The Louisville Bats faced familiar struggles on Tuesday night in their 10-2 series-opening defeat with the Iowa Cubs at Louisville Slugger Field. Louisville’s pitching staff allowed four home runs in the game, while the Bats' offense was held scoreless until the sixth inning.
Darren McCaughan (L, 5-4) took the bump for the 13th start this season, but let up a quick run after walking the leadoff man and Owen Miller plating the first run on an RBI double. BJ Murray then smashed a ball that just stayed fair down the right field line, giving the I-Cubs a 3-0 lead. McCaughan allowed a single, but then forced a ground ball double play to escape the inning.
Murray’s home run is now the 15th home run given up by the Louisville Bats in the first inning, which continues to be the most in the International League. The three runs scored by Iowa add to the Bats’ struggles in the first frame, where Louisville has given up at least one run in 19 games.
McCaughan remained steady through the next two innings, while the Bats' offense managed just two hits. He started to lose some command in the fourth, giving up a single and a double with one out in the top half. That proved to be the case just a batter later, as Christian Bethancourt flew a three-run home run over left field to further Iowa’s lead.
A subsequent single led to McCaughan being pulled in place of Hagen Danner. Danner recorded a swift out, but gave up an RBI single to surrender another run and allow the Cubs to walk out of the inning with a 7-0 advantage. McCaughan’s outing officially ended at 3.1 innings, during which he gave up seven runs on six hits with a walk and zero strikeouts.
The rout continued in the fifth, when Danner’s walk on the leadoff batter led to another two-run home run over the right field wall, this time from Chas McCormick. Iowa kept hammering towards right field following the big fly, but Hector Rodriguez flashed solid defense and recorded all three outs to keep the score at 9-0.
With two outs in the sixth, Dominic Pitelli broke a hitting drought with a double. TJ Friedl earned a walk to show the first sign of peril from the offense, but a quick lineout from Ivan Johnson snuffed the effort out immediately.
However, the Bats finally got on the board in the seventh, set up by a Rodriguez hit-by-pitch and a Francisco Urbaez double. Michael Chavis was credited with an RBI on a sacrifice fly, which allowed Rodriguez to jog home after standing on third. Will Banfield brought another run home after a high-flyer fell in no man’s land in the outfield, despite a diving effort from James Triantos in left. Pitelli walked to load the bases, but Friedl went down looking to keep the score at 9-2.
Luis Mey earned a quick strikeout, but then yielded a run right back after Jonathan Long lasered a homer over the center field wall, extending the Cubs’ lead to 10-2. A few defensive blunders helped Iowa load the bases with two outs, but Mey fanned Justin Dean to strike out the side.
Garrett Hampson made his first appearance as a relief pitcher in the ninth after Anthony Misiewicz tossed a scoreless eighth. Hampson held down the fort, throwing a scoreless ninth in his first Minor League pitching appearance. Combined with two previous outings in the MLB, he has yet to give up a run.
Pitelli and Johnson each walked with one out in the ninth, but that’s all Louisville could gather in the final frame. The Bats managed six hits, each recorded by a different player, while former Reds farmhand Christian Roa (W, 1-0) earned the win in his first game against his former team.
The Louisville Bats (33-30) continue their six-game series against the Iowa Cubs (26-36) on Wednesday evening. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET at Louisville Slugger Field. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for Sports Talk 790 AM.