Louisville scores 8-1 victory over Indianapolis
The Bats improve to 14-15 overall and 7-9 on the road, while the Indians fall to 17-11 overall and 7-7 at home.
Louisville, which tied its season high for base knocks in a game, used a balanced attack to salvage a split of the two-game series. 3B Jeff Keppinger (3-for-5, 2 2B, 1 R) and RF Jeff Bannon (3-for-5, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI) collected three hits apiece, while 2B Aaron Herr (2-for-4, 1 3B, 2 R, 1 RBI) and C Chad Moeller (2-for-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI) registered two base knocks each.
Bats LF Mike Edwards, who played for the Tribe in 2006 and 2007, recorded an RBI on a bases-loaded walk in the first and belted his first long ball of the season -- a solo shot to left -- in the fifth.
Louisville cracked the scoreboard with two runs in the first. Eight men came to the plate in the frame, which included two hits and three walks.
The Bats added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth. Herr tagged a triple to right center and scored on 1B Jesse Gutierrez's sacrifice fly before Edwards' went deep on the first pitch of his third plate appearance.
The visitors opened up plenty of breathing room down the stretch with one run in the seventh, one in the eighth and two more in the ninth.
Shearn (7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO), who retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, improved to 1-2 with the win. RHP Wes Wilkerson (2.0 IP, 2 SO) finished the affair with two perfect innings for Louisville.
The Tribe scored its lone run of the afternoon on a wild pitch in the fourth. 2B Luis Ordaz extended his hitting streak to a season-best 11 games with a single through the left side, moved to third on 3B Russ Johnson's base knock to center and came around to score when Shearn bounced a pitch wide of the plate.
No individual from the home dugout had more than one base knock in the contest. Indians LHP Shane Youman (4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO), who threw 40 of his 104 pitches in the first inning, fell to 1-4 with the loss.
Indianapolis continues its 10-game homestand with a four-game set against Syracuse. Indians RHP John Van Benschoten is expected to face Chiefs RHP Ismael Ramirez in Monday's series opener at 7 p.m.
The contest will be carried by ESPN-950 AM and IndyIndians.com with Howard Kellman and Scott McCauley. The pre-game show begins at 6:40 p.m.
Hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, Cracker Jack and potato chips will be available for $1 each throughout the evening.