Bats Snap Losing Skid With 10-8 Win Over RailRiders

The Louisville Bats recorded 13 total hits, including four extra-base hits, in their 10-8 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Thursday night at PNC Field.

After a quiet first inning for the Bats, the RailRiders jumped on the board early by scoring four runs in the home half. Oswald Peraza got on base first after getting hit by a pitch and came around to score on T.J. Rumfiel’s home run to right field. Later, with Taylor Trammell on first after drawing a walk, J.C. Escarra and Kevin Smith smacked back-to-back RBI doubles to give Scranton an early 4-0 lead.

Edwin Ríos and P.J. Higgins helped the Bats respond quickly by leading off the top of the second with back-to-back singles. Michael Trautwein came up next and launched his seventh home run of the year to cut Scranton’s lead to 4-3.

In similar fashion to the previous inning, Ríos and Higgins tallied consecutive singles to start the scoring effort for the Bats in the top of the third. With two men on and two out, Trautwein hit his team-leading third triple of the year to give him five RBIs and the Bats a 5-4 lead.

Replacing Tanner Tully after four innings of work, Duane Underwood Jr. took the mound in the top of the fifth for the RailRiders. He struck out the first two batters he faced but gave up a two-run home run to Higgins, extending Louisville’s lead to 7-4.

Pereza doubled to leadoff the following frame for the RailRiders before Trammel doubled as well to bring the runner home. With one out in the inning, Oscar Gonzalez sent a towering home run over the left field fence to tie the game at 7-7. This forced the Bats to make a pitching change, replacing starter Julian Aguiar with Casey Legumina (W, 4-2). The righty retired the next two batters he faced to keep the game tied.

After a scoreless sixth inning for both teams, the Bats were able to scratch across a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. Even though new Scranton pitcher Art Warren (L, 0-1) converted two outs to begin his outing, he gave up a single, three consecutive walks, and hit one batter to allow two runners to cross home plate. He was then replaced by Yankees rehabber Scott Effross, who was able to get the final out of the inning.

Alan Busenitz took the mound for Louisville in the bottom of the seventh and allowed a solo shot by Trammel but was able to bounce back to complete the inning and maintain the Bats’ 9-8 lead.

WIth one out in the top of the eighth, Rece Hinds singled to right and stole second to put himself in scoring position for Higgins, who recorded his fourth hit and third RBI of the night to extend the Louisville lead to 10-8.

Louisville trusted Zach Maxwell to close the game and he delivered, tallying two lineouts and striking out the final batter to give the Bats a 10-8 win over the RailRiders.

Trautwein totaled a triple, home run, and five RBIs while Higgins had four hits, a home run, and three RBI to lead the offense. Legumina, Busenitz, and Maxwell (S, 2) combined for 4.2 innings of one-run ball with five total strikeouts out of the bullpen to finalize the triumph.

The Bats (50-53, 12-17 second half) and RailRiders (58-46, 15-15 second half) will continue their series on Friday, August 2nd. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. at PNC Field, with Nick Curran on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.