Omaha rallies late to beat Louisville in Nick Lodolo rehab start
Nick Lodolo’s first Triple-A rehab start gave Louisville a clean look at his arm, but Omaha’s four-run fifth turned a 3-1 Bats lead into an 8-4 loss.
Nick Lodolo’s first rehab outing for Louisville gave the Bats exactly the kind of recovery checkpoint they needed, even if Omaha spoiled the final line. The left-hander worked 4.1 innings at Werner Park, threw 79 pitches, 45 for strikes, and allowed two earned runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts while mixing in 16 sliders as part of the blister test on his left index finger.
Louisville gave him an immediate cushion. Edwin Arroyo jumped on the first pitch of the game for a leadoff home run, and the Bats carried a 3-1 lead before Omaha’s bullpen and late-inning pressure changed the game. Arroyo finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Noelvi Marte went 2-for-4 with a homer and Michael Chavis added a 3-for-3 night in an offense that collected 10 hits.
The swing point came after Lodolo had already done his part in easing back toward full strength. Omaha erupted for four runs in the fifth, with Abraham Toro delivering a two-run homer in the inning that flipped the score and set the tone for the finish. The Storm Chasers added one more in the sixth and three in the eighth, turning a competitive game into an 8-4 win. Omaha finished with 13 hits and never let Louisville’s early burst stand up deep into the night.
For Lodolo, the outing marked a concrete step after his shorter rehab appearance with High-A Dayton, where he had thrown 51 pitches. It also mattered beyond Louisville’s box score, because Cincinnati entered the day with a rotation ERA of 4.64, seventh worst in the majors, and every clean inning from a pitcher of Lodolo’s caliber carries big-league weight. His 2025 season, when he posted a 3.33 ERA in 29 games, 28 of them starts, showed why the Reds are watching this process so closely.
The result left Louisville short of the win it wanted, but not short of answers. In front of 3,146 fans, the Bats saw Lodolo handle 4.1 innings and 16 sliders without a setback, then watched Omaha’s late offense take over in 2 hours and 43 minutes.
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