Hillcats game notes
Published on May 17, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (16-24) @ FREDERICK KEYS (23-17)
May 17th, 2008 -- 4:00 PM @ Harry Grove Stadium
Game One: RHP Jared Hughes (1-5, 4.54) vs. RHP Brandon Erbe (3-3, 5.53)
Game Two: RHP Blair Johnson (1-0, 2.88) vs. TBA
THE HILLCATS: Last night Lynchburg opened a four-game series with Frederick by falling 10-4 at Harry Grove Stadium...The Hillcats are now 1-4 on this eight-game road trip...One of the two games today will be a make-up game of a contest rained out last Sunday in the Hill City...
VS. FREDERICK: Last year the Hillcats dominated the series with the Keys, winning 15 out of 20 games in 2007, including eight out of ten at Harry Grove Stadium...Frederick took two out-of-three from Lynchburg in the opening series of the season in Frederick and won two out-of-three in a rain shortened series at City Stadium...The Keys are now 5-2 against the Hillcats this season...The Cats have the all-time advantage 139-123, and are 66-62 at Frederick...
FALLING ON HARD TIMES: The Hillcats are 1-4 on this eight-game road trip, they have dropped six of seven overall and have fallen a season-high eight games under .500 and nine games out of first place...
WHERE'S THE LOVE: 3B Jim Negrych entered the day first in the league in hits (53), batting average (.376), and tied for first in RBI (26), second in on-base percentage (.451) and runs scored (28)...The former sixth round pick from 2006 recorded 17 multi-hit games in his first 28 starts this season, reached safely in 27 of his first 28 games played and he is hitting an astonishing .535 (23-for-43) with men in scoring position...Yet somehow he has not received one Carolina League Player-of-the-Week honors despite leading the league in four offensive categories in the first month of the season...
SCORELESS NO MORE: RHP Kyle Pearson started the season with 10 and 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball in nine appearances...He then allowed six runs in an inning and 2/3 in his last appearances to raise his ERA from 0.00 to 4.38...It was Pearson's second appearance back since a stint in Double-A Altoona where he allowed seven earned runs in in nine innings of work (7.00 ERA)...
UP AND DOWN: Through the first 12 games this year SS Angel Gonzalez was batting just .156 (7-for-45) with four runs scored...He then hit .325 (27-for-83) over the next 21 games with 17 runs...Since then he has batted just .037 (1-for-27) in his last seven games played with just one run scored...
WEARY OF WIETERS: A week ago today Keys catcher Matt Wieters hit his third home run in two games in a Keys victory...He has a pair of two-homer games off the Hillcats this season and now has five homers against Lynchburg in six games...The fifth overall pick in last year's draft hit two home runs in his first two professional at-bats against Lynchburg in the season opener in Frederick...In 2008 Wieters is batting .444 (8-for-18) with five home runs and eight RBI in six games versus the Cats...
WEIRD, WILD, WACKY STUFF: On Wednesday afternoon Lynchburg scored five runs in the first inning, then allowed six unanswered runs to relinquish their lead, followed that with seven runs of their own in a row to take a 12-6 advantage, and then the Warthogs scored five consecutive runs before their rally fell just short in the 12-11 win for the Hillcats...Warthogs starter Matt Long allowed five runs in the first and three in the sixth...In between those two innings he pitched four scoreless innings...Hillcats starter Daniel Moskos struck out six batters and only allowed one hit through three innings (finished with a career-high eight strikeouts)...He then allowed five runs in his final inning and 2/3...The game also featured the most combined runs (23) and doubles (13) in a Cats contest this year...
FRIDAY FEELING FINE: SS Brian Friday has now gone 24-for-69 (.348) in his last 17 games with 14 runs and ten doubles...The Cats lead-off hitter is now tied for third in the league with 27 runs scored...
CHANGING THINGS UP: Baseball America said LHP Tony Watson has the "Best Changeup" in the Pirates minor league system...The ninth round selection in the 2007 struckout 58 batters in 67.2 ip and walked just eight...
Carolina League Stories from May 17, 2008
- Warthogs and K-Tribe Split Doubleheader - Winston-Salem Dash
- Pelicans Shutout For The Second Time This Season - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Kinston Splits Double Dip With Winston-Salem - Kinston Indians
- Big innings, Norrito key victory - Potomac Nationals
- Potomac rushes to game two win - Salem RidgeYaks
- Keys Split Double-Header - Frederick Keys
- Pelicans Game Notes - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Hillcats game notes - Hill City Howlers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
