Louisville Bats Notes: June 3

BATS CLINCH SERIES WIN: The Bats defeated the Gwinnett Stripers by a 3-1 score for the second straight night Saturday, with another strong starting pitching performance by right-hander José López and multi-hit games from Dilson Herrera, Nick Senzel and Gabriel Guerrero. The victory gives Louisville its first series win since it took two of three games from the Charlotte Knights, April 23-25, and its third series win of 2018.

AGAINST GWINNETT: Louisville and Gwinnett traded home sweeps last season, with the Bats sweeping the G-Braves in 3 games at Louisville Slugger Field from May 30-June 1, and Gwinnett sweeping LOU 4-0 in Lawrenceville from August 10-13. The Bats' sweep of the G-Braves was the only series sweep for Louisville last season, outscoring them 15-9 in the home series. LOU last won the overall season series against GWN in 2016, going 4-3.
HOW SWEEP IT IS: With a win Sunday, the Bats would complete their first series sweep in basically a year, when they swept the Gwinnett Braves in 3 games at Louisville Slugger Field from May 30 to June 1. A win today would also set a new longest winning streak for the Bats this season. Four wins in a row would be the longest win streak for Louisville since the same time last season, May 30 to June 2, defeating Lehigh Valley after completing the three-game sweep of the G-Braves.
START ME UP: Louisville starting pitching has been excellent lately, with José López tossing the Bats' fourth quality start in a row, the first time that's happened since 2015. Starting pitchers have gone at least 6.0 innings in each of LOU's last 8 games, combining for a 2.96 ERA (18er/54.2ip) with 10 walks and 28 strikeouts, with the Bats going 5-3 in that span. Anthony DeSclafani, Robert Stephenson , Justin Nicolino and Lopez have thrown 4 straight quality starts, the first time LOU has accomplished that since Robert Stephenson, David Holmberg, Keyvius Sampson and Donn Roach tossed 4 straight quality starts from July 22-25, 2015.
WINNING AND TWINNING: The Bats have won on back-to-back nights by an identical score, 3-1. It's the first time Louisville has won back-to-back games by the same score since July 7-8, 2015, when they defeated Indianapolis by a 3-2 score at LSF on back-to-back days. Tony Cingrani and Robert Stephenson started those games for Louisville.
WHO WILL SAVE YOUR GAME?: Closer Kevin Quackenbush recorded a save for the second straight night Saturday, now 7-for-7 converting saves this season. It's the first time all season the Bats have registered saves in back-to-back contests, and the first time since July 28-29 last season (Austin Brice, Lisalverto Bonilla ). It's the first time that one player has converted saves for LOU in back-to-back games since Jimmy Herget did it June 27-28 last season.
PITCHERS BATTING STATS: This season, Bats pitchers are batting .179 (5-for-28) at the dish with 2 doubles, one home run and 6 RBI. Brandon Finnegan 's homer at Indianapolis on May 21 was the first for a Louisville pitcher since Daryl Thompson 's on June 11, 2011 vs. Lehigh Valley.
CONGRATS, HERNAN: Pinch-hitter Hernan Iribarren came through Friday night, recording his 400th career hit as a Louisville Bat, becoming just the sixth Louisville player all-time to reach 400 hits.
WHAT JUNE SWOON?: With their win on Friday night, the Bats won their first game of a month for the first time since June 2017, losing 5 consecutive "first game of month" contests before finally winning on June 1 vs. Gwinnett this season. Last season, the Bats also won their first 2 games of June. With a win today in the series finale, the Bats would open a month with 3 consecutive victories for the first time since 2015.... in yes, June. In that season, LOU swept Syracuse in 3 games at NBT Bank Stadium to start the month.