Willie Harris went 4-for-4 and Joey Gathright had three hits but the Louisville Bats could not find enough clutch hits Tuesday afternoon as they fell to the Syracuse Chiefs 6-2.
Gathright had two RBI base hits in the game, but no other Bat recorded an RBI. The Bats (17-36) finished 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the rain soaked game.
Jeff Francis (2-6) started and took the loss for the Bats. He gave up four runs on eight hits in 6-2/3 innings of work.
Francis retired the first six Chiefs he faced but gave up back-to-back singles to start the third inning. Two batters later, Josh Johnson bounced a single to left field scoring the first two runs of the game. Carlos Rivero’s RBI sacrifice fly in the third gave the Chiefs all the offense they would need.
After the Bats cut the lead to 4-2 in the seventh on Gathright’s RBI double, the Chiefs tacked on a pair of insurance run in the eighth for the final scoring.
The Bats fell to 7-28 when their opponent scores the first run of the game and 8-20 in the month of May, cementing the worst month of May record-wise since professional baseball returned to Louisville in 1982.
Joining in on the multi-hit action for the Bats was Danny Dorn, who has hit safely in nine of his last ten games.
The Bats and Chiefs hook up for game three of the four game series Wednesday. The Bats are scheduled to send Brett Tomko (0-5, 3.18 ERA) to the mound opposed by John Lannan (3-5, 6.12 ERA). The Bats have struggled to give Tomko run support all season, though Tomko has tossed five quality starts and not given up more than three runs in a game this season. First pitch Wednesday is set for 7:05.
Photo Credit: Max Sharp
