Bats Rally Late, Cruz Preserves Win to Beat Cubs 3-2
LOUISVILLE, KY – The Louisville Bats scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and Fernando Cruz stranded the tying run at third base in the top of the ninth to seal a 3-2 win over the Iowa Cubs Wednesday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field. [BOX SCORE] With the
LOUISVILLE, KY – The Louisville Bats scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and Fernando Cruz stranded the tying run at third base in the top of the ninth to seal a 3-2 win over the Iowa Cubs Wednesday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
With the score knotted 1-1 in the seventh, Ronnie Dawson drew a leadoff walk and scored from first on a double by Michael De Leon to put the Bats up 2-1. Trey Amburgey then plated what proved to be the winning run with a poked single into left that brought De Leon home to buffer the lead to 3-1.
After the Cubs pulled within one on an RBI groundout from P.J. Higgins in the top of the eighth, Cruz took the mound to duel with Iowa with a save on the line.
The Bats right-hander struck out Donnie Dewees for the first out but yielded a triple to the following batter Ildemaro Vargas. Cruz then whiffed Esteban Quiroz for the second out, and with the tying run 90 feet away, induced a slow roller to second that De Leon whipped to first base for the final out to close the win.
Lorenzo Cedrola tallied two more hits for his team-leading eighth multi-hit effort of the season. Miguel Hernandez logged a single in the win to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games.
The Bats and Cubs will continue their six-game series Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Louisville Slugger Field. RHP Ben Lively (0-2, 5.54) will get the ball for the Bats against RHP Caleb Kilian (0-0, 1.35).