IL Louisville Bats

Bats Crush Clippers 16-1 Behind Phillips' Gem

July 21, 2023 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release


LOUISVILLE, KY - The Louisville Bats (50-42) cruised to a convincing 16-1 victory over the Columbus Clippers (42-50) on Friday night behind five home runs and a dazzling performance on the mound from Connor Phillips.

Phillips (1-0, 2.55 ERA) earned his first AAA win in just his fourth start with the Bats, dominating through 7.0 shutout innings while allowing only three hits and striking out a Louisville season-high 11 batters.

At the plate, TJ Hopkins went 3-for-5 with two home runs, driving in five runs and scoring three, and Stuart Fairchild went 4-6 with an RBI and two runs while finishing just a triple shy of the cycle.

After Alejo Lopez singled and subsequently stole second base in the top of the first, Matt Reynolds got the Bats on the board with an RBI triple into right center. Henry Ramos then drew a walk to get on base, and Noelvi Marte drove a sacrifice fly deep into left field to bring Reynolds home. Hopkins kept up the hot start, launching a two-run bomb into the center field seats that was immediately followed up by a solo shot from Jose Barrero to cap the five-run first inning for Louisville.

The single from Lopez extended his on-base streak to 26 consecutive games while the triple from Reynolds extended his own on-base streak to 20 straight games.

The Bats continued to pour it on, scoring four runs in the third on the strength of back-to-back home runs from Michael Siani and Fairchild. Marte and Hopkins both reached base safely to lead off the inning, setting the stage for Siani's three-run blast and Fairchild's solo homer, both of which came with two outs and put the Bats up 9-0.

After a pair of leadoff walks from Reynolds and Ramos in the sixth inning, Hopkins earned his third RBI of the evening, scoring Reynolds while reaching on a Columbus error. Barrero then drove in Ramos on a fielder's choice to put the Bats up by 11.

Fairchild poked a double down the left field line in the eighth inning for his third hit of the game, eventually scoring on a Columbus balk to make it 12-0.

The Clippers finally put a run on the board in the eighth, but the Bats responded right away with the second home run of the game for Hopkins, a two-run blast that also brought Marte around to score. Siani added to the final total with his fourth RBI of the evening, rocketing a double down the right field line to bring around Barrero from first base. Lopez knocked Siani in with an RBI single up the middle to finish out the spectacular night for the Louisville offense.

RHP Brett Kennedy (3-2, 3.40 ERA) draws the start for Louisville in tomorrow's contest while RHP Hunter Gaddis (1-6, 6.48 ERA) will get the ball for the Clippers. First pitch is slated for 7:15 p.m. ET.

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International League Stories from July 21, 2023


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