Louisville Bats Notes: August 8

TONIGHT'S GAME: The Bats look to snap their three-game skid tonight with left-hander Cody Reed on the mound, coming off one of the best starts of his career. Last night, Louisville dropped yet another one-run game, trailing 3-0 in the third inning and eventually losing by a 3-2 score. Tonight, the Bats hope to avoid losing their first series in nearly a month, when they were swept in 4 games by Columbus at Louisville Slugger Field. Since then, the Bats own a 5-0-1 series record.

AGAINST PAWTUCKET: The Bats and PawSox meet for a three-game series at Louisville Slugger Field. The clubs met about two months ago at McCoy Stadium, with Pawtucket taking two of three games. Louisville won the series opener in that matchup by a 7-4 score, dropping the next games by 8-1 and 5-1 scores. Last season, Louisville won the season series against the PawSox, taking four of six games.
SO DONE WITH ONE RUN: The Bats have dropped each of their last 3 games by just one run, falling to 12-16 (.429) in games decided by one run this season. It's the first time since May 19-21, 2017 that Louisville has played in 3 straight one-run games, going 2-1 in those games. It's the first time Louisville has lost 3 straight one-run games since August 11-13, 2011, with their first loss coming in extra innings, just like their current 3-game losing streak of one-run games.
TRYING TO GET BACK ON TRACK: Since falling to a season-high 20 games below the .500 mark (35-55) on July 16, the Bats are 15-6 in their last 21 games despite losing their last 3 games. The 20-game run includes a 9-game winning streak from July 17-25, their longest win streak since the 2010 season.
BATS ADD REYES: Right-hander Jesús Reyes was optioned to Class AAA Louisville. He pitched in one game for Cincinnati on August 4, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings of relief in his Major League debut at Nationals Park in Washington. In 4 games with the Bats this season, Reyes is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA (1er/6.2ip) with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts.
STEPHENSON GETS THE CALL: Right-hander Robert Stephenson was recalled to Cincinnati on Wednesday and is expected to start for the Reds today at Citi Field against the New York Mets.
-In 20 starts for Class AAA Louisville this season, Stephenson is 11-6 with a 2.87 ERA (36er/113.0ip), allowing 74 hits, 57 walks, and striking out 135.
-His 11 wins are tied for the IL lead, his 2.87 ERA ranks 5th, his 135 strikeouts rank 2nd, his 10.75 K-per-9 ratio ranks 2nd, and his .184 batting average against leads the IL (by 32 pts... 2nd-best is Michael Kopech , CHA (.216)).
-For July 23-29, Stephenson won IL Pitcher of the Week honors, going 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA (2er/14.0ip) in 2 starts, allowing just 3 hits, with 7 walks and 8 strikeouts.
-In 7 starts since June 25, Stephenson is 6-0 with a 1.23 ERA (6er/44.0ip), allowing 23 hits, two home runs, walking 17 and striking out 55. He leads the IL in ERA, WHIP (0.91), and batting average against (.152) in that span, with LOU going 7-0 in his last 7 starts.
-He's thrown 5 consecutive quality starts, the first Louisville pitcher to do that since Stephenson did it himself, from June 26 - July 23, 2016.
-Stephenson's 13 strikeouts in his most recent start at Columbus on 8/3 were a career-high for the right-hander.