Louisville Falls 5-2 In Series Finale

Spencer Stockton and Evan Kravetz shined in relief, but the offense was unable to take advantage as the Louisville Bats fell to the Columbus Clippers 5-2 on Sunday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

Louisville got started early, scoring a run off Clippers starter Triston McKenzie in the first inning. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs before Tony Kemp grounded into a double play that allowed the lead runner to score.

The Clippers responded in the following frame with back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners. In similar fashion to the Bats, Bryan Lavastida grounded into a double play that allowed the runner on third to score, tying the game at 1-1.

After Raynel Delgado led off the third by drawing a walk, Columbus batters singled three times in a row, allowing two runs to score with no outs. A balk by Louisville starter Brandon Leibrandt (L, 1-2) allowed runners to advance to second and third. After getting the following batter to fly out, Johnathan Rodriguez singled to left, allowing the two runners on base to score, giving the Clippers a 5-1 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Blake Dunn drew a walk and stole second base. With a runner in scoring position, Livan Soto doubled off the right field wall allowing Dunn to score and cutting the lead to 5-2.

McKenzie had a rough start, loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first, but he was able to bounce back effectively. In four innings of work, he held the Bats to two runs, two hits and seven walks. He was replaced by Randy Labaut (W, 3-6) who threw two innings and held the Bats to no runs and one hit.

Leibrandt left the game with two outs in the top of the fifth inning. He allowed five runs on seven hits and one walk, while striking out three batters.

Erik González led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple, his first of the season, but the Bats were unable to take advantage of the runner in scoring position.

Spencer Stockton and Evan Kravetz came in relief for Louisville and combined for 4.1 innings scoreless of work. They allowed only two hits and two walks, while striking out three batters.

Andrew Walters (S, 4) came in the bottom of the ninth in a save situation for Columbus. He only allowed one baserunner while striking out two batters, closing out the game and giving the Clippers a 5-2 victory.

In the first game of his rehab assignment with the Bats, TJ Friedl went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Soto went 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI in the loss.

The Louisville Bats (49-45, 11-9 second half) will enjoy their off day before traveling to face the Toledo Mud Hens (42-53, 7-14 second half) in a six-game series. Game one will be played on Tuesday, July 23 with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. ET. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.