Bats Offense Outshines Gloomy Night In 8-1 Win
In a game that included three rain delays, the Louisville Bats scored eight runs on eight hits as they defeated 8-1 the St. Paul Saints on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field. Bats starter Randy Wynne (W, 1-0) was the star on the mound, tossing a rain-shortened five inning complete
In a game that included three rain delays, the Louisville Bats scored eight runs on eight hits as they defeated 8-1 the St. Paul Saints on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field.
Bats starter Randy Wynne (W, 1-0) was the star on the mound, tossing a rain-shortened five inning complete game, allowing just the one run on three hits to pick up his first win of the season and the first complete game by a Bats pitcher since Tony Santillan on June 4, 2021, also against St. Paul. Wynne didn’t record a strikeout in the complete game effort, the first time in Bats franchise history a pitcher threw a complete game without a strikeout.
The Bats got off to a hot start to support Wynne by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back singles by the first two batters started the effort, followed by Tony Kemp’s at-bat that led to him getting hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance for Louisville. With the bases loaded and no outs, Jacob Hurtubise scored the first run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of P.J. Higgins. Conner Capel reached base via fielder’s choice, forcing a throwing error by the first baseman, and allowing another run to cross home plate. Michael Trautwein continued the barnburner with a single to right that allowed Kemp to score. Capel scored on a fly ball on the warning track, giving Hernán Pérez an RBI and the Bats a 4-0 lead.
Louisville continued their offensive power in the following frame. Erik González led the inning off with a single followed by a walk by Jacob Hurtubise. With no outs in the inning, Levi Jordan launched a 413-foot home run over the center field wall, extending the Bats’ lead to 7-0.
The game entered its second delay of the game during the bottom of the second inning. It lasted a total of 26 minutes. When play resumed, Edouard Julien got the Saints on the board in the top of the third with a solo shot that cut Louisville’s lead to 7-1.
St. Paul starter Caleb Boushley (L, 8-4) left the game after three innings of work. He allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks. The Bats plated one more run in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run by Pérez, his ninth of the year, that gave the Bats an 8-1 advantage.
The game was called in the bottom of the fifth shortly after Perez’s home run. In his Bats debut, Kemp went 1-for-1 with a walk, a run scored, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base. Jordan drove in three of the runs in a 2-for-3 effort while Perez drove in a pair, going 1-for-2.
The Louisville Bats (43-43, 5-7 second half) will play game two of the six-game series against the St. Paul Saints (44-43, 6-7 second half) on Wednesday, July 10. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm ET. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.