Bats Held In Check In 4-1 Loss To Toledo

In their penultimate game of the regular season, the Louisville Bats fell behind and couldn’t produce much offensively, suffering a 4-1 loss to the Toledo Mud Hens on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field.

The Bats had a great chance to open the scoring against rehabbing Tigers starter Jack Flaherty. A single and two hit batters loaded the bases with one out. Will Benson then hit a line drive to first with an exit velocity of 105 miles per hour. But Mud Hens first baseman Jace Jung made the catch and threw back to second, doubling Noelvi Marte off the base and ending the inning without a run coming across.

That would be the best scoring chance for either team until the third, when doubles from Trei Cruz and Max Anderson brought home the game’s first run for the home team off Bats starter Ben Wereski (L, 3-3).

The 1-0 score remained until the fifth, when Jace Jung led off the inning with a solo home run to center, his 22nd of the season to double Toledo’s lead. A two-out RBI double from James Outman made it 3-0 and chase Wereski from the game after 4.2 innings.

In his shortest start with the Bats since August 8, Wereski pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits with four walks and six strikeouts. He ended his first Triple-A season with a 3-3 record and 4.70 ERA over nine starts, providing steady pitching for the Bats in the second half of the season after signing with the Reds as a free agent in July.

In relief for the Bats, Connor Phillips kept the deficit at three with 1.1 scoreless frames, walking two and striking out one. Chase Petty took over in the seventh and gave up a run over 2.0 relief innings.

For Toledo, Flaherty pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits while striking out three. Andre Granillo (W, 4-1) got the final two outs of the third. Brenan Hanifee pitched a scoreless fourth.

Austin Gomber took over from there and kept the Bats off the board unitl the eighth. In that inning, Noelvi Marte’s RBI fielder’s choice ground out scored Garrett Hampson to get the Bats on the board. But Gomber rebounded to strike out Michael Chavis and keep the Toledo lead at 4-1. Gomber allowed just the one run over 4.0 innings of long relief.

In the ninth, the Bats got the tying run to the plate against Tyler Mattison (S, 3). However, the reliever struck out Hampson to end the game and finish the 4-1 Toledo win.

Hampson and P.J. Higgins each recorded a pair of hits in the loss for the Bats.

The Bats (65-82, 26-48 second half) end the 2026 season with a matinee against the Mud Hens (73-74, 39-34 second half) on Sunday afternoon. First pitch at Fifth Third Field is set for 2:05 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for Sports Talk 790.