Nick Masset had the worst outing of his rehab stint with the Louisville Bats Tuesday night and the Bats fell 10-7 to the Columbus Clippers. 7,594 were in attendance at Slugger Field as the Bats capped their final four-game homestand of the season.
Masset, making his sixth rehab appearance with the Bats, failed to record an out and gave up three runs on four hits and two walks to give the Clippers an 8-7 lead in the seventh. After giving up four straight singles, Masset walked the final two batters he faced, each forcing in a run, before being taken out of the game.
“It was just one of those nights (for Masset),” said Bats manager David Bell. “If not for his pitch limit, he could’ve finished that inning.”
The big inning came after the Bats had scored seven unanswered runs to take a 7-5 lead. The inning could’ve been much worse but Will Ohman came on and got three straight Columbus hitters to get out of the inning.
Columbus extended their lead on a Matt LaPorta two-run single in the eighth for the final margin.
Louisville scored all of their runs against Columbus starter T.J. McFarland. Matt Langwell, Dan Wheeler, and Scott Barnes relieved McFarland and combined to pitch the final 4-1/3 innings scoreless, giving up just one hit and striking out five.
Lars Anderson’s three-run double capped a five run, five hit third inning for Columbus. It was the third time in two games the Clippers scored five times in a frame and was the third straight time they scored first against the Bats.
A scary moment for the Bats came with two on and one out in the third. Cord Phelps hit a ground ball that looked like it would be an inning-ending double play; Didi Gregorius went to field the ball it took a bad hop and hit him in the head, just above the right eye. Bell and trainer Jimmy Mattocks came to the aide of the Reds’ prospect. After a few tosses, Gregorius decided to stay in the game.
Bell said Gregorius was fine and is not expected to miss any time.
It was a good thing, too. Gregorius blooped a two-run double down the left-field line as part of Louisville’s three-run fourth inning to knot the game at five. His double followed a bases loaded walk from Cody Puckett that made it 5-3.
The Bats’ rally started in the third with a two-run double from Henry Rodriguez. The double broke an 0-for-21 slump for Rodriguez and gave him his first RBIs since August 13.
Louisville completed their rally with Corky Miller’s single in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. Later in the inning, Puckett reached on an error by Phelps that allowed another run to score, making it 7-5.
The Bats (50-82) fell to four games behind Toledo for third place in the International League West Division standings while Columbus (68-63) remain 2.5 games back of Pawtucket in the wild card.
Louisville opens a three-game series in Indianapolis Wednesday. Kanekoa Texeira (0-3, 2.67 ERA) will be on the mound for the Bats against Indy’s Chris Leroux (3-0, 2.26 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
