Columbus Catfish game notes

Published on July 8, 2005 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Columbus Catfish News Release


Tonight in Asheville: The Columbus Catfish (34-48 overall, 6-7 2nd half, T-4th SAL-Southern, 2.0 GB) begin a four-game series with the Class A Affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, the Asheville Tourists (44-39 Overall, 6-8 2nd Half, 6th in the SAL-Southern, 2.5 GB of first). The Catfish did not play yesterday due to rain in Hickory, losing two out of three games to the Crawdads in the final series of the season with the Pirates affiliate. The Asheville Tourists and Catfish have played three times this season, with the Catfish prevailing in two matchups in Columbus. Tonight for the Catfish, RHP Zach Hammes takes the hill for his fifth start of 2005. First pitch from McCormick Field in Asheville, NC is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Last Series: The Catfish dropped two of three games to the Hickory Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, NC. In the first game, two Catfish errors led to an unearned run against RHP Steve Nelson in the bottom of the eighth inning as Hickory won 3-2. Tuesday night's affair saw the Catfish win 12-6, scoring eight unanswered runs to comeback and defeat the Crawdads. DH Travis Denker hit a pair of homeruns for the Catfish as Denker, 1B Dan Batz, and 2B Brandon Carter each finished with three hits. On Wednesday, Hickory won the final game by a 6-3 margin when Crawdad 1B Mike Carlin went 4-4 with a two-run HR on his 24th birthday to lead Hickory to victory.

Vs. Asheville: The Catfish own a two games to one advantage against the Tourists, with whom they play just seven times in 2005. Asheville shut out the Catfish on Friday, June 3rd by a 5-0 final. Three Tourists pitchers limited Columbus to just four hits. In Game Two, Catfish RF Ryan Russ went 3-4 with a RBI triple and a two-run HR to lead the catfish offensively in a 4-1 victory. The series finale also went to Columbus when LF Brandon Carter delivered a gamewinning RBI single in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Catfish a wild 11-10 victory in the Fish's longest game of the season at three hours forty-four minutes.

Denker Delivers: 2B Travis Denker was the Catfish's lone position player at the All-Star Game and has started the post-All-Star period aflame. Denker has reached base in 17 of his last 20 plate appearances on eight singles, five walks, one HBP, and 2 HR. Denker leads the SAL in BB with 60 this season, hitting .293 with 14 HR and 47 RBI, a .502 SLG and .416 OBP. He leads the team in each of the categories except RBI in which he trails 3B Blake DeWitt.

Roster Move: The Los Angeles Dodgers called CF Jamie Hoffmann up to High A Vero Beach after a terrific start to the 2005 season for the Catfish. In 79 games this season, Hoffmann hit .308 with 1 HR and 24 RBI with 99 hits, good for fourth in the SAL. Hoffmann hit two triples in his final game on July 4th and departed the Catfish with the triples lead in the SAL. In Hoffmann's stead, the Dodgers called OF Jeremy Brown up from the GCL Dodgers. Brown signed as draft-and-follow player in 2005 after the Dodgers drafted him in the 37th round in 2004. In 2005 at Pratt Community College in Kansas, Brown hit .386 with 9 HR and 51 RBI, adding 27 stolen bases. He played in seven games for the GCL Dodgers, going 6-21 (.286) with 4 BB.

The Tourists: The Asheville Tourists have been affiliated with the Colorado Rockies since 1994. The Rockies Class A Affiliate finished the first half of play with a 38-31 record, good for 3rd place in the SAL-Southern Division. In the second half, Manager Joe Mikulik's club is off to a 6-8 start. Asheville has the second best team batting average in the SAL at .275 and has hit 83 HR (3rd SAL). OF Matt Miller is one of the league's best offensively, leading the SAL with 114 hits while hitting .344 with 16 HR and 60 RBI. The Tourists pitching staff is last in the SAL with a 4.80 team ERA.

Home Sweet Home: Overall, the Catfish are 13-28 on the road in 2005, while they sport a 21- 20 record at Golden Park. Columbus has won just two of eleven road series this season after falling to the Hickory Crawdads this week. The Fish have hit the ball better at home, posting a .283 home batting average with an average of 5.10 runs per game while hitting just .241 on the road and averaging just 3.93 runs per game. The 12 runs on 17 hits for the Fish on Tuesday against Hickory were both road season highs. Columbus has hit 30 of 54 HR at home this season. The Fish will play the next 8 games on the road and 16 of the next 24 away from home. Hitting Notes: The Catfish have a team batting average of .262 (6th in the SAL) and are now 11th in the SAL in runs with 367. The Catfish have hit 54 HR, tenth in the SAL. 2B Travis Denker leads the Catfish with a .293 batting average, 14 HR, and a .416 OBP. 3B Blake DeWitt has the team lead in RBI with 50. CF Jamie Hoffmann was hitting .308 with 99 hits in 79 games before his recent promotion from the Catfish to High A Vero Beach.

Pitching Notes: The Catfish team ERA stands now at 3.87 after 82 games (6th SAL). The Catfish did have the league's highest ERA as recently as May 2nd. RHP Chris Malone and RHP Blake Johnson both lead the pitching staff with 7-3 records. RHP Albenis Castillo has pitched well out of the bullpen lately and leads the team in saves with four.

Team Defense: The Catfish have committed 100 errors in 82 games this season. The Catfish made one error on Wednesday in the 6-3 loss to Hickory.

June Boom: The month of June was the first for month over .500 for Columbus (13-11). The Catfish hit .282 during the month with a team ERA of 4.24. CF Jamie Hoffmann led the South Atlantic League in June with 38 hits and was second in the league with a .384 average. 2B Travis Denker was second in the SAL with 23 RBI during June. The Catfish hit 20 HR as a team (2nd in the SAL), eight of which came on June 16th against Rome. RHP Blake Johnson led the pitching staff with three wins and a 2.05 ERA.

One Run Games: This season the Catfish are 4-20 in one-run games after Monday's 3-2 loss to Hickory. The Catfish's 6-5 win last Thursday night was their first one-run game victory since May 4th against Augusta. Prior to the win on Thursday, the Fish had lost the last 11 one-run games they played.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 8, 2005


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