By Josh Cook
Aaron Harang got hammered again and the Louisville Bats managed only three hits as their franchise-best home win streak came to an end.
The Syracuse Chiefs scored six earned runs in six innings off Harang, in his second rehab start with the Bats, on their way to an 8-1 win in front of 8,915 Friday night at Louisville Slugger Field.
In the process it ended Louisville's 14-game winning streak on its home field, while also keeping the Bats (71-55) out of first place in the International League West. That's because division-leading Columbus (72-55) lost for the third straight time to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 7-5 Friday night. But the Clippers still lead Louisville by a half game.
The Bats, though, only lead Buffalo (68-56) by two games in the IL wildcard standing after the Bisons beat Rochester 7-3.
Syracuse avoided a four-game sweep by Louisville, and also handed the Bats their first non-Columbus loss in 23 games, by roughing up Harang. The 6-foot-7 right-hander, who gave up five runs on five hits in five innings at Columbus in his first rehab start for the parent Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 15, gave up six runs on nine hits in six innings in his second.
Against Harang (0-2, 9.00 earned-run average) the Chiefs scored two runs in the second inning - on an RBI-triple by Pete Orr and an RBI-single by Carlos Maldonado. They added three more in the third on Michael Martinez's RBI-double and Brian Bixler's two-run homer. They then scored a single run in the sixth on Maldonado's sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile Harang's counterpart, Jordan Zimmerman, was nearly unhittable. The right-hander gave up one hit - a first-inning single to Chris Valaika - while walking one and striking out five in five innings to earn his first victory for the Chiefs.
Recently-promoted Jeremy Horst replaced Harang to start the seventh and gave up two more runs, although only one was earned.
Collin Balester replaced Zimmerman to start the sixth inning and he gave up two hits. The first was a two-out single to Todd Frazier in the seventh. The second was a leadoff triple to Danny Dorn in the eighth. Dorn would score Louisville's lone run when the next batter, Corky Miller, grounded out.
That run, along with reliever Aroldis Chapman throwing 104 miles per hour twice in the ninth inning, were the only highlights for the Bats.
Louisville begins a three-game series at Indianapolis at 7 p.m. Saturday. Left-hander Matt Maloney (10-6, 3.43) will face Indians' right-hander Joe Martinez (1-1, 6.23).
