Bats Fall 6-3 in Game Two vs. Gwinnett
August 21, 2024 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - The Louisville Bats showed life late with three eighth inning runs but ultimately fell 6-0 to the Gwinnett Stripers in the second game of the series at Louisville Slugger Field.
Rece Hinds had the only extra-base hit for the Bats with a two-RBI double and Ivan Johnson added an RBI single to account for all three of Louisville's runs.
Connor Phillips, in his first start with the Bats in over two months, found himself in trouble right out of the gate. After two walks and a single, the Stripers had the bases loaded with two outs for Luke Waddell, but Phillips forced the Gwinnett shortstop to fly out to end the threat.
Stripers starter AJ Smith-Shawver (W, 2-5) posted consecutive zeros to begin his day, and Phillips (L, 2-7) added a zero to his ledger in the second before Gwinnett got on the board in the third. Two singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with no outs, and Chadwick Tromp took advantage with an RBI walk that gave the Stripers a 1-0 lead.
Bats manager Pat Kelly called on Justus Sheffield to get Louisville out of the jam and he did so marvelously. Using two strikeouts and a flyout, the lefty reliever set down all three hitters he faced without allowing another run to score in the frame.
It was a quiet next few innings, with Sheffield and Smith-Shawver both cruising through the opposing lineups. The Stripers went back to work in the top of the sixth and used back-to-back perfectly executed double steals to push two more runs across the plate, increasing their advantage to 3-0.
After Louisville went down in order in the home half of the sixth, Gwinnett kept their foot on the gas in the seventh. Using three walks and a hit-by-pitch, the Stripers added another run, then added two more on a Bats error and a sacrifice fly to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Bats finally scratched across three runs in the frame against Stripers reliever Dylan Dodd. Erik González and Blake Dunn both singled to set up Johnson, who also tallied a single to score González. Hinds then followed with a two-RBI double down the right field line, scoring both Dunn and Johnson to cut the Bats deficit in half at 6-3.
Evan Kravetz pitched a scoreless ninth to give Louisville a chance at the plate, but the Bats couldn't take advantage of a Joey Wiemer leadoff single as the home team lost by a score of 6-3 to Gwinnett on Wednesday night.
The Bats (57-63, 19-27 second half) continue the series with the Stripers (60-62, 25-22 second half) on Thursday night, with first pitch at Louisville Slugger Field set for 6:35 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.
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