Bats Fall In Seesaw Battle To Stripers 8-7

The Louisville Bats were unable to hold a pair of late leads, dropping a wild, back-and-forth affair 8-7 to the Gwinnett Stripers on Friday night in front of 6,874 at Louisville Slugger Field.

Louisville righty Randy Wynne didn’t get off to an ideal start. Former Bat Alejo Lopez began the game with a leadoff double. Nacho Alvarez Jr. followed with a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, to put the visitors up a pair quickly. They added one more in the third on an RBI single from Harold Ramirez, his first hit as a Striper.

Wynne began to settle down with a scoreless top of the fourth, giving the Louisville offense a chance to get back in the game. Blake Dunn recorded the first Bats hit of the night with a single that deflected off the glove of Gwinnett starter Hurston Waldrep. Rece Hinds then doubled off the wall in left to put two in scoring position. Davis Wendzel got the Bats on the board with an RBI ground out, scoring Dunn. A balk from Waldrep allowed Hinds to score, cutting the Gwinnett lead to 3-2 after four.

In the fifth, Wynne quickly set the Stripers down in order, and the Bats would turn the game around from there. Joey Wiemer started the bottom half off with an infield single and quickly stole second base. The next hitter, Eric Yang, deposited Waldrep’s 1-1 offering 387 feet into the left field stands for a go-ahead two-run homer, his first big fly at the Triple-A level, to put the Bats in front for the first time 4-3. Dunn kept the inning going with a walk, stole second, and came home on an RBI single from Edwin Rios for a two-run Bats advantage.

Pitching with the lead for the first time, Wynne worked around a leadoff in the top of the sixth to retire the next three Stripers he faced, ending a quality start. Despite allowing a season-high 10 hits, Wynne held the Stripers to three runs against, striking out four over six innings to leave in line for the win.

Reiver Sanmartin couldn’t hold the lead in the seventh. Following two quick outs, the Stripers connected on four straight hits, capped by an RBI single from Ramirez and a game-tying double from Chadwick Tromp to even the score at five at the seventh inning stretch.

The Bats didn’t take long to retake the lead. Singles from Dunn and Hinds got the inning started. An error loaded the bases with nobody out. Wendzel was able to lift a sacrifice fly to deep center, bringing in Dunn with the go-ahead run. P.J. Higgins did the same with another fly ball to deep center, allowing Hinds to dive home with another run for a 7-5 Bats lead.

Yosver Zulueta (L, 2-2) was next into the game for the Bats in the eight and also struggled. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Alvarez’s infield single scored a run, and an errant throw from Higgins at third allowed the tying run to score. Eli White restored the Stripers’ lead with another single, this time to right for an 8-7 Gwinnett advantage.

Domingo Gonzalez (W, 1-1) held the lead for the Stripers in the eighth. Casey Legumina kept the deficit at one for Louisville in the ninth. Dunn doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth against Stripers closer Ken Giles (S, 4). But the veteran righty rebounded to strike out Hinds and Rios, and Higgins to finish the win and earn the save.

For the Bats, Dunn led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a walk, and his 20^th stolen base of the season. Hinds, Wiemer, and Yang each recorded a pair of hits in the loss. The Stripers produced 19 hits in the win, led by four each from White and Tromp.

The Bats (57-65, 19-29 second half) continue the series with the Stripers (62-62, 27-22 second half) on Saturday night. First pitch at Louisville Slugger Field is set for 7:15 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.