Reds' Rehabber Solano Sets the Tone in a 5-4 Bats Win

LOUISVILLE, KY- Cincinnati rehabber Donovan Solano doubled and homered in a 5-4 Louisville Bats (24-41) victory over the Durham Bulls (35-31) on Sunday evening at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

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The Bulls threatened in the first inning after they knocked a pair of singles to start the frame. A lineout led to a double play on the next at-bat, leaving a runner on first for the next Durham hitter, Luke Raley.

Raley then doubled down the third base line, but the ball escaped into the Louisville bullpen, leading to a ground-rule double and forcing Xavier Edwards, the runner at first, to stay at third instead of attempting to score. Bats’ starter Robert Dugger (0-3, 5.31) was able to capitalize on the good break and quickly induced a fly ball to center field to end the inning.

In the following half inning, Cristian Santana tallied the first hit of the game for the Bats, launching an opposite-field laser that cleared the wall in right-center and bounced back into the field of play, giving Louisville an early 1-0 lead.

Reds’ rehabber Donovan Solano notched the second Louisville hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning, following Santana’s trend by homering to left-center and increasing the Bats lead to 2-0.

Robert Dugger got into trouble in the bottom of the fifth when a walk and a base hit put two on for the Bulls with no one out. Dugger came close to escaping the jam with minimal damage, but a check-swing bloop single into left field and a hard chopper double that got over the head of Bats’ first baseman Byrd Tenerowicz contributed to a 3-run inning for the Bulls.

Dugger, however, retired three Bulls in the inning by way of the strikeout, finishing his day on the mound with six punchouts and a lone walk.

Donovan Solano nearly homered a second time in the top of the sixth, doubling off the top of the “blue monster” in left field. A wild pitch from Durham starter Kevin Herget (3-0, 2.43) allowed a run to score, sending the game to the bottom of the seventh tied, 3-3.

Bulls third baseman Jim Haley did not let the tie last long, conquering the “blue monster” in the bottom half of the frame with a moonshot solo homer and giving Durham a 4-3 lead.

The Bats were undeterred in the following inning, even after two quick outs, and bounced back in a wild way. Following a walk and a Lorenzo Cedrola double, back-to-back pitches eluded the mitt of the Bulls’ catcher, Ford Proctor, and allowed the two baserunners to score, giving Louisville the 5-4 lead that they would not relinquish.

Louisville relievers Matt Pidich and Fernando Cruz combined for 3.1 innings of work, and whiffed six Durham hitters collectively to shut the door on the Bulls.

Louisville will head home to Louisville Slugger Field to take on the Iowa Cubs, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, in a six game series with game one scheduled for Tuesday night and first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m.