Bats Pitching Unravels in 10-5 Loss at Toledo
May 27, 2025 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release
TOLEDO, Ohio - The Louisville Bats struggled to contain the Toledo Mud Hens offense from start to finish, as the Mud Hens overpowered the Bats, 10-5 in the series opener on Tuesday night. Six Louisville arms came into the game, but command issues persisted regardless of who was on the mound.
For the first time since May 6, Chase Petty (L, 1-3) got the nod for the Bats looking to get back on track after a rough stint with the Reds. The Louisville righty never settled in, though, as command issues plagued him from start to finish.
Petty walked two Mud Hens in the first frame but worked his way out of the jam unscathed. However, in the next frame he couldn't find his way out of trouble. An infield single and a walk put two Toledo runners on, and Parker Meadows brought them both home with a two-out triple. Petty's control problems never let up, ultimately leading to his early exit after 2.1 innings of work. Of the 61 pitches he threw, only 33 were strikes.
Alan Busenitz took over and got the final two outs of the frame. When he returned in the fourth, Toledo struck. After surrendering back-to-back singles to begin the inning, the Mud Hens doubled their lead with a double that split the gap.
Toledo starter Nick Margevicius (W, 2-1) kept the Bats in check through the first three innings, but in the fourth they finally showed some signs of life. After drawing a walk to start the inning, Jake Fraley got things rolling for Louisville on the basepaths. Stealing second and advancing to third on a flyout put Fraley 90 feet away, and Francisco Urbaez slapped a single to plate him. With the base knock, Urbaez extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
Finally, in the fifth, the Bats shut the Mud Hens down. Yosver Zulueta sat Toledo down 1-2-3, fanning two.
In the next half inning, Christian Encarnacion-Strand laced a one-out triple to center and scored on a Rece Hinds groundout to third. Urbaez worked a walk to bring the tying run to the plate, and Levi Jordan sent a ball deep to right, but the Mud Hens hauled it in at the warning track.
Toledo immediately answered, using a leadoff walk to spark a rally. The Mud Hens tacked on two more runs to make it 6-2.
Regardless of who was on the hill, Louisville's arms couldn't command the strike zone. Lenny Torres Jr. issued walks to the first two hitters he faced, before surrendering a double that added two more Toledo runs. The Mud Hens plated one more in the frame to make it 9-2.
With the pitching staff faltering, the game continued to slip further away from the Bats. Meanwhile, Louisville's offense had little response, failing to mount any real offensive threat to cut into Toledo's lead.
On top of that, the Mud Hens never took their foot off the gas, extending their lead further in the eighth. Albert Abreu issued two walks in the inning as Toledo commanded a 10-2 advantage.
While the Bats did put up a fight in the ninth, it was too little, too late. Jordan singled to lead off the frame and two Mud Hens errors helped Louisville plate three runs. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to offset the damage Toledo had already piled on at the plate, falling 10-5.
The Bats' offense was overshadowed by their pitching woes on Tuesday. Will Banfield led the way with two hits, and Urbaez kept his hitting streak alive.
The Bats (24-27) will look to turn it around as they continue their series with the Mud Hens (28-24) on Wednesday morning. First pitch at Fifth Third Field is set for 11:05 a.m. ET with Nick Curran on the call for Talk Radio 1080.
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