PAPILLION, NEB. – After clinching a playoff spot in Tuesday’s game, the Omaha Storm Chasers won their seventh straight game, beating the Louisville Bats 7-1 Wednesday at Werner Park.
In the second game of the series, Major League rehabber Michael Massey singled with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, then Devin Mann crushed a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, to left field and gave a 2-0 Chaser lead and Omaha led the rest of the night.
Omaha increased its lead in the bottom of the second inning as Tyler Gentry crushed a solo homer, his third of the season and extended the lead to 3-0. The Chasers then added three in the third inning with another two-out rally, as Massey walked and Mann was hit by a pitch to set up Nick Pratto for a three-run homer for a 6-0 lead, Pratto’s second straight game with a long ball.
The Bats got on the board in top of the fourth inning as Hernan Perez singled in a run to plate Louisville’s first and only run of the game to cut the Chaser lead to 6-1.
Omaha starting pitcher Kris Bubic made his fifth start with the Chasers while continuing his Major League rehab assignment and struck out a season-high eight over 4.1 innings, throwing a season-high 93 pitches as well.
After allowing a one-out single in the fourth, Bubic gave way to left-handed reliever Walter Pennington, who retired all five batters he faced over 1.2 innings to earn his fourth win of the season and strand the inherited runner on.
Pennington was the first of four Omaha relievers that combined for 4.1 hitless and scoreless innings to end the game. Noah Murdock pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts, while Tyler Duffey struck out two in a perfect eighth inning and Austin Cox punched out one in a scoreless ninth. The five pitchers in the game combined for a season-high 15 strikeouts in the process.
Two at-bats in the bottom of the seventh inning, Nate Eaton singled to get on base then moved to third on a double off the bat of Massey and Eaton crossed home on a wild pitch to extend the lead to the 7-1 score that held to be final.
The Storm Chasers continue this week’s series against the Louisville Bats Thursday, June 20 as first pitch will be 7:05 p.m. CT and right-handed pitcher Andrew Hoffman is slated to start for Omaha.
