Chapman Debuts at Home in 3-1 Loss to Columbus on Thunder Day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After last night's rainout, Louisville LHP Aroldis Chapman made his highly anticipated home debut in front of a sellout Thunder Over Louisville crowd, but the Bats fell 3-1 to the Columbus Clippers on Saturday afternoon.

Chapman gave the crowd what they came to see. He hit 100 miles per hour on the radar gun on three consecutive pitches in the fourth inning, and left the game after throwing five innings, allowing one run off one hit and four walks. The loss gave him a 0-1 record with a 0.93 ERA in two starts.

Chapman had some early control issues putting two of the first three Clippers batters on base with walks. After stealing third base, Jason Donald reached home on a sacrifice fly by Shelly Duncan, giving Columbus the 1-0 lead.

The scored remained 1-0 until Columbus padded their lead in the sixth inning. After reaching base on a one-out walk by Bats' reliever Jesus Delgado, Donald recorded his second stolen base of the day swiping second to put him into scoring position. Carlos Santana wasted no time bringing in Donald with a line drive single to centerfield, giving the Clippers a 2-0 lead.

The Bats showed some life late in the seventh inning with a two-out double by Wilkin Castillo, but couldn't manage to bring him home. The Bats had their chances throughout the afternoon to put runs on the board, but finished the day stranding seven runners on base.

The Clippers closed their scoring in the top of the ninth. Wes Hodges reached on a fielding error by Bats' second baseman Chris Valaika. Hodges moved to third on a double to right field by Brian Buscher, then reached home on a Brian Horwitz sacrifice fly to right.

The Bats provided some suspense in the bottom of the ninth after starting the inning with two walks by Clippers' closer Saul Rivera. Drew Sutton grounded out to Rivera moving the runners to second and third. With one out, Zack Cozart broke the shutout with a sacrifice fly bringing Todd Frazier home.

The Bats will play the Clippers in a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 4:05 p.m. Justin Lehr will be on the mound for the Bats, taking on Scott Lewis of the Clippers. Louisville has not yet named a starter for the second game. Josh Tomlin is expected to take the hill for Columbus.