The Louisville Bats let an early lead slip against the Toledo Mud Hens on Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Field, falling 4-2 and concluding a troubling two-city road trip.
Ivan Johnson got the action started from the leadoff spot, driving the game’s first pitch over the left field wall for his 10th home run of the season. Later in the inning, Michael Toglia walked, and Michael Chavis doubled to put runners on second and third with two outs. A ground out by Francisco Urbaez ended the inning before the Bats could pad their early 1-0 advantage.
On the mound for Louisville, Jaren Lyons (L, 1-2) made his first Triple-A start of the season in his fifth Bats appearance. Lyons loaded the bases in the first before recording an out, but tight-roped his way out of trouble by inducing a pop out and inning-ending double play to keep the Mud Hens off the board.
Carlos Jorge put his speed on display with an inside-the-park home run in the second inning. He hit a full-count pitch over Javier Baez’s head in center field, running hard out of the box as the ball ricocheted off the outfield wall. Jorge was halfway down the third base line before the relay throw entered the infield, sliding headfirst across home plate for his second round-tripper of the season.
For the Bats, Jorge’s inside-the-park homer was the team’s third of the season. It is the first time since at least 2000 that Louisville collected three inside-the-park home runs in a single campaign.
Toledo led off the bottom of the second with a single, but Lyons and Will Banfield pieced together a strikeout-throw-out double play to record another scoreless frame.
The Mud Hens successfully drove in a run the following inning, after Max Anderson doubled and later came across to score on an RBI single from Corey Julks. Toledo was 90 feet from tying the game with two away, but an excellent defensive play by Lyons on a soft ground ball in front of the pitcher’s mound allowed the Bats to maintain a 2-1 lead.
Urbaez collected his 16th double of the season in the top of the fourth but later ran into a fielder’s choice between second and third.
In the bottom of the inning, Lyons was a batter away from his first clean inning until Andrew Navigato singled through the infield to keep the frame alive. The next batter, Gage Workman, singled on a ground ball into shallow center field, not spelling trouble until a misplay by an oncoming Jorge. The Mud Hens run scored on the error to tie the game at 2-2.
After a quiet inning from the Bats offense, Toledo once again pieced together two-out magic, sparked by consecutive singles that placed runners on the corners. Tyler Gentry followed with a soft grounder up the third base line that could not be fielded on time by a charging Chavis, providing the Mud Hens a 3-2 lead.
The hit signaled the end of Lyons’ afternoon, an outing that saw him permit 10 hits and three walks. He struck out two and couldn’t limit traffic across 4.2 innings; two of Toledo’s three runs were earned.
For the third straight inning, Toledo scored on a two-out rally in the sixth. Anthony Misiewicz remained on the mound after recording the final out of the fifth, collecting two quick outs before allowing back-to-back singles from Baez and Anderson. The Bats called upon Zach Maxwell in relief before Eduardo Valencia singled on the first pitch he saw from the righty, extending the Mud Hens lead to 4-2.
P.J. Higgins collected his team’s first base hit since the fourth inning with a single in the seventh, but a Banfield ground ball double play ended the inning and kept the Bats offense quiet.
The Mud Hens put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth with Hunter Parks on the mound. Parks walked the bases loaded before surrendering a grand slam to Toledo’s cleanup hitter, Valencia. Later in the inning, a two-run shot by Gentry padded the already large lead, providing the eventual final score of 10-2.
Toglia doubled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, but the Bats couldn’t bring him in to score. Louisville’s offense was held scoreless following Jorge’s second inning inside-the-park homer, scattering six hits in a losing effort.
The Bats (48-52, 9-18 second half) head home to begin a six-game series against the Indianapolis Indians (48-54, 17-10 second half) on Tuesday evening. First pitch from Louisville Slugger Field is set for 6:35 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for Sports Talk 790AM.