Louisville Bats Notes: 7-12-19

Game 91, Home 46
Toledo Mud Hens (41-49) at Louisville Bats (33-57)
LHP Alex Wood (0-1, 6.75, MLB Rehab) vs. RHP Kyle Funkhouser (1-4, 8.50)
7:00 PM | Friday, July 12, 2019 | Louisville Slugger Field
LISTEN: Nick Curran & Jim Kelch, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; TuneIn

THROWBACK WEEKEND: The Louisville Bats will party like it's 1999-2001 on Friday and Saturday night at Louisville Slugger Field, rebranding with the "RiverBats" moniker to throw it back to the turn of the millennium. Louisville looks to knot up the series against the Mud Hens, with University of Louisville product Kyle Funkhouser starting on the mound for Toledo.
AGAINST TOLEDO: With exactly 50 games left in the regular season, Louisville and Toledo meet 10 more times this season, with the Hens owning a 9-5 record against the Bats through the clubs' first 14 matchups this season. Going into play Friday, LOU has dropped 3 straight against the Mud Hens, after winning 2 straight against them.
WOOD ON REHAB: Cincinnati Reds left-hander Alex Wood is set to make his second Major League rehab appearance of 2019, making his season debut with the Bats in a rehab start on July 6 at Columbus (L, 1.1ip, 2h, 1er, 1bb, 2k). Wood will make his fifth career Triple-A start, and his second at Louisville Slugger Field, previously pitching there on June 13, 2014 with Gwinnett. Right-hander Sal Romano is tentatively expected to pitch for Louisville after Wood's departure.
TRANSACTIONS: The Bats were involved in a flurry of transactions both today and yesterday afternoon, with 3 players coming off the injured list. RHP Alex Powers, IF Blake Trahan and C Stuart Turner were all activated on July 11, with the latter two appearing in the Bats' starting lineup in the first game out of the All-Star break.
- In corresponding moves on Thursday, RHP Tristan Archer and OF Rob Refsnyder were both placed on the 7-day injured list.
- Today, IF/OF Josh VanMeter rejoined the club after being optioned by Cincinnati on July 10. To make room for him on the 25-man roster, RHP Brad Markey was placed on the Temporarily Inactive List.
- LHP Wandy Peralta left the Bats, with the Major League rehabber returning to Cincinnati after appearing in one game for Louisville. He tossed a scoreless inning with a strikeout on July 7 at Columbus in the club's final game before the break.
QUALITY STARTS: Right-hander Keury Mella tossed a quality start in Thursday's 3-2 loss, going 6.1 innings. It was the Bats' 22nd quality start (IP ≥ 6.0, ER ≤ 3) this season, with the team falling to 11-11 this season when receiving a quality start. By contrast, the 2018 Bats finished 36-12 when getting a quality start.
IL HOME RUNS: On Thursday, the International League hit its 1,555th and 1,556th home runs, tying and passing the league's home run total from the entire 2018 season (1,555). Rochester's Zander Wiel and Ronald Torreyes hit the homers, respectively, in game one of a doubleheader (W 13-5) vs. Lehigh Valley.
- With 1,584 HR through 1,254 games, IL clubs are averaging about 1.26 HR per game. In 2018, there were 1,555 HR in 1,948 games, about 0.80 HR per game.
JUST ONE GOT IT DONE: The Bats have lost back-to-back games despite holding their opponents' scoring to just one inning in each of those 2 games. Before the active 2-game stretch, Louisville had only lost once this season when their opponent scored in just one inning: May 2 at Indianapolis (L 5-3).