Louisville Bats Notes: 5-11-19

Game 36, Home 19
Charlotte Knights (17-16) at Louisville Bats (15-20)
RHP José López (2-2, 5.28) vs. RHP Dylan Cease (2-1, 3.33)
6:30 PM | Saturday, May 11, 2019 | Louisville Slugger Field
LISTEN: Nick Curran & Jim Kelch, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; iHeart app

STAR WARS NIGHT: The Bats and Knights face off on Star Wars Night at Louisville Slugger Field, with the Bats coming off their second straight series-opening win at home. With a win tonight, the Bats would secure their first series win in their home ballpark this season, last winning a 3-game series at home in late July-early August of 2018. Tonight, right-hander José López leads Louisville against top White Sox pitching prospect, right-hander Dylan Cease.
AGAINST CHARLOTTE: The Bats welcome the Knights to Louisville Slugger Field for the first time this season, the first of 3 series against the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in 2019. Last season, Louisville took 2 of 3 from Charlotte in the clubs' lone series at LSF in April, and split a 4-game series at BB&T Ballpark in August. With 10 matchups scheduled in 2019, this season is just the second time in the past 10 seasons that the clubs will meet this many times, also occurring in 2017.
LAST HOME SERIES WIN: With a win tonight, Louisville would have its first home series win of 2019. LOU last won a home series on August 24-25 last season, winning both games of a 2-game set against Indianapolis. LOU last won a home series of 3+ games from July 30-August 1 last season, taking 2 of 3 from Toledo, in which they lost the opener in that series before winning the latter 2 games.
BLAKE SALE: Bats Gold Glove shortstop Blake Trahan had a fantastic night at the plate on Friday, going 4-for-4 with 3 extra-base hits. He registered a pair of doubles and a triple, with the three-bagger being his first of the season. He became just the second Bat with 3 extra-base hits in a game this season, joining Josh VanMeter, who did it via 3 homers on April 29 at Toledo. Trahan is also the first Bat with 2 doubles and a triple in the same game since VanMeter did it on August 19 last season, also against Charlotte.
LONGING FOR LONGHI: Nick Longhi went 3-for-4 with a double last night, his second straight 3-hit game. He is the second Bat with consecutive 3-hit games this season, joining Christian Colón, who actually had back-to-back games of 4 and 3 hits, respectively, on April 16-17 vs. Columbus, becoming the first LOU hitter with 7 hits over a 2-game span since Scott Schebler from July 25-26, 2016.
IT FEELS SO EMPTY WITHOUT ME(TER): The Bats are 3-2 in 5 games without IL home run leader Josh VanMeter, who had his contract selected by the Reds on Sunday. Without VanMeter, the Bats have gone homerless in 5 straight games, matching their season-long streak from April 19-24.
HALFWAY TO HALFWAY: With 35 games already played in the 2019 season, the Bats are now one-quarter of the way through their 140-game schedule. Holding a 15-20 record, they are 3 games better than their 2018 pace, when they owned a 12-23 record after 35 games.
YOU DOWN WITH O.D.D.: Bats starting pitcher Odrisamer Despaigne was the winning pitcher last night, with the right-hander lowering his season ERA to below 4 with a 5.0 inning, one-run outing to defeat Charlotte by a 5-1 score. It was his third win of the season and his second in a row, becoming the first Louisville pitcher to earn a win in back-to-back outings this season. Despaigne is the first Bats pitcher to do that since Cody Reed last season, on July 28 and August 2.