The Louisville Bats scratched and clawed out a well-fought victory over the Indianapolis Indians 5-3 after clutch at-bats by a pair of Michaels and superb late-game pitching at Louisville Slugger Field on Wednesday night.
Indy got on the board first with some small ball in the top of the second, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Jack Brannigan to put the Tribe up 1-0. They then followed that up in the third by loading up the bases, but Louisville starter Johnathan Harmon worked out of the jam, only giving up one run in that sequence, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead.
The Bats' offense found their groove in their half of the third, where Michael Chavis scored Will Benson from second, cutting into the lead, making it a 2-1 ball game.
Harmon’s day would conclude with two outs in the fifth, when Pat Kelly called on the bullpen to get Louisville out of the inning, and Zach McCambley (W, 4-1) did just that with a strikeout. The Bats’ starter posted 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four in his Louisville Slugger Field debut.
Indianapolis starter Nick Dombkowski exited the game after going 4.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits.
Louisville played a bit of small ball of their own with a new pitcher in for Indy, putting down two perfect bunts and a walk to load up the bases. With two outs in the fifth, Michael Toglia smacked his 24th double of the year, giving the Bats the lead 4-2, and extending the longest hitting streak for a Louisville player this season at 13 games.
The Indians fired right back with a run of their own to keep the game within one, making it a 4-3 game going into the seventh.
Indy threatened for a second in the seventh, but Sam Benschoter would bear down and get a clutch strikeout to strand the bases loaded and keep the Bats out in front going into the stretch.
Coming in for the eighth, Cam Cotter (S, 1) made his Louisville debut and kept things to a minimum. He worked a double play and a ground out while only surrendering two hits.
To give the Bats some insurance, Chavis went yard in the home half of the eighth, his 20th home run of the season to extend the Louisville lead to 5-3.
To add some suspense at the end of the game, the Tribe had runners at the corners with one out. Cotter’s confidence never wavered, however, as he struck out two in a row to give the Bats a much-needed victory, 5-3.
McCambley picked up the win by getting the big out in the fifth and Thomas Harrington (L, 1-6) took the loss for Indianapolis.
Chavis was the star of the game, going 3-for-4 including the homer, and Toglia made his mark with three RBI. Cotter held things down in his debut, scratching out 2.0 clean innings to keep Louisville ahead in the late stages and eanr his firs Triple-A save.
The Bats (49-53, 10-19 second half) continue their series with the Indians (49-55, 18-11 second half) Thursday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. EST at Slugger Field. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call on Sports Talk 790.