Brilliant Buchanan Leads Bats To Season-Ending 6-0 Win
The Louisville Bats took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, getting a dominant performance on the mound from David Buchanan in long relief to defeat the Omaha Storm Chasers 6-0 in the season finale on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field. In the longest outing by a Bats reliever this
The Louisville Bats took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, getting a dominant performance on the mound from David Buchanan in long relief to defeat the Omaha Storm Chasers 6-0 in the season finale on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
In the longest outing by a Bats reliever this season, Buchanan (W, 1-2) pitched the final eight innings for the longest relief outing by a Bat all season, giving up just one hit while walking two and striking out three to earn his first Louisville win and end his season on a high note.
Making the start as part of his Major League rehab assignment, Cincinnati Reds righty Ian Gibaut worked a scoreless top of the first, stranding a runner on third. In his second start of the week, Omaha southpaw Tyson Guerrero would not be as fortunate.
Tyler Callihan got the bottom of the first started with a walk. Nick Martini then lined a double into the corner in right, allowing Callihan to hustle all the way around for the first run of the afternoon. A ground out would move Martini to third, and Edwin Rios brought him home with an RBI single to right for an early 2-0 Bats lead.
Buchanan entered for Louisville in the top of the second and was powerful for the duration of his time on the mound. He worked around a walk and got some good defense, as third baseman P.J. Higgins snagged a 105.7 mile per hour line drive from Austin Nola to end the inning.
Leading off the third, Callihan again walked, and this time stole second to get into scoring position. Martini drove him in for the second time with a ground ball single up the middle, making it 3-0 Bats. Two hitters later, Rios annihilated a monstrous two-run homer 440 feet over the Humana Cabana in right, his team-leading 22nd home run of the season to make it 5-0.
From there, Buchanan was the star of the show. He pitched around a one-out walk in a clean fourth, retired the side in order in the fifth, and induced an inning-ending double play to erase a hit batter in the sixth.
In the seventh, Buchanan continued with a fly out and a ground out for the first two outs. Then, Tyler Tolbert lined a solid single to center for the first Storm Chasers hit of the game, ending the Bats’ no-hit bid seven outs shy of history. Buchanan ended the inning with a strikeout of Nola.
Buchanan shut the Strom Chasers down in order in the eighth, and the Bats would plate one final run on an RBI single from Eric Yang to make it 6-0. In the ninth, Buchanan set the Storm Chasers down in order again, ending the game on a diving play from shortstop Davis Wendzel to wrap up the Bats’ fifth shutout of the season.
Rios paced the Louisville offense by going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. He finishes as the Bats team leader in home runs with 22 and RBI with 70. Martini went 2-for-4 with two RBI while Callihan scored twice in the season-ending win. The one-hitter is the ninth one-inning one-hitter in Louisville franchise history and the first since August 26, 2015 at Indianapolis. With the win, the Bats finish the regular season with a 67-82 record, including a strong 39-34 record at home at Louisville Slugger Field.
Bats baseball returns in 2025, with Opening Day at Louisville Slugger Field scheduled for Friday, March 28 against the Memphis Redbirds.