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Columbus Catfish game notes

July 2, 2005 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Columbus Catfish News Release


Tonight at Golden Park: The Columbus Catfish (32-45 overall, 4-4 2nd half, T-2nd SALSouthern) take on the Greensboro Grasshoppers (39-38 Overall, 4-4 2nd Half, 5th SAL-Northern), the Class A Affiliate of the Florida Marlins in the third game of a four-game series. The teams have split the first two games of the series as the Grasshoppers hung onto a 3-2 victory in the bottom of the ninth inning last night. The Fish are 2-4 against the Grasshoppers this season and this will be the only series of the season between the two teams at Golden Park. Tonight at 7 PM, RHP Jarod Plummer makes his debut for the Catfish in 2005. Plummer pitched in six games for the Vero Beach Dodgers and one for the GCL Dodgers in early 2005 while pitching four games for the Catfish in 2004.

Yesterday: Columbus Catfish PR Brandon Carter was thrown out at the plate to end the game in an attempt to score the tying run, as the Catfish fell just shy of a second straight comeback win falling 3-2 to Greensboro. The Fish sat through a 51-minute rain delay at Golden Park and once again rallied with a clutch hit in the late innings, but Greensboro scored on an unearned run in the eighth inning to prevail. LHP Wesley Wright took the loss for Columbus despite allowing just one unearned run in four innings for the Fish. The Catfish drop back to 4-4 in the second half (32-45 overall) with the loss to the Grasshoppers, who tie the series at one game apiece with their win.

Vs. Greensboro: The Catfish are 2-4 vs. the Grasshoppers this season after the split in the first two games of this series and finishing 1-3 during June 7-10 series at First Horizon Ballpark in Greensboro. The Catfish were outscored 22-12 in the first three games of the series in Greensboro, but did pick up a Game 4 victory when RHP Blake Johnson, RHP Brian Akin, and RHP Kyle Wilson combined to shutout the Grasshoppers over the final 8.2 innings to win 3-1. Recently promoted INF Cole Bruce went 6-12 with 3 HR in the series for the Fish while Grasshopper INF Brian Cleveland had an 8-16 performance in the four games against Columbus.

The Grasshoppers: The Greensboro Grasshoppers are the third year Class A Affiliate of the Florida Marlins. This season, the Grasshoppers changed their name (from the Bats) while also moving into a new downtown facility, First Horizon Ballpark. Managed by Brandon Hyde, the Hoppers finished in fourth place in the Northern Division in the first half, 6.5 games back of first place Hagerstown. Greensboro is tied for 14th in the league in team BA (.245) but does have 76 HR this season (3rd SAL). 1B Brad McCann leads the way for the Hoppers with 15 HR and 50 RBI after Thursday's 3-4, HR, 4 RBI performance. The Hoppers team ERA is 3.74 ERA, 6th in SAL. RHP Craig Molldrem is 6-1 with a 2.83 ERA in 16 appearances to lead the staff.

Home Sweet Home: Overall, the Catfish are 12-26 on the road in 2005, while they sport a 20-19 record at Golden Park. Columbus has won just two of ten road series this season after beating the Rome Braves in two of three games last weekend. The Fish have hit the ball better at home, posting a .284 home batting average with an average of 5.10 runs per game while hitting just .236 on the road and averaging just 3.79 runs per game. Columbus has hit 29 of 48 HR at home this season. The Fish will play 12 of the next 14 games on the road.

Hitting Notes: The Catfish have a team batting average of .260 (7th in the SAL) and are now 12th in the SAL in runs with 343. The Catfish have hit 48 HR, tenth in the SAL. CF Jamie Hoffmann leads the team with a .305 batting average and is fourth in the league with 94 hits. SS Lucas May leads the club with 46 RBI. 2B Travis Denker leads the squad with 12 HR after his three-run shot on Thursday.

Pitching Notes: The Catfish team ERA stands now at 3.85 after 77 games (7th SAL). The Catfish did have the league's highest ERA as recently as May 2nd. RHP Chris Malone has a team best 7-3 record, while RHP Blake Johnson (6-3, 2.90) follows close behind and was the pitching staff's representative at the SAL All-Star Game. LHP Carlos Alvarez led the pitching staff out of the bullpen with a 0.93 ERA, having allowed just four earned runs in 38.2 innings and striking out 63 batters before being called up to AA Jacksonville last Friday. RHP Albenis Castillo has pitched well out of the bullpen lately and leads the team in saves with four.

Team Defense: The Catfish have committed 96 errors in 77 games this season. The Catfish committed two errors last night in the 3-2 loss. The multi-error game is the first for the Fish since June 13th, a span of 13 games.

Since May 23rd: The Catfish entered Saturday, May 23rd's contest against Savannah having lost seven straight games and sporting a 13-31 record. On the 23rd, the Catfish started a season-best five-game winning streak, and in the last 33 games the Fish are 19-14, including a 11-7 mark at Golden Park. The Catfish have improved their batting average 13 points during the stretch, as an improved offense has been a major part of the turnaround.

June Boom: The month of June was the first for month over .500 for Columbus (13-11). The Catfish hit .282 during the month with a team ERA of 4.24. CF Jamie Hoffmann led the South Atlantic League in June with 38 hits and was second in the league with a .384 average. 2B Travis Denker was second in the SAL with 23 RBI during June. The Catfish hit 20 HR as a team (2nd in the SAL), eight of which came on June 16th against Rome. RHP Blake Johnson led the pitching staff with three wins and a 2.05 ERA.

Roster Change: RHP Jarod Plummer makes his return to the Catfish today as the starting pitcher. Plummer pitched in four games in 2004, going 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA for the Catfish last year and also pitched in nine games for the South Georgia Waves in 2003. In 2005, he split time between the Vero Beach and GCL Dodgers, going 1-1 with 2.31 ERA in six games for Vero Beach and 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA for the GCL squad in one game.

Hoffmann's Hot Streak: Since a hitless game on June 10th against Kannapolis, CF Jamie Hoffmann has raised his batting average 33 points to .305 with hits in thirteen of fifteen games and is currently on an eight-game hitting streak. The second-year pro from New Ulm, MN leads the Catfish in batting average and is fourth in the league with 94 hits. Hoffmann is 27 for his last 62 (.435) in that period of game with eight multi-hit games in the 15 game stretch.

One Run Games: This season the Catfish are 4-19 in one-run games. The Catfish's 6-5 win on Thursday night was their first one-run game victory since May 4th against Augusta. Prior to the win on Thursday, the Fish had lost the last 11 one-run games they played.

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