Bats' Offensive Binge Buries Stripers In 14-2 Win
Behind their biggest offensive inning of the season, a dominant night from one of their hottest young stars, and a strong all-around pitching performance, the Louisville Bats crushed the Gwinnett Stripers 14-2 in the second game of a six-game series on Wednesday night at Coolray Field. Starters Davis Daniel and
Behind their biggest offensive inning of the season, a dominant night from one of their hottest young stars, and a strong all-around pitching performance, the Louisville Bats crushed the Gwinnett Stripers 14-2 in the second game of a six-game series on Wednesday night at Coolray Field.
Starters Davis Daniel and Adam Plutko matched each other with a scoreless first. From there, the game was all Bats.
Rece Hinds got the second inning started with a single off Daniel. Ryan Vilade singled as well to put runners on the corners with one out, and Davis Wendzel plated the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right. Plutko held the one-run lead with a clean bottom of the second, and the game wouldn’t remain close after that.
In the third, the Bats offense erupted for a season-best nine runs to blow the game open. It began with back-to-back singles from Will Banfield and Hector Rodriguez. Sal Stewart’s ground rule double bounced over the right field wall and scored Rodriguez to double the lead. Will Benson’s line drive deflected off the glove of the Gwinnett first baseman and into right field for an RBI single. Edwin Rios then grounded a double that stayed fair inside the first base line, scoring two more runs to make it 5-0. Vilade kept the rally going with an RBI single to left, scoring Rios. Wendzel then hit a high fly ball that couldn’t be flagged down by the Stripers left fielder for an RBI double of his own to make it 7-0.
P.J. Higgins looked to have struck out against Daniel, as he took a high fastball for strike three. But Higgins successfully challenged the call of home plate umpire Mitch Trzeciak, turning strike three into ball one to keep the at-bat going. With fresh life, Higgins ripped the next pitch he saw into the right field corner for another RBI double, ending Daniel’s (L, 5-10) start.
Zach Thompson was called in from the Gwinnett bullpen and provided little relief. Banfield kept the runs coming with his second hit of the inning, an RBI single to right. After Thompson got the second out, Stewart capped the frame’s scoring with his second RBI double of the inning on a deep fly ball that hit the center field wall, plating the 10th Bats run of the night. When the dust finally settled on the inning, the Bats had sent 13 men to the plate, scoring nine runs on 10 hits.
Two innings later, Banfield kept his strong game going with a single and Blake Dunn became the 10th Louisville batter to record a hit with his single to right. Stewart then continued his torrid pace by launching a three-run homer to left, his sixth Triple-A home run and third extra-base hit of the night, giving the Bats a 13-0 lead.
Pitching with a huge lead, Plutko (W, 5-6) cruised through five scoreless, hitless innings, walking three and striking out five to earn his fifth win of the season.
Sam Benschoter kept the combined no-hit bid alive with a scoreless bottom of the sixth, inducing an inning-ending double play to erase a one-out walk. Lyon Richardson took over in the seventh and made a nice leaping snag to get the first out of the inning. But with two outs, Luke Waddell blooped a single into shallow right field for the first Gwinnett hit of the night, as Louisville fell seven outs short of history.
The Stripers finally got on the board against Richardson in the eighth on an RBI single from Jarred Kelenic. The Bats restored their 13-run lead in the ninth on a single from Dunn to score Vilade, who began the inning with a walk against Gwinnett infielder turned knuckleball pitcher David Fletcher. Gwinnett put a run on the board in the bottom of the ninth before Lenny Torres Jr. finished Louisville’s third straight win.
On defense, the Bats turned a season-high four double plays in the win. Offensively, all 10 players to step to the plate for Louisville recorded at least one hit and one run. Eight of the 10 Bats hitters recorded an RBI. Stewart’s huge night led the way, going 4-for-6 with two doubles, a home run, two runs, and five RBI. Banfield, a Lawrenceville native, posted a season-high three hits and three runs while Vilade also had three hits. In total, seven Louisville hitters posted two or more hits.
The Bats (51-65, 19-22 second half) and Stripers (47-68, 18-22 second half) continue their series on Thursday night at Coolray Field. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for Sports Talk 790 AM.