Louisville Drops Game One 6-4 Against Columbus

Playing as Los Murciélagos in celebration of Copa de la Diversión, the Louisville Bats came back to make it a close game, but ultimately fell to Los Veleros (the Columbus Clippers) with a score of 6-4 on Friday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

With a solo home run in the top of the first, José Tena put Columbus up 1-0. Los Veleros strung together several more base hits to claim a 2-0 lead by the end of the frame.

Louisville got two runners on in the bottom half of the inning against Columbus’ Erik Sabrowski (W, 3-1). Levi Jordan with a single and Tony Kemp with a walk—but both runners were ultimately stranded.

Los Veleros continued their rally in the top of the second, taking advantage of a one-out walk to Tena. A double from Brito, sacrifice groundout from Kyle Manzardo, and single from Jonathan Rodriguez drove in three more runs, putting the tally at 5-0. With a runner on first, center fielder Blake Dunn made an impressive catch after falling down in center field to prevent any more damage.

After a couple of quiet frames, Los Murciélagos fought back with a scoring burst in the bottom of the fourth. P.J. Higgins kicked it off with a one-out walk, Michael Trautwein followed up with a single, and Hernán Pérez knocked an RBI double, his tenth double of the season, to chip away at Columbus’ lead and make it 5-2.

Louisville worked hard in the bottom of the fifth, rallying when Erik González reached on a fielding error by Los Veleros’ third baseman Tena. Blake Dunn secured a sacrifice bunt to move González into scoring position, and Livan Soto brought him home on a single. A double from Levi Jordan and RBI single by Tony Kemp brought the score to 5-4.

Los Veleros attempted to score again in the top of the seventh when Manzardo drew a walk, but Jordan, Soto, and Pérez turned a sparkling double play for two outs in the inning. The impressive sequence was Louisville’s 91^st double play turned this season.

In the bottom of the seventh, Los Murciélagos threatened another comeback, starting with a two-out walk to Soto. Jordan and Kemp also drew walks to load the bases, but the lineup was unable to capitalize, leaving all three runners on.

Though Columbus struck again in the top of the eighth, catcher Michael Trautwein picked off George Valera to prevent him from stealing third, and reliever Brooks Kriske secured a strikeout to escape the inning without a run scored.

Thanks to a leadoff walk, Los Veleros extended their advantage in the top of the ninth. Brito drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a throwing error by Trautwein to make it 6-4.

Despite Soto reaching on a single into left field in the bottom half of the frame, Los Murciélagos could not get a run against Columbus closer Andrew Walters (S, 3), falling with a final score of 6-4.

Louisville starter Justus Sheffield (L, 0-2) tossed 1.2 innings, giving up five earned runs. Grant Gavin came on in the second, allowing just one hit and no runs with five strikeouts in three frames of work. With the loss, Louisville’s season-long seven-game winning streak comes to an end.

Louisville (48-44, 10-8 second half) will play game two of three against the Columbus Clippers (43-49, 11-7 second half) on Saturday, July 20. The first pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. with Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.