Bats force winner-take-all game five death match, but fall to Bulls

September 13, 9:43 PMLouisville Bats ExaminerJason Stella

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Danny Dorn tried pulling out all of the stops to keep the Bats
alive, homering in games four and five.

After falling in four games to the Durham Bulls in the opening round of last year's playoffs, the Louisville Bats came into this weekend's game four in a similar situation: down two games to one with their backs against the wall. Louisville rallied on Saturday, however, picking up a wild 10-7 victory to force a winner-take-all game five on Sunday at Slugger Field. For the second straight year, however, it was Durham who was victorious and earned the right to advance to the International League championship to play the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, as the Bulls topped Louisville 5-3.

Louisville's game four win was a rollercoaster ride, as it was a 6-6 deadlock before the teams got out of the third inning. Bats' outfieder Danny Dorn broke the six-all tie in the sixth when he went yard with a solo shot into the right field seats. Dorn, who reached base four times in the game, was third on the team during the regular season with 14 homers, but his first postseason dinger was the most crucial of 2009, allowing the Bats to grab a lead they would not surrender. Both starting pitchers were shown the door early, as Louisville's Tom Cochran got touched up for six runs in just over two innings. Can't feel too bad for Cochran, however, as Bulls' starter Rayner Oliveros didn't even get an out in the second.

RBI singles from Juan Francisco and Todd Frazier in the first gave the Bats the early lead, but Durham fired back, forcing Louisville to put up a four-spot in the second to regain the early advantage. Chris Denove had the first of his two doubles to drive in a pair of runs, and Chris Heisey also plated a pair on a single to make it a 6-4 game.

Down 8-6 entering the eighth, Durham cut it to 8-7 thanks to two throwing errors by Bats' pitchers. Louisville closer Logan Ondrusek, who committed one of the errors, induced consecutive ground outs to end the inning, keeping Louisville in front by a run. With the momentum swings that had already happened, Louisville thought it best to add two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, as Denove plated a run with a ground-rule double, followed by Chris Valaika scoring on a Luis Bolivar sac fly to make it 10-7. Ondrusek, who took over as the Bats closer after being recalled from double-A last month, worked a perfect ninth to ensure the Bats would have an opportunity for a winner-take-all game five. Lost in the offensive madness was the perfomance of Louisville reliever Lee Tabor, who got the win after throwing four scoreless innings of middle relief.

Sunday's elimination game was another close one, with Louisville having the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth. On the night, Louisville only had four hits, but managed to stay close with some solid relief work and playing error free defense for the first time in the series.

Yonder Alonso had Bats' fans cheering early when he cranked a double into the gap in left-center to score Francisco and make it 1-0 in the second. Durham rallied in the fourth and took a 2-1 lead, but further damage was avoided when Bats' starter Camilo Vazquez got an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. For the second straight night, Dorn blasted a timely home run, putting a 429-footer into the stands to tie the game in the fifth. For the second time, however, Durham answered the bell and put up two runs on Bats' reliever Greg Atencio to start the sixth frame.

Louisville plated another run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-3, and was able to stay within striking distance thanks to Jeff Kennard, Enerio Del Rosario, and Ondrusek all putting in steady relief over the last four innings. In the ninth, Frazier was on second base with Valaika at the plate, but Durham closer Winston Abreu once again rudely slammed the door on the Bats' championship aspirations.

The loss caps another historic season for the Bats, as the team finished at the top of the league in regular season wins for the second straight year. Durham and Scranton/W-B will play for the International League crown, while the Pacific Coast League championship will be between the Sacramento River Cats (Oakland A's farm team) and the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals).