Louisville Bats Notes: August 23

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Louisville Bats and Toledo Mud Hens finish off their three-game series tonight at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats look to avoid being swept for the second time in their last three series, and the first time at home since July 12-15 vs. Columbus. Right-hander José López will start for the Bats, set to make his seventh start against the Mud Hens.

AGAINST TOLEDO: The Bats and Mud Hens meet for the final time in the 2018 season tonight. Coming into play Thursday night, LOU is just 3-8 against the Hens in their home ballpark, while going 7-6 against Toledo at Fifth Third Field. The clubs' 25 matchups this season are the most since 2016, when the Bats finished just 6-19 against the Hens. This season, TOL has outscored LOU by a 109-98 advantage.
HITS ≠ WINS: In 5 of the Bats' last 6 games and 6 of their last 8, the team that records more hits in the game ended up losing. On Wednesday night, Louisville out-hit Toledo 9-7, but lost 5-3, a night after outhitting the Hens 11-5, but losing 5-2. The Bats left 7 runners on base and went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position for the second straight night. The only game in LOU's last 6 games where the "out-hitter" was the winner was Sunday, when LOU out-hit the Charlotte Knights 9-6 and won by a 3-1 score.
GREAT TURN AROUND THE ROTATION: In the Bats' last 5 games, their starting pitchers have combined for a 1.61 ERA, allowing just 5 earned runs in 28.0 innings on the mound. José López, Keury Mella, Tyler Mahle, Lucas Sims and Justin Nicolino have combined for 8 walks and 24 strikeouts, with the Bats going 2-3 in those games.
VANMETER MASHING IN LAST 3: In his last 11 games, Josh VanMeter has 6 multi-hit games (including 4 three-hit games), and 5 games where he fails to record a hit. Last night, he went 2-for-4 with a home run, his ninth of the season. He's recorded multiple hits in each of his last 3 games, batting .583 (7-for-12) with 3 doubles, one triple, one home run and 3 RBI.
WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN: The Bats fell to 37-24 on the season when scoring first in a ballgame, dropping their 28th game this season after leading. Their .607 winning percentage ranks last in the International League when scoring first. Last night, LOU led 3-0 after the second inning, before surrendering 2 unearned runs in the third and 3 runs in the seventh to lose 5-3. It was the first time LOU lost a game in which they led by 3+ runs since August 11 vs. Lehigh Valley, when the Bats were leading 6-3 and lost by a 7-6 score.
125 DOWN, 12 TO GO: After 125 games this season, the Bats own a 54-71 record. Last season, Louisville was 5 games worse, owning a 49-76 record after 125 games. In 2016, Louisville owned a 60-65 record after the 125-game mark of the season.
LOOKING TO TURN THE CORNER: After going on a blistering 15-3 run from July 17 to August 3 that included a 9-game winning streak, the Bats are 4-13 in their last 17 games, and 2-6 over their last 8 home games.