Louisville Bats Notes: August 15

TONIGHT'S GAME: Louisville looks to avoid the sweep in the series finale tonight against the Gwinnett Stripers. The Bats lost a tough one in last night's middle game, leading throughout most of the contest before the Stripers took a 5-4 lead in the eighth, which was the game's final score. Tonight, right-hander Lucas Sims will take the mound for Louisville against his former club. The Bats have not been swept since their first series out of the All-Star break, dropping 4 home games to the Columbus Clippers from July 12-15.

AGAINST GWINNETT: The Bats and Stripers meet for the final time in 2018 tonight at Coolray Field. The clubs last met at the beginning of June, with Louisville earning its first series sweep of the 2018 season by winning 3 consecutive games against the Stripers, outscoring them 13-4. Last season, the Bats went 3-4 against the Gwinnett Braves, winning all 3 at Louisville Slugger Field, before dropping all 4 games at Gwinnett. The Bats look to avoid being swept in Lawrenceville in back-to-back seasons, trying to snap a 6-game losing streak at Coolray Field, last winning there during their final matchup in 2016.
TRANSACTIONS: On Tuesday the Louisville Bats activated outfielder Steve Selsky off the disabled list, last appearing in a game on July 31 before going 1-for-4 yesterday. Catcher Chadwick Tromp was placed on the 7-day DL with a right rotator cuff strain, retroactive to August 12. In 53 games with Louisville this season, Tromp is batting .264 (46-for-174) with 8 doubles, one triple, 2 home runs and 14 RBI.
LAST NIGHT: The Bats' offense came out swinging last night, scoring 2 runs in the top of the first after being shut out in back-to-back games. Brian O'Grady led off the game with a triple, the first time the Bats had done that since Mason Williams did it on July 19 at Syracuse. After mustering up just 5 hits in their previous 2 games, LOU recorded 4 hits in Tuesday's opening frame. LOU took a 3-1 lead in the fourth on a Josh VanMeter home run, but gave up the lead in the fifth, before regaining it in the sixth, and ultimately allowing GWN to tie it 4-4 in the seventh before the Stripers took a 5-4 lead in the eighth, clinching a series victory with the win.
HITS UP AND DOWN: One night after being one-hit, every position player in Louisville's starting lineup yesterday recorded a hit. Seven different batters recorded exactly one hit, while second baseman Josh VanMeter went 3-for-4 with his seventh home run for the Bats this season, his second three-hit game of 2018.
FAMILIAR FACES: The Bats have a pair of 2018 Gwinnett Stripers on their roster, right-handers Lucas Sims and Matt Wisler . Both pitchers, along with OF Preston Tucker , came over to the Cincinnati Reds in a July 30 trade that sent OF Adam Duvall to the Atlanta Braves. Sims went 4-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) for Gwinnett this season, while Wisler went 4-4 with a 4.37 ERA in 13 starts. Sims, who is from Lawrenceville and attended Brookwood HS in nearby Snellville, is listed as tonight's probable starter for Louisville.
SINCE THE WIN STREAK: Since falling to a season-high 20 games below the .500 mark (35-55) on July 16, the Bats are 17-11 in their last 28 games, but are just 2-8 over their last 10 contests. The 28-game stretch was started by a 9-game winning streak from July 17-25, the club's longest win streak since the 2010 season. Since the winning streak was snapped in a 4-3 home loss vs. Buffalo on July 26, the Bats are 8-11.
TONIGHT'S STARTER: RHP Lucas Sims (4-3, 2.68) (0-0, 1.64 w/LOU)
Last Time Out: Sims tossed a quality start in his second career outing as a member of the Bats, giving up just one run in 6.0 innings of work in an August 10 home start against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He got the no-decision, leaving the game with a 3-1 lead before the Pigs tied it up in the seventh. LOU's offense came through in the eighth on a pair of RBI hits from Taylor Sparks and Josh VanMeter. The Bats won 5-3, still their last victory as they have lost 4 straight ballgames since Sims' last start.
Triumphant Return: The Lawrenceville, Georgia native returns to Gwinnett County after spending parts of the past 3 seasons with the Gwinnett Braves/Stripers, Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. For his Gwinnett career, he appeared in 46 games (43 starts) from 2016-18, making 22 appearances (21 starts) at Coolray Field.
Gwinnett Career: In those 46 games, Sims went 13-13 with a 4.27 ERA (113er/238.1ip) with 107 walks and 273 strikeouts. In his 22 career games at Coolray Field, Sims went 9-5 with a 3.05 ERA (42er/124.0ip) with 49 walks and 132 strikeouts.
Familiar Foes: Sims will become the first Louisville pitcher to start against his former team in the same season he pitched for that former team since LHP Scott Diamond started for Louisville against the Rochester Red Wings on August 4, 2014. Diamond, who made 17 starts for the top farm club of the Minnesota Twins that season, was released by the Twins on July 12, and was signed as a free agent by the Reds on July 17.
Welcome to Louisville: Sims makes his third Louisville start after making his Cincinnati Reds organizational debut on August 4 after coming over in a July 30 trade from the Atlanta Braves, along with RHP Matt Wisler and OF Preston Tucker, in exchange for OF Adam Duvall.