Run For The Playoffs - A Louisville Bats AAA dynasty

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BATS DRIFT FURTHER BACK

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Sorry for the poor quality - took it quickly, and angrily.

The Bats drop one at home as win number 80 on the season evades them.
A very hot lineup for Toledo (four players with 10+ game hit steaks) couldn't be stopped earlier today in Louisville as the Mud Hens had their way with the Louisville pitching staff all game long.
Louisville now trails the Clippers by 5 games in the division with only 8 games left. What hurts even more, is that the Buffalo Bisons also won, which means the wild card hunt is down to 3 games.

Despite being at home in a divisional matchup against the Mud Hens, the Bats lost 5-3, increasing the gap in the division to 5 games. Pacing the offense was OF Cody Puckett, who drove in 2 runs on 2 clutch hits. Bat's starting pitcher Greg Reynolds didn't have his best stuff in defeat, giving up 4 runs on 9 hits, in 5 and two thirds innings, dropping his record to .500 on the season.

Notable players
Catcher, Corky Miller picked up 2 hits in his first start in 3 days.
Pitcher, Greg Reynolds had his ERA bumped up to 2.50 after 5.2 innings.

Final Game Notes
Terrible day for our pitching staff. No one could get the job done when they needed. Really struggled with 2 outs during the course of the game.
-Time of ballgame : 3 hours and 2 minutes

What it means to the team
Wild Card lead cut from 4 to 3, as Buffalo won.
Division chase extended to 5 games with only 8 games left.
Pedro Villarreal (5-1, 1.93 ERA) takes the hill against Toledo tomorrow.

[NightHawkTH]

I like you action photos how do you take them? and post them?

[kc2135]

Really loving the action shots

[redsrulenc]

Thanks guys! I actually take the pictures on my phone, send them to myself through an email, and attach them right on.

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Email from owner, Dale Owens

Good Morning Massey,

Just wanted to thank you so much for your hard work this season. As the season wraps up, I want you to understand that we've enjoyed the ups and downs of this season, and we want to continue to have a positive relationship with our faculty and staff surrounding this ball club, regardless whether you return to Louisville next season or move up to Cincinnati. According to our statistics expert at the ballpark, we have an 88% of getting a wild card spot this season, if all stays the same. As long as we don't collapse, we may have a playoff spot waiting for us. Keep up the good work and let's get that wild card spot.

Dale Owens
Owner, VP, GM
[email protected]
828-673-9922

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BATS GET WIN #80

Late inning heroics saved a shaky bullpen performance last night as the Louisville Bats knocked off the Toledo Mud Hens in front of 10,987 fans.
4-2 was the final in Louisville as Donald Lutz, who was the DH last night, went a perfect 3 for 3, with one RBI to lead the way offensively. Bats' starter Pedro Vilarreal pitched a stellar game- 2 runs on 7 hits through 7.2 innings, but he didn't factor in to the decision because of poor bullpen work from lefty, Manny Parra and righty, Kanekoa Jacob Texeira. Pedro did, however, notch his 10th quality start of the season. In the bottom of the 8th innning in a tie ballgame, PLAYER OF THE GAME Donald Lutz led off with a triple and the very next batter, Neftali Soto, who has been clutch all season, came through once again to give the Bats the go ahead run. Later in the inning, OF Felix Perez beat out an infield single to plate a little insurance to make it 4-2. The game would stay that way as JJ Hoover, who is awaiting a call to the big leagues, knocked down his 5th straight save opportunity.

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Soto drives in the game winning run in the bottom of the 8th.

Skipper Massey gave an assessment of his team's performance after the game, saying "You always love clutch hits in the late innings to come through in a tie ballgame and win. We were able to today, but it won't always be like that. We can't continue to have shaky bullpen work like we've had lately. It's almost playoff time and these guys need to be getting stronger in the late innings, rather than losing consistency. Pedro (Vilarreal) deserved a win tonight. It's a shame our bullpen let his efforts go to waste."

Player of the Game
Donald Lutz * 3-3. HR away from the cycle. One RBI.

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Lutz sliding in to 3rd after his 8th inning lead off triple.

Other notables
Pedro Vilarreal pitched excellent again last night. In his last two starts, he's allowed 4 runs through 15 innings. Yet, he finds himself 0-1 in those same two.

Final Game Notes
Bats get win #80
Clutch hits in the 8th bailed out bad bullpen work in the 7th
Time of the ballgame: 2 hours and 49 minutes

What it means to the team
Columbus locks up playoff spot. They haven't won the division yet, though.
Bats get win 80 on the season
7 games left; one or two wins away from playoffs.

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Transactions (4/1/13)

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I knew this day was coming as opening day approached in real life. We lost a strong core of players to the big league club, including IF Jack Hannahan, IF Cesar Izturis, P Manny Parra, and P JJ Hoover.

New Bats to join are right handed bullpener Jose Arredondo, IF Jason Donald (who also could be on the move before the season is over, with only a few games left because of a DFA), IF Mike Hessman, and P Chad Reineke has been recalled.

The guys leaving all were major contributors and my hitting will take a major hit (no pun intended).
The game ranked us as the 10th best hitting team in AAA with Jack and Cesar in the starting lineup, now we aren't even ranked in the top 20.

These roster moves could be a dealbreaker for this squad, but we knew it was going to happen and now the new lineup has to focus on gelling together with only a week left of games before a possible playoff scenario.

[jmik58]

I'm a little confused. The update says 4/1 ... but isn't your season late in the year?