Louisville Bats Notes: 8-21-19

Game 128, Away 65
Louisville Bats (53-74) at Columbus Clippers (73-54)
RHP Tyler Mahle (0-1, 20.25, MLB Rehab) vs. RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (6-8, 5.48)
6:35 PM | Wednesday, August 21, 2019 | Huntington Park
LISTEN: Nick Curran, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; iHeart app

TONIGHT'S GAME: Louisville and Columbus continue their four-game series with the Bats looking to avoid clinching a series loss tonight. The Bats have dropped each of their last 2 games against Columbus despite out-hitting the Clippers 19-8 over the contests, leaving a combined 17 runners on base.
AGAINST COLUMBUS: The Clippers took a 2-0 advantage in the current series with Tuesday's 5-0 win, the first time Columbus had shut out Louisville in a game since April 16, 2017, when COL won 8-0 at Huntington Park with a masterful pitching performance from Mike Clevinger. Louisville has been streaky in Columbus this season, winning 3 in a row (April 9-July 4), losing 3 straight (July 5-7), winning 2 straight (July 31-August 1) and now losing 2 straight (August 19-20).
BEST IN THE WEST: Despite losing 5 of their last 6, the Bats are the only team in their division with a winning record since the All-Star break.

REHABILITATED? WELL, NOW, LET ME SEE…: Right-hander Tyler Mahle is set to make his second rehab start for LOU tonight, with Derek Dietrich and Curt Casali both appearing in the Bats' lineup last night. Louisville has had 10 players (compared to 8 last year) on Major League rehab assignment this season: C Tucker Barnhart, IF Alex Blandino, Casali, Dietrich, C Kyle Farmer, IF Scooter Gennett, Mahle, LHP Wandy Peralta, RHP Robert Stephenson and LHP Alex Wood.
WE SOAR WHEN BELOW FOUR: In 45 games since July 1, Louisville's pitching staff leads the International League with the lowest ERA. The Bats are the only team with a staff ERA below the 4.00 mark since that date.

SHUTOUT LOSS: Louisville was shut out for just the fourth time this season, falling to 5-4 this season in shutout games. It was their first shutout loss since August 4 vs. Toledo, and their second on the road this season, last occurring on May 15 at Syracuse in game 2 of a doubleheader. Last night was LOU's first shutout loss on the road in a 9+ inning game since August 13, 2018 at Gwinnett.
ZERO WALKS: Louisville's offense did not draw a base on balls last night, the eighth game this season in which LOU did not register a free pass. The Bats are 2-6 when failing to draw a walk, winning on April 11 vs. Gwinnett (7-6) and July 27 vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (8-1).
SINGLES ONLY: For just the fifth time this season, LOU did not record an extra-base hit, falling to 0-5 in those games. With last season included, the Bats are 1-12 when failing to record an extra-base hit, with the lone win coming on July 29, 2018 vs. Rochester (3-2).