A five run outburst by the Louisville Bats, helped by two Indianapolis errors, propelled the Bats to a 5-4 win over the Indians Saturday night at Louisville Slugger Field.
Going into the fifth inning, the Bats were being no hit by Indians starter Jeff Karstens, who is on rehab from the Pittsburgh Pirates. With one out in the fifth, Danny Dorn broke through with the Bats’ first hit of the afternoon. Dioner Navarro was then hit by a pitch. Felix Perez followed with an RBI single scoring Dorn to tie the game at 1-1. Miguel Rojas then grounded into what looked to be an inning-ending double play, but a throwing error by Karstens allowed Perez to reach third and Navarro to score, pushing the Bats to the lead.
Karstens then tossed a wild pitch allowing Perez to score, making it 3-1. After walking Bats pitcher Sean Gallagher, Karstens was lifted for Rick VanderHurk. The first batter VanderHurk faced, Joey Gathright, laced an RBI single to right field scoring Rojas. Gallagher scored when Gathright stole second and Brian Friday missed the catch, allowing the ball to roll into center field.
Going into the inning, the Bats had scored just two runs in their previous 45 innings and were 0-for-29 with runners in scoring position in their previous three games.
The Bats (16-34) won for just the sixth time when their opponents score first. Indy got on the board first in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Friday. Indy got a solo homer from Jeff Clement to trim the margin to 5-2 in the sixth.
Those were all the runs the Indians got off of Gallagher, who turned in the Bats’ 22nd quality start of the year. Gallagher, who pitched a perfect seventh inning, gave up the two runs on just five hits while walking two and striking out five. Travis Webb pitched a perfect eighth inning to pick up his fifth hold of the season.
Jordan Smith closed it out for the Bats and picked up his fourth save of the year but not without some drama. After an RBI triple from Brandon Boggs, the tying run was at the plate with one out. Smith got Friday to groundout and pinch hitter Jake Fox to pop out to end the game and Louisville’s four game losing streak.
The two teams conclude their four game split series Sunday. Chad Reineke (1-3, 4.91 ERA) is set to take the hill for the Bats opposed by Daniel Cabrera (1-1, 3.14 ERA). First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.
