Louisville Bats Notes: May 28

BATS GO FOR THE SERIES WIN: The Louisville Bats defeated the Durham Bulls by a 5-0 score Sunday night, earning their first consecutive victories since they won a season-high 3 consecutive from April 23-25 vs. Charlotte (4/23-4/24) and at Toledo (4/25). With a win today, Louisville will have its first series win since it took two of three from the Charlotte Knights from April 22-24.

AGAINST DURHAM: Louisville and Durham met for the 90th all-time matchup last night and the second of three series this season and the first of two to be played at Louisville Slugger Field. The two clubs meet 10+ times in the regular season for the first time since 2007, when the Bats went 4-8 against the Bulls. The clubs met 13 times during the 2010 season, 8 times in the regular season and 5 in the IL playoffs, with Durham taking two of three from Louisville in its last postseason appearance.
WALK-FREE ZONE: Louisville pitching has combined to walk just two batters in its last 4 games, spanning 35.0 innings. From Thursday through Sunday, Zach Neal, Rafael De Paula, Domingo Tapia, Anthony DeSclafani, Kyle Crockett, Evan Mitchell, Kevin Quackenbush , Justin Nicolino , José López and Jimmy Herget have combined for 2 walks and 38 strikeouts. The bullpen has not surrenderd a walk in that span, going its last 10.1 innings without allowing a free pass.
SHUTOUT VICTORY: The Bats earned their first shutout win of the 2018 season yesterday, defeating the Durham Bulls by a 5-0 score. LOU became the last team in the International League this year to win a shutout game, and was not involved in a shutout game on either side until April 24 at Indianapolis, losing 4-0. The latest into a season that Louisville captured its first shutout win remains 1997, when they defeated Oklahoma City 7-0 in its 59th game of the season.
MORE LIKE STARRING PITCHING: Left-hander Justin Nicolino pitched the Bats' longest outing of the season in Saturday's 5-3 win over Durham, going 8.2 innings and coming within one out of Louisville's first complete game pitched this year. Last night, right-hander Jose Lopez was excellent, tying his own team-high 6.0 shutout innings in the 5-0 win. It's the first time this season that LOU starting pitchers have tossed back-to-back quality starts, going at least 6.0 innings and allowing 3 or fewer earned runs. The last time the Bats tossed back-to-back quality starts before Nicolino and Lopez was August 21-22, 2017, with strong pitching performances from right-handers Tyler Mahle and Jackson Stephens .
THREE-HIT GAMES: Blake Trahan and D.J. Peterson each recorded their first three-hit games of the season in last night's win, May 27. Trahan's last three-hit game came with Pensacola on August 27 last season against the Mississippi Braves. Peterson's last three-hit game was July 27 last season with Tacoma against Colorado Springs.
GUERRERO GOES YARD: Right fielder Gabriel Guerrero hit his first home run in a Louisville uniform last night, and his second career homer at the Triple-A level. His last AAA homer came with Reno on June 26, 2016, a two-run walk-off home run in game two of a doubleheader to give the Aces a 6-4 victory over the Chihuahuas.
A CHANCE TO GO .500 AT HOME: With a win today, the Bats would improve to 13-13 at Louisville Slugger Field. Last season, LOU finished 15 games below .500 (28-43) in their home ballpark.