Sims Shines, Leads Bats to 3-1 Win
May 7, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Louisville Bats News Release
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville Bats (14-18) defeated the Syracuse Mets (17-14) by a score of 3-1 in the first game of a three-game series at Louisville Slugger Field. The win was the first nine-inning game at home finishing in under two hours since May 16, 2016.
After a quiet first inning for both teams, Juan Graterol started off the scoring with an RBI-triple in the bottom of the second, the first three-bagger of his career. The Bats extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth, with Phillip Ervin scoring Christian Colon on an RBI-double and Rob Refsynder later scoring Ervin with another RBI-double.
Neither team could muster a run for the next two innings until former MLB All-Star Carlos Gomez hit a line-drive home run off Sims, who at the time had only allowed one hit in the last seventeen at-bats. Both teams would go scoreles for the remainder of the game. Sal Romano would pitch a scoreless eighth, and Anthony Bass would get two outs before giving up a single to Gomez, who would proceed to steal second and third. But with longtime Washington Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa up to bat, Bass remained calm and forced a groundout to end the game.
Sims (2-0, 4.45) logged 7.0 innings, the deepest he has gone into a game this season. The only run he gave up came on the Gomez homer, and he surrendered only three hits and two walks to go along with seven strikeouts. Sims and Sunday's starter against Indianapolis Odrisamer Despaigne are the first Bats starters to go at least seven innings in back-to-back games since Cody Reed and Robert Stephenson on July 28-29, 2018.
The Bats stay in Louisville for the second game of a three-game set versus the Mets. First pitch on Wednesday is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., with right-hander Keury Mella (1-2, 5.46) set to take the mound for the Bats. Left-hander Hector Santiago (1-1, 4.20) is expected to toe the rubber for Syracuse.
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