Mella is lights out before the fireworks in 4-2 Bats win

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville Bats (41-63) were victorious on Friday night against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (60-44) at Louisville Slugger Field. The win pushes the Bats to a stellar 3-1 record against the first-place RailRiders so far this season.  
 

In his second career start against Scranton/WB, Bats' starter Keury Mella (7-10, 4.55) proved to be in the zone yet again, throwing seven innings of one run ball. He also allowed only four hits, with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. The effort also earned him his fourth straight quality start (IP≥6.0, ER≤3) in a row, a feat that he hasn't accomplished since August 17 - September 3, 2017 with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. 
On the offensive side, Louisville wasted little time putting Mella in prime position for the win. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Chadwick Tromp sent a mistake flying over the left-center field fence for the first run of the game and his third homerun so far this season. 
The homerun also marked the 500th run of the season for the Bats, coming in game number 104 this season, a mark that was not met last season until August 18, in game number 122 against the Charlotte Knights. In the following inning, Scott Schebler would tack on another run by sending Narciso Crook home with a sacrifice fly to deep center following a Crook double.
After Mike Ford made it a one-run game in the top of the fifth with a solo-shot to right, Louisville would get that run back, and then some, in the bottom half of the inning. Following a Christian Colón ground rule double down the right-field line, Aristides Aquino connected with one, sending it sailing 440 feet past the seats and bouncing on the concourse in left field and giving the Bats a 4-1 advantage. 
Although the RailRiders would threaten in the ninth with back-to-back doubles from Clint Fraizer and Breyvic Valera to cut the lead to 4-2, Joel Kuhnel (2-0, 1.46) would retire the next three batters in order to earn his third save of the season. 
Louisville will host Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for game two of the three-game series tomorrow evening with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. The RailRiders will go with left-hander Daniel Camarena (4-5, 5.93) on the hill, while Louisville's starter has yet to be named.