Louisville Bats Notes: 6-16-19

Game 69, Home 36
Buffalo Bisons (31-35) at Louisville Bats (27-41)
RHP Keury Mella (4-5, 4.74) vs. RHP David Paulino (0-1, 3.80)
2:00 PM | Sunday, June 16, 2019 | Louisville Slugger Field
LISTEN: Nick Curran & Jim Kelch, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; iHeart app

HOMESTAND FINALE: Louisville wraps up a 6-game homestand against a pair of IL North Division opponents before heading to Gwinnett to embark on a season-long 8-game road trip. With a win today, the Bats would have their second series victory at home this season. Right-hander Keury Mella, who started in the first game of the homestand, will take the mound for Louisville.
AQUINO HIT STREAK: Right fielder Aristides Aquino extended his hitting streak to 19 games yesterday with a two-run homer in the first inning, the third time in his last 4 games that he's extended the streak with a home run. With a hit in his next game, Aquino will become just the third Louisville player all-time with a hitting streak of 20+ games.

80 HOME RUNS: Aquino's second blast on Saturday night was Louisville's 80th as a team this season, now on pace for approximately 165 home runs this season, which would be one shy of the franchise record 166 set by the 1999 RiverBats. Last season, Louisville hit its 80th homer as a team on July 28, when Steve Selsky hit a solo bomb in the second inning of a 5-2 win vs. Rochester, in the team's 102nd game of the year.
REVERSE THE FIRST: Louisville took a 2-0 lead in the first inning before Buffalo scored 8 unanswered runs in the eventually 11-8 loss on Saturday night. With the loss, the Bats fall to 17-18 this season when scoring first in a game, a category in which they finished last in the league in 2018. While it's still less than halfway through the season, the last IL club to finish a season under the .500 mark when scoring first in games are the 2011 Norfolk Tides, who finished 32-35 when scoring first.
50 STEALS?: Second baseman Sherman Johnson recorded a stolen base last night, Louisville's 49th as a club this season, ranking fifth in the league. Last season, Louisville swiped its 50th bag of the year on July 20, when Brandon Dixon stole a base in a 5-0 win at Syracuse.
TOTALLY AWESOME: Louisville comes into play Sunday with 989 total bases as a team, 11 away from reaching the 1,000 mark. In 2018, the Bats reached the 1,000 mark on June 29 at Toledo when Mason Williams hit a home run in the ninth inning of an 8-4 loss.
MULTI-HOMER EFFORTS: Aristides Aquino hit 2 home runs on Saturday night, the 16th individual multi-homer game for Louisville this season, surpassing their total from the previous 6 seasons (2013-18) combined. The 16 are already a franchise record, surpassing the 1999 RiverBats (11) back on May 30.
AGAINST BUFFALO: The Bats and Bisons face off for what will be their final matchup of the 2019 season. Louisville hopes to not only win the series against the Bisons, but also finish the season with a tied record, coming into play 2-3 against them. Last season, Louisville went 3-1 against Buffalo with all 4 games coming at Louisville Slugger Field.
STEPHENSON OFF REHAB: Right-hander Robert Stephenson (cervical strain) was returned to Cincinnati today following a Major League rehab stint with the Bats. In 2 relief apps, Stephenson went 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA (1er/2.0ip), allowing 3 hits, walking one with 3 strikeouts.