Bats Pitching Stellar In 3-0 Shutout

The Louisville Bats got a dominant pitching performance on the mound and timely hitting at the plate to shut out the Indianapolis Indians 3-0 on Friday night in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 6,495 at Louisville Slugger Field.

The win improves the Bats’ record back above the .500 plateau at 19-18 and gives them three wins in the first four games of their series against the Indians.

In just his second start of the season, Louisville righty Randy Wynne was splendid. Following a leadoff single in the first, Wynne induced a double play ground out to get through the frame unscathed. A pair of one-out singles in the second couldn’t produce any runs for the Indians. Wynne allowed another pair of singles in the third but induced a ground out from Jake Lamb to end a scoreless start.

Wynne worked around five hits against to pitch three scoreless innings, walking none and striking out three to extend his season-opening shutout streak to 14 innings. Indianapolis starter Wily Peralta was equally as effective, pitching three scoreless frames with three strikeouts.

Making his first relief outing of the year, Christian Roa matched Wynne’s efficiency. A two-out single didn’t affect Roa in the fourth. In the fifth, Roa struck out Gilberto Celestino as Ji Hwan Bae was caught stealing second base for an inning-ending double play.

The Louisville offense played good fundamental baseball to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Hernan Perez got it started with a sharp single to left off Isaac Mattson (L, 0-1). Erik Gonzalez followed with a broken bat blooper that fell for an infield single. Blake Dunn laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. Livan Soto cashed in by lifting a sacrifice fly to center, plating Perez to open the scoring.

With two on and two out in the sixth, Billy McKinney hit a hard line drive down the first base line in a bid to tie the game. However, it was right to Bats first baseman P.J. Higgins, who made the catch and preserved the one-run lead. Roa (W, 1-0) would earn the win with three scoreless relief innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out two.

Rehabbing Cincinnati Reds southpaw Alex Young needed just four pitches to set the Indians down in order in the seventh. The Bats doubled the lead in the bottom half. Perez started it with a single but was stuck on first with two outs. Then, Soto lifted a fly ball that fell in shallow left for a single. Soto looked to stretch it to second for a double, drawing a throw to second from Bae in left field. On the throw to second, Perez dashed for the plate and scored while Soto safely returned to first.

Brooks Kriske was dominant in the eighth, striking out the side to maintain the 2-0 lead. In the bottom half, Nick Martini blasted a solo home run to right, his second in as many days, to put the game out of reach at 3-0.

Tony Santillan (S, 8) struck out a pair in a clean ninth to finish the shutout win and earn his International League-leading eighth save of the season. The shutout is the Bats’ first in a nine-inning game this season and second overall. Both shutouts have been in games started by Wynne.

Offensively, Perez went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Martini was 2-for-4 with the home run in the victory. As a pitching staff, the Bats combined for 10 strikeouts and two walks against while the relief trio of Young, Kriske, and Santillan retired all nine hitters they faced.

The Bats (19-18) and Indians (17-17) continue their series on Saturday night. First pitch at Louisville Slugger Field is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.