The Louisville Bats dropped their fourth straight game Friday night 4-1 to the Rochester Red Wings. Chad Reineke once again pitched well enough to deserve the win but fell victim to another dismal performance by the Bats’ offense, which went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. The game was played before 12,330 fans on Southern Indiana Night at Louisville Slugger Field.
After working out of trouble in the first, Reineke gave up a two-run home run to Wilkin Ramirez in the second to put the Red Wings on the board. It was Ramirez’s third homer of the year.
Reineke then settled in and retired 18 of the next 22 Red Wings he faced. Reineke completed the seventh inning for the third time this season while lowering his earned run average to 4.14.
“It doesn’t get much better than that from a starter,” Bats manager David Bell said. “Chad pitched a good game; he’s been doing that consistently all year.”
The Red Wings extended their lead in the eighth off of rehabbing Bill Bray. With two outs in the inning, Bray walked Danny Valencia, gave up a ground rule double to Matt Carson, and a two-run single to Sean Burroughs, lengthening the Wings lead to 4-0.
Louisville’s offense struggled all night against Red Wings starter Cole De Vries. De Vries frustrated Bats hitters through seven shutout innings, giving up just five hits, walking one and striking out four.
After going in order in the first two innings, the Bats had at least one base runner in every inning. The Bats finally broke through in the eighth against Red Wings reliever Tyler Robertson on an RBI single from Dioner Navarro. That was all the Bats could muster as they fell a season low 27 games under the .500 mark at 21-48.
Joining Bray in Louisville making a rehab appearance was Reds third baseman Scott Rolen. Rolen started at third and went 1-for-3 before being removed after the sixth inning.
“He looked good (and) healthy,” Bell said. “He saw a lot of pitches and he made the most of the night.”
The teams hook up for game three of the four game series Saturday night. The Bats are scheduled to send Tim Gustafson (1-1, 6.00 ERA) to the mound while former Bat Matt Maloney (0-2, 6.27 ERA) will be on the hill for the Red Wings. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
