Louisville Bats Notes: 5-26-19

Game 49, Home 26
Toledo Mud Hens (18-27) at Louisville Bats (18-30)
RHP Keury Mella (2-4, 5.20) vs. LHP Tyler Alexander (1-5, 7.57)
6:00 PM | Sunday, May 26, 2019 | Louisville Slugger Field
LISTEN: Nick Curran & Jim Kelch, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; iHeart app

SUNDAY NIGHT GAME: The Louisville Bats and Toledo Mud Hens meet in the penultimate game of the four-game series and the Bats' seven-game homestand, with right-hander Keury Mella set to pitch for Louisville. With the Memorial Day weekend schedule, tonight marks the first of 2 scheduled Sunday night games for the Bats, with the other being at Louisville Slugger Field on September 1 on Labor Day weekend.
AGAINST TOLEDO: By winning the first 2 games of the series, the Toledo Mud Hens (212-213) have drawn within one game of tying the all-time series with Louisville through 425 matchups. The Bats look to stave off the Hens from evening the series for the first time in several years, with Toledo inching closer by winning the season series in each of the past 5 years, going 73-39 against the Bats from 2014-18, and 79-42 including this season.
REFRESENTING: Outfielder Rob Refsnyder went 3-for-5 on Saturday, his third straight multi-hit game. He joins Nick Longhi as the only Louisville players this season with 3+ consecutive multi-hit games, with Longhi doing it in 4 straight from May 9-12. Refsnyder not only carries an active 6-game hitting streak, but has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games and reached base in each of his last 11.
TRANSACTIONS: Before yesterday's game, the Bats added LHP Juan Martinez to their roster, with RHP Johendí Jiminian being transferred back to Class AA Chattanooga in a corresponding move. Today, Louisville added RHP Wendolyn Bautista, who has pitched in 5 games (3 starts) with the Bats from 2017-18. In 16 games (one start) between Daytona and Chattanooga this season, Bautista is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA (11er/25.2ip) and 5 saves, walking 6 and striking out 31.
LAST NIGHT: Louisville tied its season-high losing streak with a fifth straight loss on Saturday night, last winning on May 19 at Buffalo. Louisville pitching surrendered a season-high 18 runs on 21 hits, a night after Toledo scored 12 runs on 15 hits. The 18 runs given up are the most LOU's given up in a game since May 31, 2014 in a 19-3 loss at Columbus, also the last time LOU had lost by 16+ runs. The 21 hits surrendered are the most LOU's allowed in a game since allowing 22 hits on July 7, 2017 vs. Charlotte.
30 IN 2: The 30 runs Toledo's scored over the first 2 games of the series are the most runs Louisville's given up in back-to-back games since 2000. The record for most runs scored against Louisville in a 3-game span was set last season, when the Bats allowed a combined 41 runs from June 21-23.
FIRST INNING SCORE: The Bats scored first in yesterday's game when Brian O'Grady's RBI double scored Longhi, making it the first time on the homestand that Louisville scored first, with Indianapolis and Toledo scoring in the top of the first frame in each of the first 4 games of the homestand before Jackson Stephens tossed a 1-2-3 first last night. The Bats are now 12-10 when scoring first in a game this season.