deficit to 6-3. Parks settled down and struck out the final two batters to seal the Bats' victory.
Balcazar produced just his second multi-hit game with Louisville this season. Harmon’s strong relief appearance earned him his first career Triple-A win. Ivan Johnson added three stolen bases in the victory.
The Bats (55-64, 16-30 second half) will continue the series against the Indians (59-62, 28-18 second half) on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. The Bats' Jared Lyons (1-4, 5.06) will oppose Indianapolis' Thomas Harrington (1-6, 6.00). Nick Curran will be on the call on Talk Radio 1080.