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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Intimidators vs. Grasshoppers - Game Notes - August 16, 2013

August 16, 2013 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) ride a 3-game winning streak into this weekend's series against the Grasshoppers (A, Marlins). Kannapolis is fresh off a home sweep of the Lakewood BlueClaws and now faces Greensboro in a four-game series. Today Jefferson Olacio tries to regain the command that made him one of the league's best pitchers in July after two bumpy outings to open his August. Olacio will take on Grasshoppers right-hander Matt Milroy, who will get his second look at Kannapolis this season. The Intimidators control the season-series, 6-5, including splitting four games in Greensboro back in June.

Intimidating Starter: Jefferson Olacio, 19, makes his team-leading 22nd start, tying for the fourth-most in the SAL, and his second against the Grasshoppers this season. The big lefty is coming off a loss to Delmarva in which he worked into the seventh but allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits on Aug. 10. After a dominant July in which Olacio went 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA (6 ER/31.2 IP) in five starts, he is 0-1 with a 6.94 ERA in two August starts. Since the All-Star Break, he has gone 2-3 with a 3.19 ERA in nine starts, including a stretch of 21 innings without allowing an earned run, spanning four starts July 11-29. Olacio is tied for second in the SAL in complete games (2) and tied for fourth in losses (11), a product of his rough first half, as is his 5.11 ERA, sixth-highest among qualifiers in the SAL. This is his second season with Kannapolis. Olacio began 2012 at Class A but spent the 2nd Half of the season with Bristol, combining to go 3-11 with a 5.16 ERA in 27 games. He entered this season rated by Baseball America as the No. 30 Prospect in the White Sox organization.

Going for Greensboro: Matt Milroy, 22, makes his sixth start of the season and his second at home against Kannapolis. He made his season debut May 28 and made four starts before moving into the bullpen. He went 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in five starts, including a June 8 start against the Intimidators (Milroy took no decision in that game, allowing four runs (3 ER) on four hits with five walks and five strikeouts over 5.0 innings). His ERA is 6.91 out of the ‘pen. The Marlins drafted Milroy out of Illinois in the 11th round in June 2012 and sent him to Short-Season Jamestown where he went 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA in nine games (eight starts). He walked 23 batters over 35 innings while striking out 30 in his pro debut. Milroy was primarily a reliever for the Illlini, going 5-10 with a 5.76 ERA in 43 games (11 starts) over three years.

Last Time Out: Adam Lopez tossed a career-high 7.0 scoreless innings as the Intimidators completed a series sweep of the BlueClaws with a 2-0 win on Thursday. Lopez (3-3) made his second straight quality start, limiting the BlueClaws to five hits and two walks while striking out three to earn the win. Brad Goldberg and Andre Wheeler each worked a perfect relief inning, combining to strike out five batters over the final two innings. Wheeler struck out the side in the ninth for the save (2). Jacob May led off the bottom of the first inning with a double to right field, and Tim Anderson drove him in with a base hit for an early 1-0 lead. After allowing a run in the first, BlueClaws starter Jeb Stefan settled down, not surrendering another hit to the Intimidators until the fifth inning. Stefan (4-7) allowed just one run on four hits over 6.0 innings while taking the loss. In the eighth inning, Adam Heisler singled, moved to second on a Mike Marjama base hit and scored on a Jason Coats single for a 2-0 lead.

Hot-Hitting Heisler: Outfielder Adam Heisler has hit safely in his last 14 games in the SAL, the longest streak by an Intimidators batter this season. Heisler waited until the eighth inning on Thursday before singling to left field to extend his streak. Heisler, whose streak dates back to April 16, is batting .327 (17-52) with two home runs, nine RBI and an OBP of .400 during this stretch. Heisler's 14-game streak is the longest-active in the SAL and is tied for the fifth- longest in the league this season. Heisler has also reached base safely in all 25 games he has played with Kannapolis, the longest streak by an Intimidator this season, surpassing Micah Johnson's 24- game streak (June 4-29). His 25-game on base is the longest active in the SAL and sixth-longest in the league this season. Heisler returned from a 3-game stint with Triple-A Charlotte (Aug. 9-11) by launching his first career grand slam on Tuesday. He also hit .272 in 58 games with High-A Winston-Salem from April 25 to August 1.

Quantity of Quality: Adam Lopez made his second career quality start on Thursday with 7.0 scoreless innings against Lakewood. It's the 45th quality start for Kannapolis this season and the 27th of the 2nd Half of the season. Lopez is the 10th Kannapolis pitcher to make multiple quality starts this season, joining Brandon Brennan, Tony Bucciferro, Jake Cose, Kyle Hansen, Myles Jaye, Euclides Leyer, Jefferson Olacio, Braulio Ortiz and Mike Recchia.

Ninth Night of Nada: Kannapolis spun its ninth shutout of the season on Thursday with a 2-0 win over Lakewood. The Intimidators are tied for eighth in the league in shutouts and have gone 9-9 in shutout games this season. Hagerstown leads the SAL with 14 in 2013.

May Day: Center fielder Jacob May went 2-4 on Thursday, his third straight multi-hit game and his fourth in his last five games. May has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games, raising his average to .245 (34-139), his highest since joining the Intimidators from Great Falls July 3.

Radio Broadcasts: Today's game can be heard at IntimidatorsBaseball.com. All 70 Intimidators home games and select road games are broadcast live with the Voice of the Intimidators, Josh Feldman.

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