Bats Rally Late For Pat Kelly's 2,000th Win

Bats manager Pat Kelly joined elite company on Thursday night, becoming just the seventh manager in Minor League history to reach 2,000 career wins in Louisville’s 3-2 victory over St. Paul.

Kelly became the third active manager to reach the plateau, joining Myrtle Beach manager Buddy Bailey and Nashville manager Rick Sweet.

On the mound, Justus Sheffield, Casey Legumina, Alan Busenitz, and Tony Santillan combined to allow just two hits and two runs with seven strikeouts between the four.

Erik González led the effort at the plate, totaling a double and two RBI, and P.J. Higgins added an RBI single, a walk, and a run scored.

It was a pitcher’s duel from the beginning, as Sheffield recorded five no-hit frames with just two walks while adding two strikeouts in just his third Louisville start. On the other side, Saints starter Louie Varland cruised through the first five as well, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out six.

Legumina relieved Sheffield in the top of the sixth and continued the pitching dominance, setting the St. Paul lineup down in order. In the bottom half, Varland came back out and tallied the first two outs on just seven pitches, but Levi Jordan worked a walk that led to Varland’s exit. Ryan Jensen was the first out of the pen for the Saints, and he struck out Conner Capel with three fastballs to keep the game scoreless.

Legumina (W, 3-2) returned for the seventh and gave up the game's first hit to Yunior Severino, a triple down the right field line, after striking out Wynton Bernard for the first out. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. followed with a deep sacrifice fly, scoring Severino and putting St. Paul on the board first at 1-0.

The Bats were ready to respond in their turn at the plate. Michael Trautwein and Higgins both earned walks against Jensen (L, 3-3) to put two on with no outs for Livan Soto. The infielder was tasked with bunting the runners over but had three consecutive foul bunts for a strikeout. González was next and picked his teammate right up, delivering a sharp double to right-center field to score both Trautwein and Higgins and give Louisville a 2-1 lead. Ronny Henriquez replaced Jensen and walked Jacob Hurtubise to open his outing but netted the next two outs to prevent the Bats from increasing their lead.

Second out of the Louisville bullpen was Busenitz, looking to add another hold to his ledger in the eighth. The righty was nearly flawless, needing just eight pitches to get three outs while striking out two of the three.

Levi Jordan led off the bottom half against Jeff Brigham with a single and quickly stole second to get into scoring position with no outs. Although the next two Louisville hitters struck out, Higgins took advantage of the opportunity with a single of his own to score Jordan and double the Bats lead at 3-1.

Santillan (S, 16) came on to attempt the save and looked to be in trouble, walking the first two hitters he faced. Bernard followed with an RBI single to cut the Bats lead in half at 3-2, but that was all the closer would give up. He forced Severino to line out to right fielder Tony Kemp, who made a miraculous catch to preserve the lead, then got Keirsey Jr. to ground into a double play to finalize the 3-2 Bats triumph and his International League-leading 16^th save.

The Bats (45-43, 7-7 second half) continue their six-game set with the Saints (44-45, 6-9 second half) on Friday night, with first pitch at Louisville Slugger Field scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.