Louisville Bats Notes: May 7

BATS OPEN HOMESTAND AGAINST INDY: The Bats open up a seven-game homestand against the Indianapolis Indians Monday night at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats look to snap their season-long six-game losing streak with right-hander Zach Neal making a spot start for recent MLB call-up, right-hander Jackson Stephens . Tonight's the first of 20 meetings between the IL West division rivals, and the first of 10 meetings between the clubs at Louisville Slugger Field.

TRANSACTIONS: The Cincinnati Reds recalled right-hander Jackson Stephens to the 25-man roster today. Stephens has made 8 appearances (4 starts) with the Redlegs, including one relief app this season, going 2-1 with a 5.19 ERA (15er/26.0ip) with 9 walks and 22 strikeouts.
- The Bats added a pair of players to their roster today: right-hander Tanner Rainey and outfielder Gabby Guerrero . Rainey has bounced between Cincinnati and Louisville this season, dominating Triple-A hitters with the Bats, with no runs allowed in 9.2 innings of work, recording 2 saves to go along with just 3 walks and 17 strikeouts.
- Guerrero is set to make his Bats debut tonight, having previously played in 34 games at Class AAA with the Reno Aces in the Diamondbacks organization. The outfielder was signed to a minor league contract by the Reds on December 3, 2016, and played in 26 games for Class AA Pensacola to begin the 2018 season, hitting .296 (29-for-98) with 2 home runs, 16 RBI and 3 stolen bases.
- Catcher Stuart Turner was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a left oblique strain, retroactive to May 5.
AGAINST INDIANAPOLIS: Last season, the Bats went just 8-15 against the Indians, 4-7 in their home ballpark. The defending IL West Champions outscored Louisville 117-64 in the 23 contests. In an interesting International League scheduling quirk, Louisville and Indianapolis did not have their first scheduled game against each other until June 22, playing all 23 of their matchups from that point on.
DIXON REMAINS SCORCHING: Bats versatile slugger Brandon Dixon went 3-for-5 in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Norfolk Tides. He increased his hitting streak to 7 games, tying his longest hit streak of the season. In 22 games with plate appearances this season, Dixon has reached base in 21 of them, including going 2-for-2 in pinch-hit appearances. He has hit safely in 18 of the 22 games, now batting .329 (27-for-82) on the season, ranking 5th in the league in batting.
SCORING FIRST HURTS: After losing 2-1 yesterday despite scoring first on a D.J. Peterson solo home run in the top of the fourth inning, the Bats fell to 5-11 when scoring first in a game, by far the league's worst winning percentage when scoring first at .313. On the contrary, the Bats are 4-6 when their opponent scores first, a very solid .400 winning percentage given the scenario. Last season, LOU also had the worst record in the IL when scoring first, going 38-27 (.585).
MAY FLOWERS?: The Bats have started the month of May with 6 straight losses, the first time they have lost the first 6 games of a month since they dropped the first 6 games of September 2015, before winning their season finale on September 7, a 3-2 home win over Indianapolis. If the Bats lose tonight, they will have lost 7 straight games to open a month for the first time since July 2014.