Louisville Bats Notes: August 31

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Louisville Bats and Indianapolis Indians meet in the series opener of a four-game split series tonight at Victory Field. The Bats finish up their 7-game road trip with 2 games at Indianapolis, where they started the road trip last Sunday and Monday on the back-end of another split series. Tonight, left-hander Brandon Finnegan makes his first start for Louisville since being moved to the bullpen in late June.

AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: The Bats and Indians wrap up the 2018 season with a 4-game series, 2 at each team's ballpark. In the overall season series, the clubs are knotted at 8-8, with each team going 5-3 in their home ballpark coming into play Friday. During their last matchup this past Monday, Louisville dominated, winning 14-2 and scoring their most runs in a game since early in the 2016 season.
TRANSACTIONS: The Louisville Bats, in conjunction with the Cincinnati Reds, made several roster moves, including adding 3 new players to the Louisville roster.
-Outfielder C.J. McElroy was placed on the disabled list. McElroy, who has not appeared in a game since August 27, has batted .193 (27-for-140) with 10 stolen bases in 39 games for the Bats this season.
-Right-hander Matt Wisler was recalled to Cincinnati, set to make his Reds debut when he takes the mound. In 8 games (2 starts) for LOU, he is 1-1 with a 1.83 ERA (4er/19.2ip) with a stellar 21:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
-The Bats added 3 players: outfielder Preston Tucker and right-handers Rob Wooten and Rookie Davis . Tucker, who is batting .189 (7-for-37) with 2 homers and 5 RBI in 17 games with Cincinnati since coming over in a July 30 trade from Atlanta, will make his Bats debut tonight. Wooten and Davis, both coming off injuries, each pitched for Louisville last season.
WHOA, HERE HE COMES, HE'S A VANMETER: Leadoff hitter Josh VanMeter went 2-for-4 with a 2-run home run in the top of the second inning, also drawing a walk in the Bats' dominant 8-1 win victory over the Columbus Clippers on Thursday night. VanMeter has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .409 (18-for-44) with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs and 13 RBI during that span. His 1.310 OPS in that time frame is second to only Durham's Austin Meadows (1.382). His RBI are second to only Gwinnett's Austin Riley (16), while his 12 XBH are 3 more than the next-closest batters, Meadows and Riley, who have 9.
THE NOTORIOUS B. O'G: Left fielder Brian O'Grady went 1-for-3 with a walk, double and run scored, extending his hitting streak to 8 games. Since joining Louisville on July 21, O'Grady is batting .313 (40-for-128) with 26 runs scored, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 7 home runs and 25 RBI in 38 games.
BE THERE IN A SECOND!: The Bats scored 5 runs in last night's 8-1 win over Columbus, their most successful inning this season. The Bats have outscored their opponents in the second inning of ballgames this season by a 66-56 advantage, with their +10 run differential in that inning ranking the best. Last night's second inning was started off by back-to-back doubles by Brain O'Grady and D.J. Peterson , and was finished off by Josh VanMeter's 11th homer for Louisville this season, a two-run blast.