The Louisville Bats are streaking.The Bats won their fourth straight game Sunday, besting host Gwinnett 7-4 in Lawrenceville, Ga. Not only was it the fourth consecutive triumph for Louisville, it was also the team’s first series sweep of the season.
The Bats (17-20) previously beat the Braves 3-1 Saturday and 5-4 Friday after closing out their four-games series at Charlotte with a 5-4 win over the Knights this past Thursday. In the final game against Gwinnett (16-21), Louisville rallied from a 2-0 deficit and scored seven straight runs over the final three frames.
The Braves tallied two runs, both of which were charged to starter Donovan Hand, in the bottom of the sixth. Hand gave up back-to-back singles to Daniel Castro and Adonis Garcia to start the home half of the inning before Cedric Hunter’s sacrifice fly scored Castro. Garcia then stole second before Sean Kazmar flew out. Jose De La Torre then relieved Hand and Wil Nieves greeted the new pitcher with an RBI-single to center field.
Louisville didn’t waste much time in erasing its deficit, scoring three times in the top of the seventh. Ivan De Jesus led off with a single before Ramon Cabrera walked. Ryan LaMarre then followed with a sacrifice bunt before Yorman Rodriguez’s two-RBI double to center. Rodriguez scored moments later on Jermaine Curtis’ single.The Bats tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth. Rodriguez received a leadoff walk before Curtis was hit by a pitch. Hernan Iribarren then reached on a bunt single before pinch-hitter Jose Constanza was walked, scoring Rodriguez. Irving Falu followed with a RBI-single to left before Eugenio Suarez’s sac fly and De Jesus’ RBI-single.
The Bats’ bullpen gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Nathan Adcock shut the door on Gwinnett’s rally. He came on for Drew Hayes with one out and the bases loaded and promptly got Greg Smith and Barrett Kleinknecht each to ground out to end the game. De La Torre picked up the victory, despite pitching only one-third of an inning, while Adcock notched his eighth save of the season. DeJesus led Louisville’s nine hit attack, going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Falu added two hits for the Bats, who went 4-3 on their seven-game road trip.
Louisville returns home to begin a 10-game homestand at 6:35 p.m. Monday night, when it hosts Norfolk (20-17) at Louisville Slugger Field. Bats right-hander Josh Smith (0-0, 4.35 earned run average) is scheduled to face Tides southpaw Chris Jones (0-1, 2.38 ERA).
Photo courtesy Louisville Bats Facebook Page
