Bats Thrice Rally, Cycled by the Valley, 10-9

ALLENTOWN, Pa.-The Louisville Bats had their share of chances, but three errors and a one-out walk-off single by Lehigh Valley shortstop Miguel Cairo in the tenth inning propelled the Iron Pigs to a 10-9 victory on Wednesday evening at Coca-Cola Park.

Louisville left fielder Chris Heisey batted in three runs, including a go-ahead sacrifice fly to centerfield in the top of the ninth inning, making the score 9-8 and putting the Bats in control with three outs remaining.

IronPigs left fielder Michael Taylor recorded the first cycle in franchise history, capping his 5-for-5 evening with a long homerun over the left field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning, knotting the game at nine.

The Bats could not sustain two other go-ahead rallies, including ones in the fourth and seventh innings. Heisey put the team ahead 8-7 in the seventh with a two-run homerun, scoring right fielder Darnell McDonald from second base.

Lehigh Valley third baseman Terry Tiffee answered in the bottom of the inning with a groundball single to right field, scoring Taylor. The hit was Tiffe's only one of the evening, as he finished 1-for-5 and stranded a pair of runners.

Trailing 4-1 in the top of the fourth inning, Bats third baseman Wes Bankston doubled home McDonald and first baseman Kevin Barker to cut the lead to one. Three pitches later, shortstop Chris Valaika tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Heisey.

Reliever Logan Ondrusek's had his first blown save of the season for the Bats. Starter Matt Maloney earned a no decision for the third time in his last four starts. Sean Watson (0-1) picked up the loss after giving up two hits and overthrowing first base on a sacrifice bunt attempt by second baseman David Newhan in the tenth inning.

IronPigs starter Gustavo Chacin allowed six earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. Cedrick Bowers (4-2) walked one and struck out one in the tenth inning to earn the win.

Louisville concludes its eight-game road trip on Thursday night in the final matchup of the season with the IronPigs. Lefty Ben Jukich (7-5, 4.04 ERA) is expected to take the hill for the Bats, while fellow southpaw Joe Savery (1-0, 1.50 ERA) will make his third career Triple-A start for Lehigh Valley, with a scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch.