Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
August 15, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (28-24, 62-60) vs. FREDERICK KEYS (22-29, 54-64)
Friday, August 15, 2014 -- 7:00 PM
Harry Grove Stadium
RHP Cody Scarpetta (4-5, 4.71) vs. LHP Matt Taylor (5-2, 2.36)
LAST TIME OUT: The Hillcats lost to the Winston-Salem Dash 5-4 and the Dash avoided a sweep...Trailing 4-2 in the eighth the Hillcats tied the score with and RBI groundout from 1B Justin Bloxom and a solo homer from 3B Kevin Ahrens...In the bottom half of the inning however, SS Eric Garcia misplayed a pop-up...2B Jake Peter hustled to second as the pop-up fell and then scored on RF Keenyn Walker's RBI single...RHP Zach Isler threw a perfect ninth inning and picked up his second save...The Hillcats held the lead originally scoring in the third and fourth...Garcia collected an RBI single and Bloxom put the 'Cats up 2-0 with a solo shot...Hillcats' starter RHP Lucas Sims allowed his first run in the fourth giving up a single and then proceeding the walk a batter and hit two more...The Dash tied the score in the sixth with an RBI double from 1B Michael Marjama...Sims allowed just two runs over six innings...LHP Daniel Watts allowed two more runs in the seventh...CF Adam Engel drove in Walker with a single and then scored on SS Cleuluis Rondon's double...The Hillcats fell to 28-24 in the second half but are currently tied for first place in the Northern Division with the Potomac Nationals...
VS. FREDERICK: The Hillcats are 12-5 against the Keys this season...It's their best record against another team in the league...The 'Cats are also 6-1 at Harry Grove Stadium...The Keys are just 21-34 at home this season, the worst home record in the league...The Hillcats have swept the Keys twice this season, once at home and once on the road, making up half of their sweep this season...OF Will Skinner has seen success against the Keys batting .283 (17-for-60) with three doubles, four home runs, 15 RBIs and 15 runs scored in 17 games...Meanwhile OF Brenden Webb is batting .318 (21-for-66) against the Hillcats with three doubles, two home runs, 13 RBIs, and 11 runs scored in 17 games...
BACK IN FIRST PLACE: Last night's loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Hillcats, but as Potomac saw their losing streak extend to four games losing both ends of a doubleheader to Salem, the Hillcats jumped into a tie for first place in the Northern Division...It's the first time they have shared first place since August 1, after a 4-3 win over Wilmington July 31...The 'Cats then lost three in a row to open up August...The last time the Hillcats held sole possession of first place was July 5th, a day that saw them lose 17-3 to the Keys in Lynchburg...It was the worst loss the Hillcats have suffered this season...
ON THE ROAD: Due to the fact that the Hillcats commute to Salem to play the Red Sox, the Hillcats have only been on the road for consecutive series twice this season...They have won the latter half of both those road trip taking three of four in Frederick April 11-14 and two of three in Carolina May 12-14 ...They will finish the season with a true week-long road trip as well combining Carolina and Myrtle Beach...Lynchburg is 31-29 on the road as opposed to 31-31 at home...They're not alone though, only Winston-Salem has a better record at home versus on the road this season in the Carolina League...
STAR OF THE TRIP: 3B Kevin Ahrens went 2-for-4 last night with a solo home run...He is batting .571 (8-for-14) on the current road trip with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs, and two runs scored in three games...His 35 doubles are tied for the most in the Carolina League and he leads the Hillcats with 56 RBIs...
STELLAR SIMS: RHP Lucas Sims completed his seventh straight quality start last night allowing two runs over six innings...To his dismay he took yet another no-decision and is just 1-2 during this stretch despite a 2.56 ERA...His season mark has fallen from 5.23 to 4.36...He leads the league with 25 starts this season and had just six quality outings in his first 18 starts...His 140.1 innings pitched is second in the league only to Carolina's LHP Ryan Merritt (141.1)...The Hillcats started the season 7-4 in Sims' first 11 starts and Sims sported a 4.23 ERA, but in the following 14 starts the 'Cats are just 3-11...
GARCIA'S UNLUCKY SEVEN: INF Eric Garcia went 2-for-4 last night with an RBI extending his hitting streak to six games...It's his fourth six-game hitting streak of the season, but he is yet to reach the seven-game plateau...He's batting .320 (8-for-25) during this streak with two doubles, two RBIs, and four runs scored...The fact that Garcia is on the road bodes well for him as he's batting .272 away from City Stadium and just .225 at home...
THE STOPPER: RHP Alex Wilson earned his 15th save in 15 chances Saturday night...He leads all active players in the league in saves, and ranks second overall to RHP Mark Peterson, who is now in Double-A...Wilson has allowed just one run over his last 20 appearances, spanning 26 innings...His ERA has dropped from 2.87 to 1.73...He ranks fourth amongst league relievers with a .204 batting average against and leads all relievers with a 8.95 baserunners per nine innings ratio...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Matt Taylor was selected in the fifth round in 2011 by the Orioles out of Middle Georgia College...The Atlanta, GA native went 30-5 in high school, and 14-1 with 0.89 ERA his senior season...The Pirates drafted him with a flyer pick in the 50th round, but he decided to go to the University of Alabama instead...After not receiving the playing time he hoped for, he transferred to Middle Georgia College for his sophomore season...He led his team in innings (81) and went 7-5 with a 3.31 ERA, while striking out 128...This prompted the Orioles to sign him for $160,000...He spent time with both the GCL Orioles and short-season Aberdeen after signing...He moved up to Low-A Delmarva in 2012 and made 48 appearances, 37 starts for the Shorebirds over the last two seasons with an ERA of 4.00 and 9-20 record...In his first start at the Advanced-A level, Taylor threw six scoreless innings in Lynchburg on April 5, but he took a no-decision as the 'Cats walked off with a 4-3 win in the 9th...Taylor went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA through his first eight starts before hitting the disabled list...Tonight is his second start back...He gave up three runs over 3.1 innings on August 8 against Wilmington and lost...
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