Bats fall in 15 innings to Tribe, 7-6
Indianapolis centerfielder Jose Tabata led off the 15th inning with a solo shot to left field that would give the Indians the lead for good, ensuring victory for the Tribe in the four-hour, fifty-seven minute contest.
Despite trailing the entire night, Louisville capitalized off of two-run homeruns from of the bats of Wilkin Castillo and Chris Heisey in the seventh and eighth inning, respectively, twice overcoming two-run deficits. Zack Cozart's solo shot then tied the game at five in the 13th frame, and a Juan Francisco sacrifice fly evened the score at six in the 14th, before the Bats eventually fell behind for good in the 15th.
The Bats came within mere inches of recording a victory early in extras. Cozart delivered a two-out triple to center in the 10th inning and Chris Valaika followed with a scorching liner to centerfield. However, the ball was corralled by Tabata, who somehow held on to the catch as he fell to the ground.
After three scoreless extra inning frames, both teams scratched a run across in the 13th. Neil Walker hit a one-out double for the Indians and was followed by a Tabata hit by a pitch and a Pearce flyout to right. Bats reliever Federico Baez then walked both Brandon Moss and Erik Kratz, scoring Walker and giving the Tribe a 5-4 lead.
It didn't take long of the Bats to even the score, again via the longball. On the first pitch in the bottom half of the inning, Cozart delivered a solo home run to right field to tie the game at 5-5. The homerun for Cozart was his second of the season and marked the third time in the game that the Bats tied the game via the homerun.
With nobody out and runners on first and second in the top half of the 14th inning, Doug Bernier laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Argenis Diaz and Brian Myrow to second and third. A wild pitch by Logan Ondrusek then allowed Diaz to score from third, giving the Indians a 6-5 advantage.
The Bats, who continued to rally throughout the night, struck again in the bottom half of the inning. Drew Sutton led off the inning with a double to center and then stole third base with one out. Following a Todd Frazier walk, Sutton tagged and scored to tie the game on shallow fly to right off of the bat of Juan Francisco. Cozart then struck out to end the inning, advancing the contest to the 15th frame.
Trailing 7-6, the Bats again rallied in the bottom half of the 15th inning, but Valaika was stranded at third as Corky Miller flied out to left to end the game.
Indians' closer Jean Machi (1-0, 2.00) who blew the save in the 14th inning, picked up the win for the Tribe. Lee Tabor (0-1, 5.06) recorded the loss for the Bats.
Bats starting pitcher Travis Wood (0-3, 3.96), who has been a tough-luck loser all three times out this year, again threw well, but not well enough to get the win in the no-decision. He allowed four earned runs and seven hits in seven innings of work, while walking one and striking out seven.
Offensively for the Bats, Sutton and Castillo finished with three-hit games, while Cozart and Valaika recorded two hits each.
The Louisville Bats hit the road for the next eight games starting tomorrow with a four-game series at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. LHP Ben Jukrich (0-0, 0.00) will make his first start for the Bats this season and be opposed by RHP Jason Hirsh (0-3, 5.09). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.