Lee Locks in, Offense Plates 5 to Edge Clippers

COLUMBUS, OH – Zach Lee pitched a gem with two runs over 6.0 innings and Chris Okey singled home the winning run in the top of the fourth to lead the Louisville Bats to a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Clippers Thursday night at Huntington Park.

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Lee made his third consecutive start after beginning his tenure with the Bats in relief, navigating 6.0 relatively uneventful innings to finish with just three batters over the minimum in his quality start. He yielded solo homers to Gabrial Arias and Steven Kwan as his lone blemishes in his first win with Louisville.

As Lee cruised, the Bats capitalized on three singles and a walk to plate two runs in the first frame. Francisco Urbaez singled and crossed home on an RBI liner into left by Michael De Leon and Narciso Crook continued his torrid pace at the plate by walking and coming plateward on a knock from Brian Rey.

Crook finished 1-for-2 with a run scored and has now hit safely in 18 of his last 21 games.

In the fourth, De Leon singled for his second straight at-bat, moved to third on a double from Rey and scored as the eventual winning run on a lined single to left by Okey.

Braxton Lee and Brantley Bell also drove in runs in the sixth to provide a three-run cushion for Louisville.

Following the righty Lee’s departure, Ryan Hendrix, Diomar Lopez and Daniel Duarte tossed a scoreless inning apiece to slam the door.

The two teams will continue their five-game series Friday at 7:05 p.m. at Huntington Park. RHP Michael Mariot (6-4, 4.08) gets the start for the Bats against RHP Heath Fillmyer (3-7, 6.55).