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Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Asheville Tourists (Rockies) -- August 21, 2014

August 21, 2014 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. ASHEVILLE TOURISTS

58-68, 29-30 (Chicago White Sox) 82-46-41-18 (Colorado Rockies)

Thursday, August 21, 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

2nd Half Game #60 (127 of 137)

LH Jordan Guerrero (6-0, 2.95) vs. RH Johendi Jiminian (12-5, 4.31)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) play to avoid a series sweep in the third and final game against the Tourists (A, Rockies) in 2014. Asheville leads the season-series, 8-1, having won eight straight games against Kannapolis, and the Tourists can clinch a playoff berth with a win today over the Intimidators and a loss by Charleston at Greenville. Asheville enters today's game as the South Atlantic League's best team in the second half at 41-18, first in the Southern Division, while Kannapolis has slipped to fifth in the Northern Division at 29-30 since the All-Star Break.

Clinch-City, USA: If the Tourists clinch a playoff berth in today's game, they would become the third different SAL squad to secure its playoff berth in Kannapolis. In the first half of the season, Savannah won the Southern Division thanks to a pair of wins followed by a rainout on June 11 at CMC-NorthEast Stadium. Greensboro swept the Intimidators over four games to end the first half, clinching the Northern Division on the last day of the half, June 15.

Intimidating Starter: Jordan Guerrero, 20, makes his seventh start after opening the season in the bullpen. The lefty has faced Asheville three times in relief, posting a 6.35 ERA (4 ER/5.2 IP). Guerrero is 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA (10 ER/26.2 IP) in six starts compared to 4-0 with a 2.65 ERA (11 ER/37.1 IP) in 18 relief appearances. The left-hander continues to improve, with a 2.66 ERA in 11 games (six starts) in the Second Half after going 3-0 with a 3.47 ERA in 13 games before the All-Star Break. He is coming off a no decision at Greensboro, allowing two runs (one earned) while scattering seven hits over 4.0 innings on Aug. 15. The Moorpark, Calif., native is enjoying a solid month of August, with a 1.69 ERA (2 ER/10.2 IP) in three games (two starts). Guerrero was drafted in the 15th round of the 2012 first year player draft by the White Sox. He went 0-4 over the course of two seasons with advanced rookie Bristol in 12 app/5 starts with a 3.93 ERA (15 ER/34.1 IP).

Twirling Tourist: Johendi Jiminian, 21, makes his league-leading 26th start and second against Kannapolis. He ranks third in the league in wins (12) and second in innings pitched (135.2). Jiminian is coming off a win on Aug. 15 against Augusta, allowing a run on six hits for his first win since beating the Intimidators on July 13. In his lone start against Kannapolis, the right-hander worked 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Jiminian has been better on the road this season than at home, going 7-2 with a 2.96 ERA in 13 starts compared to 5-3 with a 6.03 ERA at McCormick Field. Jiminian was one of the league's best arms after the first half of the season, going 8-3 with a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts before the All-Star Break, but he is now 4-2 with a 5.43 ERA in 11 starts since. The Rockies signed Jiminian prior to the 2010 season, and he spent two seasons with the DSL Rockies before making his domestic debut with Advanced Rookie Grand Junction in 2012 in the Pioneer League, going 2-4 with a 7.71 ERA in 14 games (13 starts). Last season with Short-A Tri-City, he went 3-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) in the Northwest League.

Last Time Out: Asheville's Ryan McMahon hit a 2-run home run as part of a 5-run second inning as the Tourists early lead held up in an 8-6 win over Kannapolis on Wednesday night. The Intimidators rallied from down 6-1 for four runs in the third inning, all with two outs. Jeremy Dowdy's base hit drove in Ryan Leonards and Danny Hayes, and Dowdy and Jacob Morris scored on a Toby Thomas base hit. Kannapolis did not score again until the ninth inning when Leonards' sac-fly cashed Eddy Alvarez, but the Intimidators left the tying run at the plate in the ninth. Asheville's Konner Wade (8-8) earned the win, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits over 5.0 innings, while Thad Lowry (4-6) took the loss for Kannapolis, giving up eight runs (seven earned) in 6.0 innings. Trent Daniel recorded the final out of the game for the Tourists to collect the save (13) after Alex Balog worked 3.2 innings in his second relief appearance of the year.

Mighty Mitchell: Reliever Andrew Mitchell tossed 3.0 scoreless innings on Wednesday, striking out four batters while allowing one hit and no walks. The outing was the longest by Mitchell since working 3.0 frames in a 13-inning affair on June 7 at Asheville, 17 appearances ago. Mitchell's no-walks effort on Wednesday was his third of the year in 29 games with Kannapolis and his longest outing without a walk since Aug. 18, 2013, when Mitchell tossed 5.0 walk-free frames. The former TCU Horned Frog has 81 strikeouts in 61.1 IP but leads the league with 62 walks and 23 wild pitches.

Steady Eddy: Eddy Alvarez continued his impressive start with Kannapolis, hitting safely for the seventh straight game. He waited until Wednesday's ninth inning before extending his hitting streak with a double down the right field line. He is now batting .464 (13-28) with hits in all seven games played for the Intimidators. Alvarez, a short-track speed-skater who won a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in February, has now hit safely in nine straight games between the AZL White Sox and Kannapolis, batting .471 (16-34) since Aug. 7, the longest streak of his young career. Alvarez strung together an 8-game hitting streak with the AZL Sox from July 16-28, batting .417 (15-36) in that stretch. The White Sox signed Alvarez in June.

Ragin' Cajun: Shortstop Ryan Leonards paced the Intimidators offense on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored for his first 3-hit game since joining Kannapolis. The Crowley, La., native has hit safely in six straight games, a career-high streak, with five multi-hit games in that stretch. Leonards is batting .632 (12-19) in his last six games, since Aug. 12. The White Sox 21st round pick in the June 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Leonards hit just .191 (17-89) with Kannapolis in July but is now batting .349 (15-43) in August.

Don't Doubt Dowdy: Jeremy Dowdy continued to produce at the plate, going 1-3 with 2 RBI on Wednesday, to extend his career-best hitting streak to six games since July 27. He is now batting .500 (10-20) during that span in the South Atlantic League, including four multi-hit games. After batting .295 during the first half of the season, Dowdy has upped his average to .328 (22-67) in 18 second-half games.

Broadcast Information: This season all 70 home games and select road games will be broadcast on the Kannapolis Intimidators Baseball Network, available at IntimidatorsBaseball.com and on the TuneIn Radio App with Josh Feldman, now in his fourth season as the Voice of the Intimidators.

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