The Louisville Bats lost their third consecutive one-run game to the Nashville Sounds on Thursday night, 7-6 at First Horizon Park.
Rehabbing reliever Graham Ashcraft was tabbed as the starter on Thursday night and struck out two over a scoreless opening frame. Louisville’s offense went down quietly in the first but roared back in the second.
In his 58th game with the Bats, Dominic Pitelli hit his first Triple-A homer. The 352-foot three-run shot gave Louisville a 3-0 lead in the second.
Kent Emanuel came in relief of Ashcraft in the second and struggled out the game. The lead was cut quickly after Brandon Lockridge singled home two in the bottom of the inning. Emanuel was able to stop the bleeding, but it took 36 pitches to preserve the 3-2 Bats lead.
Tensions rose in the fourth when Sounds reliever Brandon Sproat picked off Garret Hampson. Louisville first-base coach Peterson Plaz took exception to the close call and argued with first-base umpire Evin Johnson, who promptly tossed him from the game.
Louisville’s offense returned to form an inning later, when Leo Balcazar’s leadoff walk scored as Noelvi Marte hit into a fielder's choice. Two batters later, Louisville’s new shortstop, Orlando Arica, smashed a two-run homer down the left-field line. Arcia’s first hit as a Bat was crushed at 105.1 MPH, which increased the Bats' lead to 6-2.
Emanuel settled in after his rocky first inning of work but finally buckled again in the sixth. He recorded the first two outs in just six pitches but allowed a single then allowed an RBI double after a 12-pitch at-bat that ended his evening.
Zach McCambley entered and surrendered an RBI single to inch the Sounds closer to 6-4 before he recorded the final out of the inning. Emanuel allowed four runs, two earned, on seven hits and struck out two over 4.2 innings of work.
McCambley came back out in the seventh and let the lead slip away. He allowed a single and a walk before Akil Baddoo crushed a three-run homer to give Nashville the 7-6 lead.
Hunter Parks entered in the eighth and threw a shutout inning, but the Bats' offense was unable to battle back in the ninth and fell 7-6.
Will Benson and Noelvi Marte each had two-hit games. McCambley suffered just his first blown save with Louisville this season. Thursday night was his first time allowing more than one run in a game since July 2 against Columbus.
The Bats will take on the Sounds again at 7:35 p.m. EST on Friday night at First Horizon Park. Rehabbing starter Carson Spiers (0-1, 12.46) will face off against Tyson Hardin (4-4, 4.86) for Nashville. Nick Curran will have the call on Sports Talk 790.