IL Louisville Bats

Marte Blasts First Homer as Bats Fall 11-6 to Columbus

Published on July 20, 2023 under International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release


LOUISVILLE, KY - The Louisville Bats (49-42) were unable to complete the comeback, falling 11-6 to the Columbus Clippers (42-49) on Thursday night.

Despite the loss, Noelvi Marte provided some offensive fireworks in the seventh inning, recording his first Triple-A home run on a ball that left the stadium and traveled an estimated 464 feet. The Reds' No. 2 prospect went 1-for-2 at the plate, tallying two RBIs and scoring a pair of runs while drawing three walks.

Jose Barrero went 3-for-5 on the evening with an RBI while Alejo Lopez extended his on-base streak to 25 consecutive games with a two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning. The streak is the longest of the season for a Bat and makes him the sixth Louisville player to boast an on-base streak of at least 25 games since 2008.

[Box Score]

The Bats drew four walks within the first five hitters of the game, taking an early 1-0 lead when Marte's free pass brought Stuart Fairchild in to score.

Columbus had the immediate answer, pouring on five runs in the top of the second inning before adding three more in the third to jump out to an 8-1 advantage.

The Bats struck back in the fifth with four runs to cut the deficit down to 8-5. Matt Reynolds led the inning off with his team-leading 26th double of the year, eventually scoring off a Jason Vosler RBI single through the right side of the infield. Barrero followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in Marte from third, who had drawn a walk earlier in the inning. Chuckie Robinson was hit by a pitch to set up Lopez, who knocked in both Vosler and Robinson to continue his on-base streak.

The Clippers tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach for the Bats, despite Marte's solo shot to lead off the home half of the same inning.

Ryan Nutof (3-1, 4.81 ERA), Silvino Bracho (1-1, 3.82 ERA), and Tony Santillan (0-1, 5.73 ERA) all turned in scoreless outings in relief, with Nutof and Bracho allowing only one hit apiece. Nutof went 2.0 innings and striking out two, Bracho threw 1.2 innings and struck out three, and Santillan struck out a pair in 1.0 inning of work.

Tomorrow's game will kick off at 7:15 p.m. ET with RHP Connor Phillips (0-0, 4.22 ERA) slated to take the mound for the Bats while lefty Joey Cantillo (2-1, 4.10 ERA) will get the ball for the Clippers.

Check out the Louisville Bats Statistics

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



International League Stories from July 20, 2023


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