Barrero, Encarnacion-Strand Lead Bats 8-4 Over Nashville

LOUISVILLE, KY – Jose Barrero and Christian Encarnacion-Strand slugged two doubles each, combining for five RBI as the Louisville Bats (47-40) rolled over the Nashville Sounds (48-39) 8-1 on Saturday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

[Box Score]

After a quiet first inning, the Bats struck first in the contest, putting up a run in the second inning. With one out in the frame, Jose Barrero took first after getting hit by a pitch and then stole second to get into scoring position. Barrero took off and stole third as Chuckie Robinson drew a walk, but an errant throw by the Sounds’ catcher allowed Barrero to jog home and give the Bats a 1-0 lead.

Nashville evened the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth on an RBI single, but the tie did not last long as Noelvi Marte doubled to lead off the home half of the inning, scoring one batter later on a double by Barrero.

Connor Phillips (0-0, 4.22) continued to settle in at the Triple-A level, making his third start with the Bats. Phillips turned in 4.0 good innings, allowing a lone run on two hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

Louisville turned up the offense soon after, scoring a run in the sixth on another RBI double from Barrero before putting up three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to take a commanding 8-1 lead.

The Bats bullpen entered the game in the fifth and shut the Nashville offense down, allowing just two hits and two walks across the final 5.0 innings of the game to secure the win.

Louisville and Nashville will play the third and final game of this shortened series tomorrow night, Sunday, July 16^th. First pitch is set for 6:05 pm E.T. as right-hander Brett Kennedy (3-2, 3.40) will take the bump for the Bats, taking on lefty Robert Gasser (5-1, 3.94) on the mound for the Sounds.