Game Notes: Louisville Bats (10-15) at Toledo Mud Hens (8-15)
April 30, 2019 - International League (IL1)
Louisville Bats News Release
Game 26, Away 12
Louisville Bats (10-15) at Toledo Mud Hens (8-15)
RHP Odrisamer Despaigne (1-1, 5.40) vs. RHP Kyle Funkhouser (0-3, 9.22)
6:35 PM | Tuesday, April 30, 2019 | Fifth Third Field
LISTEN: Nick Curran, 790 KRD; iHeartRadio.com; iHeart app
ON A TUESDAY: Louisville and Toledo meet in the middle game of a three-game series Tuesday night at Fifth Third Field. The Bats won convincingly in Monday's series opener, scoring a season-high 15 runs in a 15-4 win over the Hens. Josh VanMeter set a new Bats record for most RBI in a game with 8, hitting 3 home runs, including a grand slam. Tonight, right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne looks to lead the Bats to their third series victory of 2019.
15 RUNS: The Bats scored the most runs they have scored in a game since April 20, 2016 vs. Columbus, when they defeated the Clippers by a 16-5 score at Louisville Slugger Field. The 15 runs were the most the Bats have scored in a road game since June 25, 2015 in a 15-2 win at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
VANMETER'S HISTORIC NIGHT: Louisville third baseman Josh VanMeter went 4-for-5 with 4 runs scored, 3 home runs, 8 RBI and a walk in Monday night's 15-4 win, reaching base 5 times for the second time in a week. More notes on VanMeter:
8 Ribs: VanMeter's 8 RBI set a new Bats (since 2000) record, and tied Mark Dougherty with the 1987 Redbirds (June 21 vs. Denver) for most in a game in franchise history.
J.V.M.: The 3 homers tied a Louisville franchise record, the sixth time in franchise history it had been done, and the first since Brandon Dixon did it on August 20, 2017 vs. Rochester.
Multi-HR Games: VanMeter already has 3 multi-homer games in 2019, accounting for three-fifths of Louisville's as a team, with Brian O'Grady and Sherman Johnson accounting for the others. VanMeter became the first Bat with a 3-run and grand slam home run in the same game since Aaron Herr on August 9, 2007.
April Powers Bring May Flowers: The 11 home runs in April aren't just the most ever for a Bats hitter in April, they are tied for the most homers in any calendar month in Bats history, tied with only Juan Francisco's 11 in July 2010.
VANLEADER: The 24-year-old leads the International League in the following categories: home runs (11), RBI (28), hits (34), runs (23), total bases (72), slugging percentage (.783), OPS (1.236), weighted runs created plus [wRC+] (203) and just about every other major offensive statistic.
AGAINST TOLEDO: Louisville has won 2 straight games against the Mud Hens, outscoring them 23-8 in those contests, after dropping the first 3 games of the season against them. While the clubs meet for the second time at Fifth Third Field in the season's opening month, it's the first time that the clubs do not meet in Louisville during April since 2000, when the RiverBats hosted the Mud Hens for the first time that year from May 1-3.
SENZTACULAR: Center fielder Nick Senzel had a breakout performance yesterday, going 3-for-6 with a home run, 4 runs scored and 2 RBI. It was his first homer of the 2019 season, now hitting safely in each of his 6 games this year and 17 straight dating back to last season. Senzel and VanMeter went back-to-back in the ninth, the first back-to-back homers hit by Louisville this season. The pair also scored 4 runs each, the first time Louisville's had multiple players score 4 runs in a game since May 3, 2010, when Zack Cozart and Danny Dorn each scored 4 times in a 20-7 win at Buffalo.
LEAVING THE YARD: The Bats have hit 5+ home runs in a game just 3 times since 2010. Two of those games have come in the past 4 days, with Louisville also hitting 5 homers back on April 26 in the highest scoring game in Louisville Slugger Field history, a 16-14 loss to Norfolk. With one game left* in April, here's a look at Louisville's home run totals as a team in the first month of the season:
# of Home Runs in April, Louisville Bats as a Team
Season HR (Rank)
2019 31* (T-4th)
2018 13 (T-5th)
2017 15 (T-11th)
2016 6 (14th - Last)
2015 9 (9th)
International League Stories from April 30, 2019
- Bisons Sweep Twinbill with 4-3 Victories - Buffalo Bisons
- Red Wings Pound 'Riders, 11-2, Tuesday Night in Scranton - Rochester Red Wings
- Mets flex their muscle in win over IronPigs - Lehigh Valley IronPigs
- Pitching Leads Hens to Victory over Bats - Toledo Mud Hens
- Doubles Can't Ward off Double-Figure Trouble in 11-2 Setback - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
- Mets Finish Hot in April with 18-5 Victory over IronPigs - Syracuse Mets
- Two-Out Hits Key Stripers' Win in Charlotte - Gwinnett Stripers
- Miller Stays Hot in Buffalo's Doubleheader Sweep - Pawtucket Red Sox
- Knights Fall to Stripers 4-2 on Tuesday Night - Charlotte Knights
- Bats Shut Down against Mud Hens, 5-2 - Louisville Bats
- Indians Clipped by Columbus' Two-Run Ninth, Fall 7-6 - Indianapolis Indians
- Bulls Can't Dig out of Hole against Norfolk - Durham Bulls
- SWB Game Notes - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
- Game Notes: Louisville Bats (10-15) at Toledo Mud Hens (8-15) - Louisville Bats
- Bisons Game Notes - Buffalo vs. Pawtucket, DH (5:05 p.m.) - Buffalo Bisons
- 2019 Hensville Park Concert Series Announced - Toledo Mud Hens
- Osuna's MLB Rehab Transferred to Indianapolis - Indianapolis Indians
- Game Information: Indianapolis Indians (13-10) vs. Columbus Clippers (14-10) - Indianapolis Indians
- 2019 Ballpark Craft Beer Festival Friday, June 21 - Syracuse Mets
- Mets Rally to Top Pigs in Series Opener - Lehigh Valley IronPigs
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