Bats' infielder Chris Valaika's RBI single in the tenth inning gave Louisville
a walk-off win on Saturday night.
After sweeping a three-game, weekend series against the Columbus Clippers, the Louisville Bats have put the rest of the International League on notice heading into the all-star break that they are the real deal. The beatdown of the Clippers has Louisville going into the all-star break with 51 wins, tied for the most in the league. Slugger Field has also become an Amityville-esque place for opponents, as the Bats now have a league-best 28 home wins. Currently a season-high 12 games over .500, Louisville is running the league's west division with an iron fist, up nine-and-a-half games over second place Indianapolis. Making Columbus, a division rival, look silly has been easy for the Bats this season, as they have defeated the Cleveland Indians' top farm club 11 of the 14 times they've clashed.
Friday-Bats 5, Clippers 4: Over 10,000 fans came out to see Matt Maloney and Louisville take the series opener, as a four-run third inning vaulted the Bats ahead to stay. Louisville started getting to Columbus starter Fausto Carmona in the third when league all-star Drew Stubbs lined to left, plating the first run, followed by Drew Sutton smashing a ground-rule double that scored two more runs and put Louisville up 3-2. Adam Rosales, who was called back up to the Reds on Sunday, added a sac fly to complete the go-ahead rally. Chris Heisey, who missed the final two games of the series because of his participation in the MLB's Futures Game, belted his third homer of the year in the fifth inning to extend the Bats' lead to 5-2. Less than a month after being called up from double-A, Heisey is having his way with the rest of the league, batting .365 in 14 games. Maloney (6-5, 2.39) left the game with a 5-3 lead, scattering 10 hits, walking none, and fanning four. Zach Stewart pitched the final two innings to pick up his first career triple-A save. With Josh Roenicke and Robert Manuel both now pitching for the Reds, Stewart will probably see more action in a closer's role. Heisey and Craig Tatum each had two hits for the Bats.
Saturday-Bats 7, Clippers 6 (10): Louisville took a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning, but Matt LaPorta's three-run homer off Pedro Viola tied the game and forced extra frames. Chris Valaika played the hero when he singled to left in the tenth, driving in Luis Bolivar and winning it for the Bats in walk-off fashion. Justin Lehr, who will be playing in the all-star game on Tuesday, went eight-and-a-third innings and left with his lead still intact, but was issued a no-decision because of the comeback. Jared Burton (2-0, 1.50) came in to clean up the mess in the ninth, and also pitched a scoreless tenth to earn the win. Wes Bankston put Louisville ahead early by homering in consecutive innings, the first a solo shot and the other a two-run bomb. Bankston, who has 13 round trippers in 2009, was Louisville's home run leader earlier in the season before a middle finger injury put him on the shelf. The right-hander looks to returning to form now that he can flick people off pain-free. Tatum, who posted three hits on the night, made it a 5-0 game in the fourth inning with his third dinger of the year.
Sunday-Bats 8, Clippers 4: The misery continued for Columbus as they jumped ahead 2-0 in the third, but quickly lost the lead when Darnell McDonald smashed a three-run bomb in the bottom of the inning to put Louisville up by two. McDonald, who was a triple-A all-star last year while playing for Rochester, now has five homers this season, and has moved his average over .300 with a hot start to the month of July. Luis Bolivar stretched the lead an inning later with a two-run triple, scoring Danny Dorn and Valaika. Corky Miller followed with a single to score Bolivar, making it a 7-2 contest and giving Miller his second RBI of the game.
Triple-A all-star festivities will run Monday through Wednesday in Portland, Oregon. Lehr, Stubbs, and manager Rick Sweet will all be representing the Bats as International League goes against the Pacific Coast League's best. Louisville will look to extend their winning streak when they return from the break on Thursday night against the Durham Bulls at Slugger Field. The series promises to be competitive, as Durham shares the same record as Louisville (51-39), and took three of four from the Bats earlier this season on Tobacco Road. Fans can come out to see the league's best home team and enjoy dollar drafts in the outfield from 5:30PM until first pitch at 7:05.
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