CarL1 Down East Wood Ducks

August 20 Transactions and Game Information

Published on August 20, 2019 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Down East Wood Ducks News Release


Today the Texas Rangers announced the following transactions affecting the Down East Wood Ducks.

+ RHP Sam Hellinger promoted from Single-A Hickory to Adv.-A Down East. He will wear number 19. (Scott Williams is no longer assigned a number)

- OF Hasuan Viera placed on 7-day IL

Down East (33-22, 83-42) continues their home stand tonight against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (31-25, 62-63). Right-hander Reid Anderson (6-7, 4.28) will make the start for the Woodies, opposed by Woodpeckers righty Luis Garcia (5-4, 3.38). It's Food Lion BOGO night where fans who present their Food Lion MVP cards will receive buy-one, get-one tickets. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. and the broadcast will begin at 6:50 p.m. on 960AM The Bull, and online at 960thebull.com as well as on the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Radio apps. For tickets and more information visit woodducksbaseball.com or call (252) 686-5172. Complete game notes are attached.

LAST TIME OUT: Yanio Perez came through with a go-ahead two run single in the eighth inning, to lead the Wood Ducks past the Blue Rocks, 5-4, in the rubber game of their three-game series. JP Martinez and Curtis Terry each blasted solo home runs in the ballgame, their 11th and 10th of the year respectively. Noah Bremer turned out a quality start, giving up three runs over six innings. Jairo Beras picked up his third win of the season, in relief, while Cole Uvila stranded the tying run at third base in the ninth to secure his fifth save.

CLUTCH TIME!: The Wood Ducks walk-off win, Saturday, was the Wood Ducks ninth of the season, and the third in the month of August. Down East is now 30-17 in one run games this season, and 13-5 when tied after eight innings of play.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: Down East is 2 wins from tying the 1990 Port Charlotte Rangers for the most wins in a single season by a TEX High-A affiliate (85), and 9 wins from tying the 1989 Gastonia Rangers for the most wins in a single season by any TEX affiliate (92). The Woodies are currently on pace to finish with the highest winning percentage (.659) for a full-season TEX affiliate, a record also held by the 1989 Gastonia Rangers (.664). Also, no team in Kinston baseball history has ever won 90 games in a season.

A WEEK TO REMEMBER: Yanio Perez was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for August 12-18, after hitting two runs and driving in nine, while going 10-20 in five games played. Perez hit a grand slam on Thursday against Fayette-ville, and followed it up with a two-run shot against Wilm-ington on Friday. He capped the week with a game-winning two-run single in the eighth on Sunday. He is the eighth Wood Duck to receive a weekly award this season.

SUPER SAM: Sam Huff belted his 13th home run for the Wood Ducks, Wednesday, which ties him for fifth in the Carolina League this season. Huff also leads the league in OPS (.814), and is ranked second in SLG (.470), and ninth in AVG (.279).

SLUGGING SHERTEN: Sherten Apostel hit his second home run for the Wood Ducks, and 17th of the season, against the Blue Rocks, Friday. He has now reached base safely in 20 con-secutive games, posting a .333 average and a .474 OBP with 15 walks over that stretch, which dates back to July 25. His streak is the longest active in the Carolina League.

TERRY ON A TEAR: Curtis Terry hit his tenth home run for the Woodies Sunday against Wilmington, and has now hit safely in 43 of his last 48 games, including 15 multi-hit games. Over the stretch he posted two separate 12-game hitting streaks, and currently has reached base safely in 19 consecutive games, batting .348 with an OBP of .456 over that span. He was named the Carolina League Player of the Month for the Month of July.

ARIAS ABOARD: Diosbel Arias has tallied eight hits over his last five games, and now ranks tied for fourth in the Carolina League with 120 hits on the season. He also is among league leaders in walks (53, 5th), RBI (56, T-8th), and total bases (162, 9th).

ORGANIZATIONAL STRENGTH: It hasn't just been the Wood Ducks who have performed well this season, the Rangers organi-zation as a whole has been among the best:

1. TEXAS RANGERS 423-318 .571

2. Tampa Bay Rays 452-350 .564

3. LA Dodgers 442-345 .562

TOUGH AUGUST: After pitching to a team ERA of 2.62 through the first four months of the season, the Down East staff has taken a step back in August, working to a 4.70 mark. The Wood-ies have allowed 61 walks in 136 innings, while opponents are hitting .262 against them. The Woodies have also given up 14 home runs in 16 games, after allowing just 43 homers in their first 109 games.

COLE CRUISING: Cole Uvila struck out a career-high six in three scoreless innings Thursday in Fayetteville. Uvila had also struck out five in two of his previous four outings. This season Uvila boasts a 13.50 K/9 (78 K/52.0 IP), and has struck out three or more batters in 14 of his 32 appearances this season.

SELF-ADVOCATE: Josh Advocate struck out a career-high six batters, Saturday, in three scoreless innings in relief. He has now struck out 5+ batters in each of his last three outings. The right-hander has struck out 35 in his last 26.0 innings (12.12 K/9), and has struck out three batters or more 13 times in 32 outings this season.

THE FUTURE IS HERE: Sam Huff clubbed a game-tying home run in the seventh inning of the SiriusXM Futures Game on Sunday to take home MVP honors. Huff becomes the second Ranger all-time to take home the award, joining Joey Gallo (2014). Huff has now hit 13 home runs for the Wood Ducks and 28 overall on the season.

A HALF FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS: The Down East Wood Ducks became just the sixth team in Carolina League history to finish a half with a winning percentage of .700 or better, while their 50 wins are the second most in any half in league history:

1. 1980 Peninsula (1st) 51-19 .729

2. 2019 DOWN EAST (1st) 50-20 .714

T3. 1982 Peninsula (2nd) 49-20 .710

T3. 1983 Lynchburg (1st) 49-20 .710

5. 1994 Wilmington (1st) 48-20 .706

6. 1980 Peninsula (2nd) 49-21 .700

SHOWTIME: Former Wood Duck Emmanuel Clase was called up to the Rangers, last Friday, and made his MLB debut Sunday, working 1.2 scoreless innings in a win over Detroit. Clase becomes the ninth Down East player to make it to The Show. He joins Ricardo Rodriguez ('17), C.D. Pelham ('18) and Peter Fairbanks ('19) to go from Advanced-A to the Majors in a single season. Clase struck out 11 and did not allow an earned run over seven innings with the Woodies.

RAGS AT THE HELM: Corey Ragsdale takes over as skipper for the Wood Ducks in 2019. Ragsdale will remain the Rangers Minor League Field Coordinator, while assuming a managerial seat for the first time since 2015, when he led the Hickory Crawdads to a South Atlantic League Championship, the second of his career.

Check out the Down East Wood Ducks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 20, 2019


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.

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