Louisville Bats Notes: 7-5-19

Game 87, Away 43
Louisville Bats (33-53) at Columbus Clippers (52-33)
RHP Vladimir Gutierrez (2-6, 7.03) vs. RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (5-5, 4.99)
7:15 PM | Friday, July 5, 2019 | Huntington Park
LISTEN: Nick Curran, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; TuneIn

BATS GO FOR SEASON LONG WIN STREAK: Louisville will look to make it a season-high 4 wins in a row against the Clippers tonight, with right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez on the mound. The Bats dominated with a 7-0 win on Independence Day in the series opener yesterday, with Lucas Sims striking out 11 batters in what was Louisville's fifth shutout win of 2019.
AGAINST COLUMBUS: Louisville took a 6-5 advantage in the 2019 season series, earning their second shutout win over the Clippers this season. The Bats have outscored the Clip Show 63-52 this season, with Narciso Crook batting .556 (10-for-18), Nick Longhi .368 (14-for-38) and Christian Colón .304 (14-for-46) against them in the season series.
WINNING WAYS: The Bats have now won 5 of their last 6 games, their second such stretch of 2019, also occurring from May 26-31. Louisville also comes into play Friday with a three-game winning streak, the fourth time this season they have achieved their season-best win streak. With a win tonight, LOU would have its longest win streak since rattling off 4 straight victories from July 31-Aug. 3 last season at Toledo (7/31-8/1) and at Columbus (8/2-8/3).
SHUTOUT ON THE ROAD: Louisville's 7-0 win Thursday night was their fifth shutout win of the season, and first since May 31 at Norfolk. LOU is now tied for the second-most shutout victories in the league, owning a 5-2 record in shutout games this season, with their .714 winning percentage ranking third in the IL. Interestingly, all 5 of LOU's shutout wins this season have come on the road.
ONLY WANNA BE WITH TWO: Right-hander Lucas Sims (7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K) and left-hander Eric Stout (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K) combined to allow just 2 Columbus hits last night, both singles. It was the fewest number of hits recorded by a Louisville opponent since July 24, 2018, when Buffalo recorded just 2 hits in a 3-0 Bats win in game one of a doubleheader. It was the fewest in a nine-inning game since May 6, 2018, when Norfolk recorded just 2 hits in a 2-1 Tides win at Harbor Park.
H100ME RUNS: Christian Colon and Brian O'Grady went back-to-back in the second inning as part of Louisville's five-run inning, the fifth time the Bats have gone back-to-back this season, with O'Grady being involved in 3 of them, and Colon in each of the last two. As a team, LOU has 99 home runs, set to reach 100 home runs in 2 straight seasons after hitting 113 as a team in 2018. Before last season, the Bats had gone 5 consecutive seasons (2013-17) hitting fewer than 100 home runs as a club, topping out at 94 (2013).
- With 99 homers through 86 games, LOU is on pace to finish with approximately 161 home runs, which would set a new Bats record (160 HR in 2010), and nearly break the all-time franchise record (166 HR in 1999).
SPEAKING OF HOMERS: The International League totaled 1,555 home runs as a league in 2018, with teams averaging approximately 0.80 home runs per game. With 3 days of action before the 2019 All-Star break, there have already been 1,507 home runs hit across the league, coming out to about 1.27 team home runs per game.