Louisville Bats go medieval on Charlotte Knights, now own league's best record

Kevin Barker (left) and Danny Dorn (right) both homered in the series, helping
Louisville send the Knights back to joust practice.

The Louisville Bats continued to put the rest of the International League under feudalism this week, taking three of four from the Charlotte Knights. Louisville, who now owns the league's best record at 63-47, won the final three games of the series against the Knights (51-59), who are the top farm club of the Chicago White Sox. Here's how the Bats ascended to the league's throne with just a month left in the regular season:

Saturday-Knights 3, Bats 2: Louisville fell victim to league ERA leader Carlos Torres, who posted a quality start as the Knights got just enough offense to take the Bats down. Kevin Barker wasn't intimidated by Torres, however, as the Bats first basemen blasted a solo shot in the fourth cut Charlotte's lead to 2-1. Barker is now a league-leader in his own right, as the round-tripper was his 20th of the season, which is tops among active IL players now that Shelley Duncan (25) has been called up to play with the Yankees. Matt Maloney (7-8, 2.72) pitched pretty well for the Bats, but gave up two home run balls that cost him. On the night, he went 7+ innings, allowing three runs and just one walk, while fanning five. Luis Bolivar had two doubles and drove in a run.

Sunday-Bats 8, Knights 5: Two recently promoted pitchers made their triple-A debut for the Bats, as Matt Klinker got the start and Lee Tabor came on in relief and picked up the win. Klinker got roughed up in three-and-two thirds (5H, 3ER, 4BB, 1K), and Tabor came on in the fourth and pitched 3+ innings, allowing two runs and three hits while striking out two. Louisville earned the victory by hanging two four-run innings on the Knights, as Bolivar and Barker each drove in two more runs. Corky Miller also notched two hits and an RBI, while Jeff Kennard worked a shutout over the last two innings to preserve the 'W' and get his second save.

Monday-Bats 8, Knights 4: Sam LeCure (9-5, 4.14) battled back from a tough first inning to earn his seventh straight win, as Wes Bankston and Drew Stubbs propelled the Bats' offense with three hits and two RBIs each. Louisville put up four runs in the first to jump ahead 4-2, then hung a trio of runs in the eighth to seal it. Danny Dorn, who has seen his average steadily climb over the last two months, lifted his 13th homer of the year, which ties him for second on the club. LeCure worked six innings, allowing three earned runs and two walks. He also registered 11 punch outs, which ties his career-high. Recently promoted Enerio Del Rosario pitched the final two innings to earn his first career triple-A save.

Tuesday-Bats 2, Knights 0: Hats off to the Bats' ground crew, as this game experienced just a 10-minute rain delay, despite the fact there were flash floods all over Louisville from a monsoon earlier in the day. Fans who did show up got to see a couple young prospects take center stage for the Bats, as Travis Wood (1-1, 2.89) was baffling Knights' hitters all night. In his third triple-A start, Wood went seven innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out four. Ramon Ramirez and Logan Ondrusek both pitched scoreless relief to keep Charlotte off the scoreboard, as Ondrusek got his second save. Ondrusek, who has been with the Bats only a few weeks, appears to be Louisville's newest choice for closer duties, as Josh Roenicke and Robert Manuel were shipped out around the trade deadline. In just his second game since being called up, Chris Denove went 2-3 and blasted his first career homer at triple-A. Chris Heisey also had three hits for Louisville.