Louisville Bats Notes: August 13

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Bats look to snap their 2-game losing streak after winning their most recent series opener over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, before dropping the last 2 of the set, including a 4-0 shutout loss in Sunday's finale. The Bats, trying to put together 3 consecutive winning months, have fallen to 5-6 in the month of August, and 17-14 after the Triple-A All-Star break.

AGAINST GWINNETT: The Bats and Stripers meet for a three-game series at Coolray Field. The clubs last met at the beginning of June, with Louisville earning its first series sweep of the 2018 season by winning 3 consecutive games against the Stripers, outscoring them 13-4. Last season, the Bats went 3-4 against the Gwinnett Braves, winning all 3 at Louisville Slugger Field, before dropping all 4 games at Gwinnett.
TRANSACTIONS: The Cincinnati Reds optioned to Class AAA Louisville right-hander Keury Mella , and recalled LHP Cody Reed . Reed, who made 4 appearances (one start) with Cincinnati earlier this season, has made 18 appearances (17 starts) for Louisville this season, going 4-8 with a 3.92 ERA (46er/105.2ip) with 31 walks and 105 strikeouts. Louisville also added catcher Valentin Martinez , who was transferred from Class A Advanced Daytona.
SWEEP DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE: The Bats' 3-game sweep of the Stripers from June 1-3 this season was their first series sweep as a team since May 30 - June 1, 2017, about a year to the date, also against Gwinnett at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats have earned one series sweep since the Gwinnett series in early June, when they swept 4 games at Syracuse from July 19-22, its first 4-game sweep since June 14-16, 2013 at Norfolk.
FAMILIAR FACES: The Bats have a pair of 2018 Gwinnett Stripers on their roster, right-handers Lucas Sims and Matt Wisler . Both pitchers, along with OF Preston Tucker , came over to the Cincinnati Reds in a July 30 trade that sent OF Adam Duvall to the Atlanta Braves. Sims went 4-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) for Gwinnett this season, while Wisler went 4-4 with a 4.37 ERA in 13 starts. Wisler made a start against Louisville earlier this season, going 4.0 innings and giving up 6 runs in the Bats' 7-2 win over the Stripers.
0UT 0F THE 0RDINARY: The Bats lost to the IronPigs by a 4-0 score on Sunday, just the third time all season Louisville has been shut out by its opponent. The 3 shutout losses are fewest in the IL, with Gwinnett, Norfolk and Toledo tied for second-fewest with 5 shutout losses on the year. Before yesterday, LOU had last been shut out on May 29 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, losing by a 4-0 score. Interestingly, in all 3 of LOU's shutout losses, its opponent scored 4 runs, with their first shutout loss coming on May 24 at Indianapolis, losing 4-0.
LAST 26 GAMES: Since falling to a season-high 20 games below the .500 mark (35-55) on July 16, the Bats are 17-9 in their last 26 games, despite going 2-6 over their last 8 games. The 26-game stretch was started by a 9-game winning streak from July 17-25, the club's longest win streak since the 2010 season.
NL BASEBALL: Louisville is 15-14 (.517) against National League affiliated teams this season, while just 37-50 (.463) against AL-affiliated clubs. The Bats play 14 of their final 24 games this season against NL-affiliated clubs, starting with this past Friday's opener against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.