IL1 Louisville Bats

Louisville Falls in Extras to Gwinnett, 5-3

Published on June 19, 2019 under International League (IL1)
Louisville Bats News Release


LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Louisville Bats (27-43) dropped Tuesday night's series opener against the Gwinnett Stripers (38-31) at Coolray Field by a 5-3 score. Aristides Aquino extended his hitting streak to 21 games in the loss, with Louisville native Adam Duvall ending the game in the 10th inning with a walk-off homer for the Stripers.

After sitting through a rain delay that lasted one hour and 38 minutes, the Stripers got the scoring started in the bottom of the second on a damp night in the northeast Atlanta suburb. Jack Lopez singled in Rafael Ortega for the game's first run, with Ortega knocking in a run himself the next inning to make it a 2-0 Gwinnett lead.

Since the Bats have trailed in each of their last three wins, Louisville found itself in a comfortable position, with the offense not stressing and erupting to score three runs in the top of the sixth, taking a 3-2 lead. Christian Colon started the rally with a leadoff double, and was knocked in by Alex Blandino. Blandino scored on Aquino's single to tie the game, with Aquino breaking a tie with Chris Sexton for sole possession of the second-highest hit streak in Louisville franchise history, now trailing only Brandon Larson's 26-game hit streak in 2003.

Juan Graterol singled on a line drive to left field to give the Bats a lead, putting starting pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez (2-5, 7.60) in a position to get the win. The right-hander went 5.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits, walking two and striking out seven on 95 pitches, 64 strikes. The right-hander was stuck with a no-decision after Gwinnett scored a game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth to send it into extras.

A pair of Louisville players making their respective debuts for the Bats helped maintain the lead for the time being, with left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply striking out the side in the bottom of the eighth, and center fielder Jose Siri with a powerful outfield assist in the ninth, nabbing Travis Demeritte at third base to end the inning.

The Bats could not muster up a run in the top of the 10th off Gwinnett reliever Jonathan Aro (1-0, 3.65), who got the win for the Stripers after Adam Duvall led off the bottom of the frame with a leadoff, walk-off homer to give Gwinnett a 5-3 win. The Duvall homer scored Sean Kazmar Jr., who started the inning on second base due to the International League tiebreaker rules.

Louisville and Gwinnett are set to continue their three-game series on Wednesday night with another 7:05 first pitch as the Bats try to win their first game at Coolray Field since 2016. Right-hander Tejay Antone will make his 2019 Bats debut, set to oppose Gwinnett righty Patrick Weigel (0-0, 2.53).

Check out the Louisville Bats Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from June 19, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central