Louisville Bats Offense Takes Charge In Opening Series of 2026
CINCINNATI – In a season-opening three-game series, the Louisville Bats took the series in a three-game sweep versus the Omaha Storm Chasers.May 11, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Chase Petty delivers a pitch during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park.
Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Friday's season opener saw dominant pitching from the start. Chase Petty led the way with 4 2/3 innings of four-hit baseball with one walk and eight strikeouts. The bullpen followed suit, led by Trevor Kuncl, who threw 1 1/3 perfect innings, earned the win, and the supporting cast only allowed four hits and two walks. Saturday saw the return of Julian Aguiar, who missed all of the 2025 season recovering from Tommy John. He did not allow a run in 3 2/3 innings. He allowed just two hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Andrew Chafin made his organizational debut on Saturday, throwing a scoreless inning with a walk. All of his outs were via the strikeout. Luis Mey struggled, allowing three hits and three runs, but struck out two. Tejay Antone earned the win after throwing 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts. The offense was on fire on Sunday, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first and 10 overall. Davis Daniel threw four innings, allowing a hit, two earned runs, a walk, and recording six strikeouts. Darren McCaughan threw three innings in relief, allowing four hits, one earned run, and six strikeouts. Julian Garcia pitched two innings, with three hits, one run, two walks, and three strikeouts.While the Bats only scored two runs on Friday, they caught fire the rest of the series, scoring six on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. Blake Dunn went 5-13 with a double and two stolen bases. Rece Hinds went 6-11 with four RBIs, including a walk-off single on Saturday in the 10th. Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 4-13 with a home run on Saturday, and Hector Rodriguez was 4-12 with two extra-base hits and two RBIs.The Bats have an off day on Monday. They return on Tuesday versus the Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate, for a five-game series through Sunday, April 5. First pitch is at 6:35 in Louisville. Sign Up For Our DAILY Newsletter for More Free Coverage of the Cincinnati Reds Delivered to YOU Directly Make sure you bookmark Cincinnati Reds Talk for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and daily coverage of the Cincinnati Reds! Follow Cincinnati Reds OnSI on Twitter/X: @RedsTalkSI. Like Our Cincinnati Reds On SI Facebook Page. Follow Cincinnati Reds On SI on Instagram.Ricky Logan is a California native, originally from Yuba City, now living in the greater Cincinnati area with his wife and kids. He’s the co-host and producer of the Red Hot Reds Podcast on YouTube and other social platforms, where he brings commentary and passionate coverage of Cincinnati Reds baseball. He co-hosts the Chatterbox Reds Pregame Show for Chatterbox Sports on YouTube to give pregame analysis for upcoming games and has appeared on various Chatterbox Sports shows. Ricky also serves as an editor and writer for WeLikeSportzPC and recently joined the writing team at Chatterbox Sports covering Reds Minor League Baseball, continuing to grow his presence in the world of sports media.