Bats Fail to Break Through, Drop Opener to Saints
July 18, 2025 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - The Louisville Bats fell in the opener of their three-game set with the St. Paul Saints, 3-1. The Bats tallied nine hits but were unable to capitalize, failing to record a hit with runners in scoring position as they left eight runners on base.
Reds number three prospect Sal Stewart and number 11 prospect Hector Rodriguez made their Triple-A debuts this evening. Stewart poked a single into right field to lead off the bottom of the second for his first hit at the Triple-A level. He proceeded to swipe second base and move to third on a groundout, but Blake Dunn struck out to strand Stewart at third as the inning came to a close.
Chase Petty (L, 2-7) got the ball for Louisville tonight, making his sixth start at Louisville Slugger Field. He entered tonight with a 1.13 in 32 innings this season at home. Petty threw five strong innings, blemished only by a two-run homer in the fourth inning by Carson McCusker that put St. Paul up 2-0.
Will Banfield got one back for the Bats in the bottom of the fifth, launching his second home run of the season to center field off Saints reliever Darren McCaughan (W, 5-3) to cut the deficit in half. Dunn followed it up with a base knock into right field, extending his on-base streak to an impressive 35 games, tied for the longest streak in the International League this season. Louisville couldn't bring him home as the tying run.
Connor Phillips took over for the Bats in the sixth, striking out a pair while facing the minimum in his only inning of work. Louisville then turned to newly acquired Buck Farmer, returning to the Bats after making 20 appearances with the team during the 2022 season. Farmer worked a scoreless seventh, as the home crowd stood to stretch under the Friday night lights.
Louisville went down in order in the bottom of the frame, as Joe La Sorsa came on in the top of the eighth. The southpaw surrendered a one-out double to Austin Martin but avoided any further damage, keeping the Bats within a run.
Dunn led off the bottom of the eighth with his second hit of the night, but Hector Rodriguez and Francisco Urbaez made two quick outs. Edwin Rios pulled a single through the right side, moving Dunn to third as the game-tying run. Rece Hinds walked to load the bases, bringing up Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who struck out to end the inning.
St. Paul added an insurance run off Zach Maxwell in the top of the ninth, making it 3-1 as the Bats stood in for a final chance at the plate.
Kody Funderburk (S, 2) took the hill for the Saints, looking to close out the game. He did just that, working around an error to finish off the Bats in the ninth.
The Bats (40-54, 8-11 second half) will continue their series with the Saints (43-49, 10-9 second half) with game two on Saturday night, looking to even the series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET with Nick Curran and Jim Kelch on the call for Sports Talk 790.
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