Bats Sunk by Valencia Cycle in 9-4 Loss to Toledo
IL Louisville Bats

Bats Sunk by Valencia Cycle in 9-4 Loss to Toledo

August 7, 2025 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release


LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - The Louisville Bats dropped the third game of the series with the Toledo Mud Hens, losing 9-4 on Thursday night at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats fell to the Mud Hens for the 15th consecutive time, a streak that dates back to last season.

Eduardo Valencia grabbed four RBI while hitting for the cycle, the fifth against the Bats since 2005. He is the second player this season to hit for the cycle against the Bats after Drew Waters on April 2 in Omaha.

The Bats started the game better than it ended. They got rolling right out of the gate. The pair of talented 21-year-old youngsters led the charge. Hector Rodriguez and Sal Stewart, both top 10 prospects in the Reds organization, came into the game hitting combined .315 since getting called up to Louisville after the All-Star break, and started the game with back-to-back singles. Two hitters later, Rece Hinds hit a sacrifice fly into center field that scored Rodriguez and gave the Bats an early 1-0 advantage.

The Mud Hens responded rapidly in the second inning. Louisville starter Adam Plutko (L, 4-6) gave up a triple to Valencia that scored a run. He also surrendered a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to give the Mud Hens a 3-1 lead after the inning.

This season, the Bats have struggled to keep the ball in the yard. Entering play on Thursday night, they allowed 149 home runs in 110 games, the third most in all of Minor League Baseball. The trend continued as Gage Workman and Valencia hit back-to-back solo shots in the fourth frame to make the score 5-1, the third time in this series that Toledo went back-to-back.

Louisville struggled to find hits off Toledo starter Troy Watson. After the first inning, the Bats only knocked one hit in the next five frames. RJ Petit came in to relieve Watson in the fifth inning and also prevented the Bats from getting a hit.

Plutko came out after five innings. Reliever Lyon Richardson entered and could not make it out of the sixth as he surrendered three walks and gave up two runs. Connor Phillips came on with the bases loaded and got a big strikeout to stop the bleeding, with the Bats trailing 7-1.

Drew Sommers (W, 2-0) came in to pitch for Toledo for the second day in a row, but the Bats still could not find a hit. In the top of the seventh, Trei Cruz gave the Mud Hens their third home run of the night and increased the lead to seven with the solo shot.

In the bottom of the seventh, Christian Encarnacion-Strand gave the offense a jolt with a one-out double. Ryan Vilade followed up with a ball blasted to left field for a two-run home run but the Bats still trailed 8-3 after the inning.

In the eighth, Valencia completed the cycle with an RBI single on his fourth at-bat. He made the score 9-3, to the delight teammates in the Toledo dugout, who were able to keep the ball with which Valencia finished the cycle.

Lenny Torres Jr. threw a scoreless eighth, and backup catcher Eric Yang came on to pitch the ninth. He also threw a scoreless inning, his third clean inning of the season. Vilade homered again in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough to mount a comeback.

Vilade ended the night going 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. He was the only Bat with multiple hits.

The Bats (48-63, 16-20 second half) will meet the Mud Hens (60-51, 21-15 second half) for game four of the series on Friday night. First pitch will be at 7:15 p.m. with Nick Curran and Jim Kelch on the call on Sports Talk 790.

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