The Louisville Bats bested the Columbus Clippers 3-1 in a low-scoring affair under the lights at Huntington Park on Friday night in Columbus.
In his first Triple-A appearance since 2024, Jose Acuna failed to help himself early. He threw his first eight pitches out of the strike zone to walk the first two batters. The next batter, Clippers’ second baseman Juan Brito, roped a 3-2 slider down the right field line, which scored a run and gave Columbus an early 1-0 lead.
Acuna proceeded to walk the next batter to load the bases with none out for Bo Naylor. He worked out of the jam with a strikeout and back-to-back fly outs on consecutive pitches to strand the bases loaded.
Command was a problem again for Acuna in the second inning. He walked the first batter, who then stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw from catcher Dayne Leonard. For the second consecutive inning, Acuna wiggled out of trouble by inducing two pop outs to end the threat.
Louisville finally created some drama offensively in the third. Leonard and Carlos Jorge singled to put men on the corners with one out. Jorge stole second base before Sam Haggerty grounded out, which scored Leonard to tie the game at one.
With two outs, Hector Rodriguez crushed a ball 111 miles per hour off the bat and 370 feet to right center field, which crashed off the wall and straight back to the Columbus center fielder. It was hit so hard it held Rodriguez at first base but scored Jorge to give the Bats a 2-1 lead.
Acuna (W, 1-0) cruised through his final four innings of work, walking just two batters but still facing the minimum over those innings, thanks to Leonard. In the fourth, Leonard threw Milan Tolentino out trying to steal second to end the inning. In the sixth, Brito tried his luck but to no avail as Leonard threw him out trying to steal second for the final out of the frame.
Leonard is now the first Louisville catcher to throw out two runners in a game this season.
After an incredibly shaky first inning, Acuna left the game with a quality start. He earned his first Triple-A win after allowing just one run on one hit, walked six, and struck out four batters over 6.0 innings before giving way to Luis Mey in the seventh.
Mey was rudely greeted by CJ Kayfus, who hit a first-pitch sinker for a double to lead off the seventh inning. He walked a batter later in the frame but worked out of the jam and left the game unscathed.
Unfortunately for the Bats, the Clippers' pitching was just as dominant as theirs. Louisville failed to record another base runner
until P.J. Higgins walked in the seventh but failed to score.
In the eighth, Hagen Danner recorded the first two outs before he flirted with disaster. He allowed a single to Ralphy Velazquez and
walked Naylor. Bats skipper Pat Kelly wasted no time bringing in Anthony Misiewicz, who struck out Kayfus to end the inning and preserve the one-run lead.
Haggerty singled with one out in the ninth inning to record Louisville’s first hit since the third, and his first since June 27th.
He was promptly picked off by Trevor Stephan while attempting to steal second base before the pitch was delivered. The next pitch was walloped by Rodriguez, 113 mph off the bat and 423 feet to right field for a solo shot, his 19th homer of the season. The moonshot doubled the Bats' lead to 3-1.
Hunter Parks (S, 3) worked around a double in the ninth inning to provide a scoreless frame and notch his third Triple-A save this season, and secure the Bats' win, evening the six-game series at two games apiece.
The Bats (43-39, 4-5 second half) will take on the Clippers (46-38, 5-5 second half) again on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. for a Fourth of July special. Nick Curran will have the call on Sports Talk 790.