LOUISVILLE — Travis Wood, the Louisville Bats’ starting pitcher from Bryant, endured another game in which his earned run average went down but he absorbed a loss.
The Bats, the AAA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, managed just one run against the Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays) on Sunday so the two that Wood allowed in his 6 2/3 innings were one too many. Durham wound up with a 5-1 win with three more runs late in the International League contest.[more]
The lefty allowed eight hits and two walks while striking out seven. Only one of the runs he allowed was earned. He’s now 4-6 this season with a 3.40 earned run average for the Bats.
On Sunday, he threw 109 pitches, 71 of them for strikes.
Both Durham runs came in the opening inning along with three of the hits and one of the walks. Justin Ruggiano opened the game with a double. A sacrifice attempt by the next hitter, Desmond Jennings, resulted in an errant throw to first and both runners were safe.Wood struck out Matt Joyce but surrendered an RBI single to Joe Dillon. A walk loaded the bases and a single by Chris Richard produced the second run. Dillon, however, wound up being thrown out at the plate. A groundout ended the inning.
Wood worked around a one-out double in the second and a two-out single in the third. He gave up another two-out single in the fourth but pitched out of the inning. After a 1-2-3 fifth, a two-out walk in the sixth came to nothing despite a pair of wild pitches that allowed the runner to get to third. Wood fanned Jose Lobaton to end the threat.
Louisville managed a run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 2-1. In the seventh, Wood allowed a pair of singles around his seventh strikeout. He got the second out on a pop to third. Enerio Del Rosario was then brought in to face Dillon who bounced into a force to end the inning.
Since the game involved an affiliate of an American League team, the designated hitter was in use and Wood, who has proven to be a good-hitting pitcher, did not bat.
