Louisville Bats Notes: August 12
BATS GO FOR THE SERIES WIN: The Louisville Bats go for the series win today in the finale against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. With a win, the Bats would have their sixth series win in their last 8 series. Right-hander José López will toe the rubber for Louisville, with LOU
BATS GO FOR THE SERIES WIN: The Louisville Bats go for the series win today in the finale against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. With a win, the Bats would have their sixth series win in their last 8 series. Right-hander José López will toe the rubber for Louisville, with LOU coming off a 7-6 defeat in extra innings on Saturday night.
AGAINST LEHIGH VALLEY: Sunday marks the final matchup between the Bats and IronPigs in 2018, with the current series on the line. Lehigh Valley already clinched the season series, taking 3 of 4 games at Coca-Cola Park in mid-April before splitting the first 2 games of the current series at Louisville Slugger Field. Overall, LHV has outscored LOU this season by a 43-28 advantage. Each of the teams' last 4 matchups have been decided by 2 or fewer runs, with 3 of the last 4 being decided by one run.
LAST 25 GAMES: Since falling to a season-high 20 games below the .500 mark (35-55) on July 16, the Bats are 17-8 in their last 25 games, despite going 2-5 over their last 7 games. The 25-game stretch was started by a 9-game winning streak from July 17-25, the club's longest win streak since the 2010 season.
MARATHON GAME: Louisville and Lehigh Valley played a 3-hour, 42-minute, 10-inning game last night with the IronPigs coming out on top, 7-6. The Bats trailed 3-0 after the top of the first, and ended up taking a 6-3 in the fifth, before the Pigs tied it in the eighth and eventually won it in the 10th. It was the second-longest game of the season for Louisville by time, with its May 31 game vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (3 hours, 44 minutes) being the longest, with that contest going 11 innings.
NL BASEBALL: Louisville is 15-13 (.536) against National League affiliated teams this season, while just 37-50 (.463) against AL-affiliated clubs. Including the Lehigh Valley series, Louisville will play 14 of its final 24 games this season against NL-affiliated clubs.
BEEF 'O' GRADY'S: Louisville first baseman/outfielder Brian O'Grady went 2-for-5 with a double last night, his second straight multi-hit game. Through 20 games at the Triple-A level, O'Grady is batting .304 (21-for-69) with 14 runs, 3 doubles, one triple, 4 home runs, 14 RBI and 2 stolen bases.
GUERRERO HOMERING IS NOT SO RARE-O: Right fielder Gabriel Guerrero hit his 16th home run of the season for Louisville last night, his second consecutive game with a home run. In 110 games between Class AA Pensacola and Louisville this season, Guerrero now has 18 home runs, tying his career-high 18 homers he set in 2014, all with Class-A Advanced High Desert in the Seattle Mariners organization.
WANNA BE A BALLER: Bats leadoff hitter C.J. McElroy went 2-for-6 with 2 runs and a stolen base last night, his third multi-hit effort in his last 4 games. During those 4 games, McElroy is batting .350 (7-for-20) with 4 runs scored.
1,000 HITS: D.J. Peterson 's leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth inning was Louisville's 1,000th hit as a club this season. Last season, the Bats nabbed 1,253 hits as a club, finishing third in the International League.
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