Abreu and Dalbec Homer in Walk-off Loss in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, KY — Wilyer Abreu and Bobby Dalbec each hit solo home runs, but Elly De La Cruz hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Louisville Bats (27-24) a 5-4 victory over the Worcester Red Sox (25-27) in game one of their six-game series at Louisville Slugger Field.

Louisville took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when De La Cruz scored on a throwing error by Shane Drohan.

Worcester responded immediately in the second when Abreu blasted the first pitch of the inning over the right-center field fence to tie the game at one.

In the fifth inning, Dalbec crushed a solo shot onto the berm in left field to put the WooSox on top 2-1. The long ball was Dalbec’s seventh homer over his last 13 games. Dalbec now has an 11-game hitting streak.

That score held until the bottom of the seventh. Christian Encarnacion-Strand drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Matt Reynolds hit a sacrifice fly to give Louisville a 3-2 lead.

In the eighth, the WooSox tied the game when David Hamilton scored on a wild pitch from Ricky Karcher.

Worcester regained the lead in the ninth. Dalbec led off the inning with a double. After Dalbec advanced to third on a groundout, Nick Sogard ripped a double to right to plate Dalbec and put Worcester in front 4-3.

In his third Triple-A start, Shane Drohan tossed six innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit. He walked six and struck out three.

Adam Duvall went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a flyout as the DH in the first game of his rehab assignment.

The WooSox continue their six-game series with the Bats tomorrow night at 6:35 p.m. Left-hander Brandon Walter is the scheduled starter for Worcester. Radio coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon, 100.1 FM The Pike, and the rest of the WooSox Radio Network.