Bats Furious Comeback Falls Short In 7-6 Loss to Indians

The Louisville Bats attempted a furious comeback with six unanswered runs after falling down 7-0 early but failed to complete the bid, losing 7-6 to Indianapolis on Friday night.

Hernán Pérez, Peyton Burdick, and Erik González each had two hits and combined for four RBI and four runs to lead the offensive effort, with Pérez tallying the only home run of the game for either side.

The Bats bullpen continued to be the bright spot in this rough stretch, as Yosver Zulueta, Brooks Kriske, and Zach Maxwell combined for 6.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts to provide the comeback chance for Louisville.

After a quiet first for the Bats offense against Indianapolis starter Domingo Germán, the Indians wasted no time getting on the board. Louisville starter Justus Sheffield forced Ji Hwan Bae to ground out to begin his outing but gave up two singles with an out in between to put two on with two outs for Liover Peguero. The shortshop took advantage, hitting a triple to score both runners and give Indianapolis an early 2-0 lead.

The Bats loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the second on a single, walk, and hit by pitch, but Rece Hinds popped out in the infield to end the threat.

The Indians kept their foot on the gas in the bottom half. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, and Bae flew out to center field for a sacrifice fly to score Gilberto Celestino from third. Alika Williams followed with a single and Henry Davis smacked a double to score three more runs, extending the Indianapolis advantage to 6-0.

Zulueta relieved Sheffield (L, 0-1) to attempt to limit the damage with Davis at second and one out. Davis swiped third and scored on a throwing error by Michael Trautwein, but Zulueta did his job from there to hold the score at 7-0.

Both teams went down in order in the third frame, and the Louisville offense woke up in the fourth against Germán. The righty struck out the first two he faced, but Pérez found grass with a single and González followed with a double to score Pérez. Nick Dombkowski replaced Germán and immediately gave up a single to Jacob Hurtubise that scored González and inched the Bats closer at 7-2.

Zulueta posted another zero in the bottom of the fourth to finalize his 2.2 scoreless innings and tenth consecutive outing without allowing an earned run.

After getting nothing going in the previous frame against Ryan Borucki (W, 1-0), the Louisville offense continued to ride their momentum in the sixth vs. Conner Sadzeck. Gonzàlez singled and Hurtubise attempted to bunt him over with a sacrifice, but Sadzeck made a bad throw to first that allowed Gonzàlez to score, putting the Bats within four at 7-3, and Hurtubise to reach and advance to third. Hinds came up next, earned a walk, then stole second to put runners on second and third with one out, but the Bats couldn’t get any more runs across the plate in the frame.

Kriske followed a scoreless fifth with another zero in the sixth, and the Bats continued to ride their momentum in the seventh vs. former Bats reliever Justin Bruihl. Trautwein hit a line drive into right-center field that got lodged under the padding of the outfield wall and allowed the catcher to get all the way home, but the umpires ruled the play a ground-rule double, which caused Bats manager Pat Kelly to get ejected arguing the call.

Burdick came up next and singled to move Trautwein to third, then stole second to put two in scoring position for Pérez. The second baseman put a loud exclamation point on the hectic inning, launching a three-run home run for his eighth this season to give Louisville six unanswered runs and put the Bats within just one at 7-6.

Maxwell dazzled with two no-hit innings to give Louisville the opportunity to complete their comeback attempt, but the Bats failed to even get a baserunner in the final two frames as Brent Honeywell (S, 7) earned the save for Indianapolis.

Louisville (41-43, 3-6 second half) will play the final game of the series against the Indians (38-45, 4-6 second half) tomorrow, Saturday, July 6, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.