The Louisville Bats scraped out a hard-fought 5-4 win after a late-inning comeback attempt by the Indianapolis Indians that fell short on Saturday night at Victory Park.
After a quiet first inning, the Bats came alive and put up a three-spot in the second. A double by Jay Allen II scored two after Michael Chavis and Leo Balcazar reached base, and then a wacky play at second base led to an error on the third baseman Duce Gourson, allowing Allen to come home and make it a 3-0 ballgame early in favor of Louisville.
Bats starter Brandon Williamson continued his rehab stint with Louisville, allowing just two hits through the first four innings, and with runners in scoring position many times throughout the contest, Williamson would bear down and come up with clutch pitches to come away unscathed.
The Bats continued to pour on during the away half of the fifth inning, where Noelvi Marte lined a ball up the middle to score Edwin Arroyo to stretch the lead out to 4-0.
Williamson exited the game after going 4.0 innings. He gave up one run, allowed just four hits, and struck out five batters and walked four. Zach McCambley (W, 5-1) entered and had the bases loaded, where the Indians would make him pay, plating a couple of runs and cutting the lead in half to make it 4-2, Bats.
Indianapolis starter Connor Wietgrefe (L, 2-2) came out of the game after 6.1 innings that saw him give up four runs, two of which were earned, on six hits and strike out three batters.
Balcazar continued to ignite the Bats' offense, getting a single through the middle that scored another to extend the lead out to 5-2.
Darius Vines, who signed a minor league contract with the Reds on 8/19, came in for the eighth and worked a clean inning. It was his first MiLB action since 2024, when he notched a win in 6.0 innings for the Mississippi Braves.
Cam Cotter came in for the ninth, but the Indians gave Louisville a scare, putting multiple runners aboard and scoring two runs with two outs, one off of a single by Simon, and another off of a throwing error by Balcazar. Those runs caused Pat Kelly to make a late move to Hunter Parks (SV, 7), who forced a ground out and secured the win for the Bats, 5-4.
Louisville avoids being walked off in back-to-back nights and claims its third win of the series. They will look to claim their first series win since the All-Star break and have their sight set on continuing the offensive prowess they have shown this series.
The Bats (57-66, 18-32 2nd half) finish their series with the Indians (61-64, 30-20 2nd half) on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. EST at Victory Park. Nick Curran will be on the call on Sports Talk 790.