SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Hagerstown Suns (Nationals) - May 16, 2013

Published on May 16, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS (14-22) vs. HAGERSTOWN SUNS (19-19)

THIRSTY THURSDAY PRESENTED BY PROMATS

Thursday, May 16, 2013 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

Game #37 (14-22) - Home Game #14 (4-9)

RHP Brandon Brennan (1-5, 8.42) vs. LHP Kylin Turnbull (2-1, 7.07)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) host the first-place Suns (A, Nationals) at CMC-NorthEast Stadium to open a four-game series and seven-game home stand tonight. Kannapolis is 4-9 at home while the Suns are a SAL-best 13-7 on the road. The Intimidators are coming off a road trip in which they went 3-4, including a series win at Asheville before being swept at Lexington. This is the first series between Kannapolis and Hagerstown in 2013. Today's pitching match up features a pair of fourth round picks out of California JuCo schools as Sox farmhand Brandon Brennan takes the ball against Nats prospect Kylin Turnbull. Kannapolis is currently tied with Lakewood for sixth in the 7-team SAL Northern Division, 8.0 games behind the Division-leading Suns.

Intimidating Starter: Brandon Brennan, 21, makes his eighth start of the season and first against a National affiliate. He is coming off three straight losses and five in his last six starts, tying for the second-most losses in the SAL. His 29 earned runs allowed are tied for the most on the circuit. With a career-high six walks in his last start, Brennan is looking to bounce back from his third appearance in which he allowed six earned runs. Baseball America rated Brennan the No. 23 Prospect in the White Sox organization after Chicago selected him in the fourth round last June out of Orange Coast (Calif.) C.C. He went 11-1 with a 1.25 ERA at Orange Coast before making his professional debut with Advanced Rookie Great Falls, going 3-2 with a 4.34 ERA in 14 games (seven starts) in 2012.

Hagerstown Hurler: Kylin Turnbull, 23, makes his fourth start of the year and second on the road. He is coming off a rough outing in which he gave up nine runs (six earned) on nine hits over three innings. Turnbull earned wins in each of his first two starts, including a quality outing on April 27 in which he struck out a season-high seven while allowing a run on three hits over 6.0 innings. He joined the Suns after opening his season with High A Potomac, where he was 0-3 with a 14.81 ERA in three starts. The Nationals picked Turnbull in the fourth round of the June 2011 draft out of Santa Barbara (Calif.) City College. He made his professional debut last season, spending the majority of his year with Hagerstown, going 4-5 with a 5.16 ERA in 18 games (17 starts). He faced Kannapolis on June 8, allowing two runs on six hits over 6.0 innings in a no decision.

Hot on the Corner: Michael Johnson stretched his on-base streak to double-digits with a 2-4 day at Lexington Wednesday, including his second home run of the year to lead off the fourth inning. His 10-game on-base streak is the longest current streak by an Intimidator. Johnson hit safely in seven straight games May 4-12, batting .474 (9-19) along the way. Johnson has worked his way into a corner infield position after opening the season in the middle infield and boasts the team's highest fielding percentage at third base this season (.957) with only one error in 23 total chances.

Micah on the Move: Leadoff man Micah Johnson added three stolen bases Monday at Lexington, upping his Minor League-leading total to 35 in 42 attempts (.833), seven ahead of San Antonio's Rico Noel (28 out of 31). Johnson's seven times caught stealing are tied for third-most in MiLB. He leads the league with five triples and is second on the circuit with 34 runs scored. Baseball America rated Johnson as the White Sox No. 25 Prospect this season, naming him the Fastest Baserunner in the organization's 2012 draft class. The Sox selected him in the ninth round out of Indiana last June.

Here's to you, Mr. Robinson: Kyle Robinson went 0-4 on Wednesday, snapping a six-game hitting streak, the longest of his season, in which he hit .407 (11-27). The 0-4 day also snapped his eight-game on-base streak. After a slow start with the Intimidators in his first seven games in which he hit .120 (3-25), Robinson has batted .355 (11-31) with all six of his RBI over his next seven games.

Bright Suns: Hagerstown's roster features seven of the Nationals' Top 30 Prospects according to Baseball America, however four of those seven are currently on the Disabled List. Second baseman Tony Renda, the Nats' second round pick last June (No. 12) leads the healthy trio of prospects, followed by outfielder Brandon Miller (22) and RHP Ivan Pineyro (27). The Suns are without RHP Matt Purke (9), LHP Brett Mooneyham (19), OF Estarlin Martinez (21) and RHP Wirkin Estevez (29) - all of whom are currently on the Suns' DL.

Big Bad Braulio: Reliever Braulio Ortiz fanned five batters over 3.0 scoreless relief innings on Monday, equaling his season-high of five strikeouts from April 12 against Hickory. Ortiz is now 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 11 games, and he has struck out 26 batters over 18.2 innings of work.

Cose Coasts: Jake Cose cruised through seven innings Monday, allowing one unearned run on three hits while walking one and striking out a season-high nine batters. Cose is 2-3 with a 1.77 ERA, the fifth-best ERA in the league.

Radio Broadcasts: All 70 Intimidators home games and select road games will be carried live on intimidatorsbaseball.com with Josh Feldman in his third season as the Voice of the Intimidators.

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