The Louisville Bats came on the wrong side of a back-and-forth affair, dropping Saturday night bid 7-4 against the Indianapolis Indians at Louisville Slugger Field.
Ben Wereski made the start for Louisville tonight in his Triple-A debut after just three previous starts in the Reds’ organization this season, all with Double-A Chattanooga. However, despite recording his first career Triple-A strikeout, he allowed a quick 1-0 lead to Indianapolis after giving up a double to Termarr Johnson and a sacrifice fly following a stolen base by Johnson. With their early lead, it marked the third straight game Indianapolis has scored in the first inning.
Carlos Jorge extended his hitting streak to eight games quickly, notching a single in the bottom of the first. He later stole second, but a sharp lineout by Will Benson with two outs eliminated a chance at scoring.
Wereski settled more into his start in the second inning, retiring the last two batters of a clean inning via strikeout. After an empty bottom half for the Bats, Wereski returned to his early dominance, forcing a double-play ground out and striking out another batter for a quick third.
Louisville gathered some momentum to begin the bottom frame, but not without some repercussions. After Dominic Pitelli walked and stole second to lead off, Jorge placed a perfect bunt down the third base line for a hit and moved Pitelli to third. However, after running out the single, Jorge showed immediate discomfort and was pulled from the game after conversations with the athletic trainer and Pat Kelly.
That momentum dwindled as the inning continued. Edwin Arroyo chopped a ground ball to the first baseman, who threw out Pitelli to cut down the scoring chance. A fly out and a strikeout quickly got the Indians out of the inning with their lead intact.
Regardless of any potential frustrations, Wereski continued his impressive debut on the mound and tossed another clean inning with his fifth strikeout of the night in the fourth. With Jorge out of the game with the Bats’ two hits, Louisville struggled to get any offense going in a 1-2-3 fourth.
Wereski gathered two outs in the top of the sixth, but his clean stretch ended after Ronny Simon rocketed a solo home run to put the Indians up 2-0. After Wereski loaded the bases with two walks and a single, Kelly relieved him for Anthony Misiewicz, who recorded a strikeout to end the inning. Wereski finished his debut through 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
Louisville fell out of the hitting slump in the bottom frame, finally tacking on their first runs in the process. Singles by Benson and Hector Rodriguez put two runners on with two outs, and Michael Chavis gathered his 62nd RBI of the year with a single to put the Bats on the board. A fielding error on the Chavis hit brought two runners into scoring position, giving way for Austin Hendrick to provide a clutch moment, lining a single into center field to put the Bats ahead, 3-2.
Regardless, Indianapolis wasn’t ready to give the game away that easily. With Misiewicz on the mound, the Indians gathered two singles and a walk to load the bases before Cameron Cotter entered the game for the Bats. Cotter battled back from a 3-0 count to fill it up, but Johnathan Rodriguez shot a single up the middle to reclaim the lead for Indy, 4-3.
The Bats went down empty in the eighth, but Cotter kept the Indians limited with a clean top of the eighth. Michael Toglia took advantage in the bottom frame, slugging his 20th home run of the year to tie the game up at four runs apiece.
Once again, the Indians quickly responded to the Bats’ punches, as Simon brought a run home in the top of the ninth with Johnathan Lavallee (L, 0-2) on the bump. With no outs in the inning and two runners still on, Lavallee gave up another RBI single to Rodriguez. A sacrifice fly got the first out of the inning, but brought another run home for the away squad. A strikeout and fly out ended the ninth, giving Indianapolis a 7-4 advantage heading into the bottom half.
A quick 1-2-3 bottom saw the Bats lose their third straight game, and hand Indianapolis the series win. Despite leaving in the third inning, Jorge gathered the only multi-hit performance on the night for Louisville. Toglia also extended his active on-base streak to 21 games, marking the third-highest streak by a Bat this season.
The Bats (49-56) wrap up their series against the Indianapolis Indians (52-55) on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET at Louisville Slugger Field. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will have the call on Sports Talk 790.