Bats Can't Make Up Ground In 9-6 Loss

Each time the Louisville Bats attempted to claw back into Thursday’s game, the Indianapolis Indians responded to widen their lead and eventually hand the Bats a 9-6 loss in front of 5,010 at Louisville Slugger Field.

Louisville starter Brett Kennedy retired the first six hitters he faced before running into trouble in the third. Two singles set the table for Ji Hwan Bae, who connected on a three-run home run to left-center to open the scoring.

Indians righty Geronimo Franzua held the Bats off the board for three scoreless innings before turning it over to the bullpen. The Bats came to life in the fourth against Indianapolis reliever Connor Sadzeck. Rece Hinds began the inning with a double off the right field wall. Two hitters later, Edwin Rios singled to right, bringing in Hinds to get Louisville on the board. P.J. Higgins followed with a double to put two on, and a wild pitch allowed Rios to score and make it 3-2 after four.

Andres Alvarez got the pair of runs right back for Louisville in the fifth, lining a double to right to increase the lead to 5-2. Kennedy (L, 1-4) would wind up with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits with three strikeouts over five innings.

Louisville got a little closer in the bottom of the fifth when Blake Dunn singled, stole second for his team-leading sixth steal of the season, and came home on Livan Soto’s RBI double.

Justin Bruihl was first out of the Louisville bullpen in the sixth and struggled, giving up three runs as the Indians looked to pull away. Louisville again got a little closer. Peyton Burdick crushed his eighth home run of the season and fourth with the Bats, a 416-foot two-run shot to left, to make it an 8-5 game in the seventh.

Yosver Zulueta was next into the game from the Louisville bullpen and gave up one run over two innings. Making his season debut for the Bats, Nick Martini got the home team one run back in the bottom of the eighth with a long solo home run to right, cutting the Bats’ deficit to 9-6.

Spencer Stockton held the Indians scoreless in the ninth. But the Bats could do little against Indianapolis closer Brent Honeywell (S, 3), going quietly in the ninth to suffer their first loss of the series.

Burdick, Dunn, and Hinds each recorded a pair of hits in the loss for the Bats, who fell back to .500 with the loss at 18-18 through the season’s first 36 games.

For Indianapolis, reliever Brady Feigl (W, 4-1) earned the win, allowing two runs over 2.2 innings with three strikeouts. Bae led the way from the top of the order with five RBI.

The Bats (18-18) and Indians (17-16) continue their series on Friday 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.