Louisville Bats Notes: 7-18-19

Game 97, Away 49
Louisville Bats (36-60) at Pawtucket Red Sox (39-56)
RHP Lucas Sims (5-0, 4.56) vs. RHP Teddy Stankiewicz (4-5, 4.12)
11:05 AM | Thursday, July 18, 2019 | McCoy Stadium
LISTEN: Nick Curran, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; iHeart app

FINAL MORNING GAME: The Bats play in their last scheduled pre-noon game of the 2019 season, set to face off against the PawSox in the series finale. Louisville's offense broke out on Wednesday night, scoring 8 runs on 9 hits after scoring a combined 2 runs on 11 hits in the series' first 2 games. LOU goes for the series tie with IL All-Star Lucas Sims on the mound.
AGAINST PAWTUCKET: With a win today, the Bats would not only tie the four-game series in their final game against Pawtucket in 2019, but also tie the all-time series at 94 games apiece. This season is the first since 2016 that Louisville and Pawtucket will conclude their matchups before the month of August.
TRANSACTIONS: As a corresponding move to the Cincinnati Reds purchasing the contract of C Juan Graterol, Louisville added C Chadwick Tromp to its 25-man roster late Wednesday afternoon. Tromp, who has been sidelined with a right rotator cuff strain since July 2018, has appeared in 16 games with the AZL Reds this season on injury rehab (.271, 13-for-48, 10r, 5 2b, 2hr, 16rbi, 11bb-10k).
- Tromp was the Bats' primary catcher a season ago, starting 50 games behind the plate in 2018. In 53 total apps with LOU, he batted .264 (46-for-174) with 20 runs, 8 doubles, one triple, 2 home runs, 14 RBI, 15 strikeouts and 24 strikeouts. Tromp's 12.3 strikeout percentage was the lowest on the 2018 Bats for players with at least 100 PA.
NAR3SO: Louisville's Narciso Crook had a huge Wednesday night in the 8-1 win, going 3-for-3 and reaching base all 4 times with a triple, home run and walk, tying a career-high 5 RBI. His bases-clearing triple in the seventh snapped an 0-for-16 team skid with runners in scoring position, with the three-bagger extending his team lead to 4 on the season. It was Crook's first career game with a triple and homer, joining Nick Longhi (4/14 at Gwinnett) as Bats to accomplish that feat in 2019.
ABNER DOUBLEDELAY: The Bats and PawSox sat through a rain delay that lasted 2 hours and 19 minutes, Louisville's second-longest delay of the season (3:53 on June 8 at Charlotte; second-longest in franchise history). In total this season, the Bats have experienced delays in 17 games and about 1,355 minutes of delay time, coming out to about 22 and a half hours. In 2018, LOU had delays in 14 different games, totaling 685 minutes of delay time, about 11 and a half hours.
SOMEBODY'S CLOSER: With 112 home runs as a team this season, Louisville is just one away from the 113 they hit in 2018. LOU is averaging 1.17 homers per game (112 HR in 96 G) this season, compared to 0.80 homers per game (113 HR in 137 G) last season. The Bats are currently on pace to hit approximately 163 home runs on the season, which would come close to their franchise-record 166 set by the 1999 Redbirds.
RUNNING THROUGH THE SIX: Louisville's starting pitchers' ERA dipped below the 6.00 mark last night after Major League rehabber Alex Wood twirled 2.0 scoreless innings before the rain delay. In LOU's last 3 games, starting pitchers Tejay Antone, Keury Mella and Wood have combined for a 2.57 ERA (4er/14.0ip). Going into Wednesday, the IL ERA in 2019 was 4.97, over a run above the 2018 mark of 3.84.
UCAS SIMS: FORGET THE 'L': Today's starting pitcher, RHP Lucas Sims, is 5-0 and the Bats are 11-5 when he makes a start. In his lone app with the Reds this season (5/28 at Pit), he earned the win, making his teams 12-5 (.706) when he toes the rubber in 2019.