Louisville Bats Notes: June 22

BATS AND TIDES OPEN SERIES: Louisville and Norfolk begin a three-game series at Louisville Slugger Field, the last of three meetings between the clubs in 2018. Left-hander Brandon Finnegan is set to face the Tides for the first time since 2015, with the Bats hoping to win their first series opener at home since June 1 vs. the Gwinnett Stripers. Despite the 13-3 loss to Durham on Thursday night, Nick Senzel kept up his torrid pace by hitting 2 home runs for the Bats, the first multi-home run game by a LOU player this season.

AGAINST NORFOLK: The Bats and Tides have already met 7 times this season, all at Harbor Park. NOR has dominated the season series to this point, winning 6 of 7. The Tides have outscored the Bats 32-23 this season, with LOU outhomering NOR 9-8. Five of the Bats' six losses to the Tides this season have come by 2 or fewer runs, with the one outlier being an 8-3 loss on May 5. Dating back to last season, 13 of the last 14 matchups have been decided by 2 or fewer runs.
HALFTIME: With the Bats' 69th game of the season tonight, they will have officially crossed the halfway point of their regular season. After three cancellations (two at Buffalo; one at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre), LOU is set to play a 137-game regular season schedule.
TRANSACTIONS: On Thursday the Bats added to their roster outfielder Nick Longhi from Class AA Pensacola, and left-hander Wandy Peralta , who was optioned by Cincinnati. Longhi came over in a trade from Boston last season, and has appeared in 58 games for the Blue Wahoos this season. Peralta has made 37 appearances out of the Cincinnati bullpen this season, and spent most of 2016 with LOU, appearing in 37 games for his Louisville career, going 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 3 saves.
N11CK SENZEL: Infielder Nick Senzel is tied for the International League lead in hits in June with 29, batting .387 in the month which ranks tied for second among qualified hitters. He's had an excellent run since moving into the leadoff spot on June 9, batting .440 (22-for-50) with 10 runs, 5 doubles, 3 home runs, 12 RBI and 2 stolen bases in 11 games batting leadoff. His 11-game hit streak is the first double-digit hit streak for a Bats player this season, while his batting average before the run started was .256, with his season average now sitting at .310, 5th-best in the IL.
TWO HOME RUNS: Senzel went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI last night, supplying all of the team's runs. It was the first multi-homer game for the Reds' top prospect since August 13, 2017 with Class AA Pensacola vs. the Mobile BayBears. It was the first multi-homer game for a Bats player since August 20, when Brandon Dixon hit 3 home runs in a 13-6 win over Rochester.
RUNNING OF THE BULLS: Durham scored 13 runs on 17 hits against LOU last night, both tying season highs against the Bats this season. Durham's 6-run third inning is also the highest scoring inning against LOU this season, breaking a tie that had occurred five times and most recently on June 19 in the eighth inning, vs. Durham in the same series.
GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTERN: Over the Bats' last 8 games, the team has alternated wins and losses, going W-L-W-L-W-L-W-L since June 13.