Louisville Bats Notes: May 15

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Louisville Bats and Durham Bulls begin a three-game series with all three first pitches set for 7:05 p.m. The series will be the first of three between the Bats and Bulls in 2018. The Bats are embarking on their longest road trip of the season, playing a combined 10 against the Durham Bulls (3), Norfolk Tides (3) and Indianapolis Indians (4), before coming home to start their longest homestand (10 games) this season from May 25-June 3 at Louisville Slugger Field.

AGAINST DURHAM: Louisville has not played Durham 10+ times in a season since 2010, when they faced off 8 times in the regular season (LOU went 3-5) and 5 times in the postseason, with Durham taking two of three. It's the first time the two clubs will meet this many times in the regular season since 2007, when LOU went 4-8 against Durham. Last season, Louisville and Durham split 6 matchups, with each club winning two of three on the road, dropping their respective home series.
DIXON'S HOT STREAK: Brandon Dixon has been excellent for Louisville recently, going 3-for-4 with 2 doubles in the Bats' 10-4 home loss to Toledo on Sunday. Since the beginning of May, Dixon is batting .377 (20-for-53) in 13 games with 6 doubles, 2 home runs, 5 RBI, 4 stolen bases to go along with a .400 on-base percentage and 1.004 OPS.
International League - Highest Batting AVG in May (min. 30 AB)
            IND       Kevin Newman   .435
            IND       Jordan Luplow    .390
            LHV      Joey Meneses   .390
            IND       Pablo Reyes      .385
            LOU     Brandon Dixon            .377
            NOR     Alex Presley      .368
LET'S GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY: The Toledo Mud Hens had a historic day at Louisville Slugger Field in the Bats' last game on Sunday, May 13. The Mud Hens hit 6 home runs, the most hit by a single team at Louisville Slugger Field since the park opened in 2000. Ronny Rodríguez and Christin Stewart each hit 2 home runs, going back-to-back in the sixth inning. It was the first time 2 players recorded at least 2 homers in the same game against the Bats since July 19, 2014 in game two of a doubleheader in a road game against the Mud Hens. In that game, Brandon Douglas and Mike Hessman each hit a pair of home runs against the Bats.
ON THE ROAD: The Bats have played 22 games at Louisville Slugger Field this season, more home games than any other team in the International League so far in 2018. Durham has actually played the second-most home games this season, tied with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with 20 home games played. LOU starts its longest road trip of the season (10), before starting its longest homestand of the season (10) directly after.
LEFTY-LEFTY-LEFTY: For the three-game series against the Durham Bulls, Louisville is expected to start three left-handers in a row (Justin Nicolino, Brandon Finnegan, Cody Reed ). The last time the Bats started three straight lefties was April 13-15, 2014, when left-handers David Holmberg, Jeff Francis and Sean Marshall started all three games of a home series against the Toledo Mud Hens, with the Bats going 1-2 in those games.