PAWTUCKET, R.I. - The Louisville Bats (21-34) had their season-best five-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night, losing 8-1 to the Pawtucket Red Sox (26-30) at McCoy Stadium.
PAWTUCKET, R.I. - The Louisville Bats (21-34) had their season-best five-game winning streak snapped Wednesday night, losing 8-1 to the Pawtucket Red Sox (26-30) at McCoy Stadium.
The PawSox evened the series after Louisville won Tuesday's opener by a 7-4 score. The Pawtucket offense jumped on Louisville starter Robert Stephenson (4-5, 4.11) from the start, tagging him with five runs in the game's first three innings. Stephenson went 3.1 innings, giving up the five earned runs on five hits, walking four and striking out five. He also gave up two home runs, tossing 87 pitches and 45 strikes.
Louisville scored its lone run of the ballgame on a Tony Cruz home run in the sixth, his second in as many nights and third of the season for the Bats. Hernan Iribarren, Phillip Ervin, Nick Senzel and Pawtucket native Mason Williams all reached base twice for the Bats on a night where the offense stayed quiet.
Bats relief pitchers Zach Neal, Domingo Tapia and Jimmy Herget combined for 4.2 innings out of the bullpen, giving up three earned runs.
The series will be on the line Thursday morning at 11:05, with left-hander Justin Nicolino (2-2, 3.79) set to go for the Bats, coming off back-to-back starts of at least 7.0 innings. The PawSox are expected to counter with right-hander Chandler Shepherd (3-4, 3.93) as the Bats look to win back-to-back series for the first time all season.
