CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Dash Doubleheader Game Notes

Published on August 26, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (32-28, 64-66) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (28-31, 68-60)

Friday, August 26, 2011, 6:05 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

Webcast available on www.wsdash.com 15 minutes before first pitch

Games No. 131 & 132 | Home Game No. 64 & 65 | 2011 Home Record 35-29 | 2011 Road Record 29-37

Game One: RHP Ryan Buch (3-4, 5.21) vs. LHP Chad Bell (3-1, 3.01)

Game Two: RHP Andre Rienzo (5-5, 3.33) vs. LHP Kasey Kiker (3-2, 5.79)

Salem Smackdown: The Dash scored in each of the first five innings and won a laugher last night in Salem 14-0 to earn a split of the four-game series. Andy Wilkins and Nick Ciolli hit solo home runs in the first two innings and Winston scored six in the third to go ahead 8-0. The Dash added a pair in the fourth, fifth, and ninth innings, the last two on Wilkins' second home run of the night which came off Red Sox position player Zach Gentile. Winston-Salem had 18 hits on the night and five players collected multiple base knocks, led by Ciolli's 4 for 6, two home run effort. During the series against the Red Sox, the Dash hit seven home runs while Salem could not hit any in its own park.

Mamma Said Shut You Out: Last night was the second straight shutout for the Dash pitching staff after winning 3-0 on Wednesday night. Jake Petricka allowed just one hit over the first five innings and left the game in the seventh, leaving Leroy Hunt to finish the game for a save. The last run the Dash pitching staff has allowed was in he second inning on Tuesday, making it 25 straight scoreless innings for the staff. The bullpen has been terrific lately as well, not allowing an earned run over the last 12 innings.

It's the Final Countdown: Ten games remain in the regular season and lately things have gone the Dash's way. Over the last two nights, Winston won a pair of games and Kinston lost twice to give the Dash a 0.5 game lead for a playoff spot in the Southern Division. Because the Dash had a better record at the close of play on August 25, Winston-Salem would host a one-game playoff between the teams if they finish the regular season tied, per league rules. The Indians' remaining schedule shows a seven-game home stand with three games against Lynchburg and four against Frederick. The K-Tribe finishes up the season with three games at Potomac. Winston-Salem plays at home against Myrtle Beach and three more home games against Salem before finishing up the season with a three-game series at Lynchburg. The combined second half winning percentage of Kinston's remaining opponents is .539 (96-82) while the Dash's remaining opponents have a .455 (81-97) winning percentage. When weighted with the number of games left against each opponent, the difficulty of Kinston's schedule is even more daunting, with the Indians' opponents' winning percentage at .547 and Winston's at .457.

Road Trip Recap: The Dash finished their eight-game road trip with a 3-5 record, winning one of four games at Potomac and splitting their series in Salem. Winston hit .315 as a team and posted a 3.29 ERA during trip. The offense had its two best games of the season in both of the series finales. The Dash won 15-3 on Sunday in Woodbridge and 14-0 last night against the Red Sox, outscoring their opposition 29-3 combined in the last games of the series with 41 base hits.

Lefty Overload: The Dash are in the midst of an incredible streak of facing left-handed starting pitchers. Winston has faced lefties in each of the last two ballgames and will face two more tonight before going up against left-hander Miguel De Los Santos on Saturday. That will make it five straight left-handed starters opposing the Dash and six of the last seven games going back to Monday night's showdown with Drake Britton. The Dash hit eight points better against lefties than righties this season (.256 to .248) and have a better record in games started by a southpaw (27-23 versus 37-43 against right-handers).

Bring Sally Up: On Monday, Dash shortstop Tyler Saladino was named the Carolina League "Player of the Week" for his performance from August 15 - 21. This is first time he has earned an award like this in his professional career. The honor was well-earned, as Saladino led all minor leaguers in batting average at .630 (17 for 27), was first in triples (3), and tied for second in extra-base hits (8). In his last nine games, Saladino is 19 for 36 (.528) with five doubles, four triples, a home run, seven RBI, and seven runs scored. During this period, the San Diegan has raised his batting average 30 points from .234 to .265.

G-Man: Ian Gac hit his 32nd home run of the season on Sunday to snap a tie game in the third inning. The home run also tied his career-high for a season, which he previously set in 2008 with low-A Clinton and Advanced-A Bakersfield (Texas Rangers). Sixteen of his 32 homers this season have either tied the game or given the Dash the lead. Gac leads the Carolina League in home runs and is second in all of minor league baseball (the Iowa Cubs' Bryan LaHair has 36). Gac has 12 more home runs than any other player in the CL and his 88 RBI are nine more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (130, the only player in the league that has played every game), first in at bats (483), eighth in batting average (.275), second in hits (133), tied for fifth in doubles (29), first in slugging percentage (.534), second in extra-base hits (61), first in runs scored (87), first in total bases (258), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.09). He is on pace to hit 35 home runs this season, which would tie the Winston-Salem record (Ed Olivares set the current record of 35 home runs in 1960 for the Winston-Salem RedBirds) and also would be the most in any Carolina League season since Tolia Solaita hit 49 for the Hi-Toms in 1968. Gac has 159 career homers in nine professional seasons.

Winning Formula: The odds are pretty good for Winston-Salem to come away with the victory when Ian Gac homers. The Dash are 21-8 in games Gac hits a home run, good for a .724 winning percentage. The Dash are just 43-58 (.426) when Gac does not homer. The Dash are 11-6 (.647) when Andy Wilkins hits a home run, but have won 11 of the last 13 games during which the Oklahoman has homered.

‚¬ËœMaul Rat: Since giving up two runs in an outing on June 2 against Potomac, Kussmaul has been nothing short of spectacular. He pitched two scoreless innings Wednesday night to earn his sixth save in as many chances. He has allowed four runs (two earned) on ten hits in his last 21 appearances, sporting a 0.59 ERA (2 ER, 30.2 IP) with a .118 batting average against (12 for 102) and 55 strikeouts (seven walks) in the process. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.15 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly two more full K's than second-place Eliecer Cardenas (11.89). He is second among all full-season minor league pitchers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (87) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (55.1). He is also second among CL relievers with a .165 opponents' batting average and is second in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.62).

Today's Game One Opposing Starter: LHP Chad Bell (3-1, 3.01) makes his 30th appearance of the season and seventh start for Myrtle Beach. He will make his fifth appearance against the Dash and first start. As a reliever against Winston-Salem, Bell has a 4.76 ERA in 5.2 innings. He last threw against the Dash on July 7 in an eventual 8-2 win. In two innings he gave up two earned runs on one hit and walked three. Bell began 2011 in the bullpen for the Pelicans, but has made five consecutive starts and got the win in his most recent start after throwing seven innings of one-run baseball. As a starter, he is 2-1 with a 3.41 ERA. Bell was drafted in the 14th round of the 2009 draft out of Walters State Community College. The Knoxville, TN native did not play in the organization that year, and made his Rangers debut last year in Hickory as a reliever before being sent down to short season Spokane in June. There he became a starter and threw in eight games and went 2-0 with a 3.25 ERA. He was promoted back to Hickory and put up a 2.42 ERA in four starts. Bell's repertoire includes a fastball in the high-80s and low-90s plus a curveball, slider, and changeup.

Today's Game Two Opposing Starter: LHP Kasey Kiker (3-2, 5.79) will make his first start of the season in game two of tonight's doubleheader. He's made 28 relief appearances, five against Winston-Salem and registered a 1-0 record with a 12.00 ERA in six innings. Before this season, Kiker was primarily a starting pitcher. With AA Frisco, Kiker registered a 1-4 record and 5.73 ERA as a starting pitcher before going on the disabled list. He came back as a reliever and struggled the rest of the season, throwing in seven games and putting up a 16.71 ERA in seven innings. Kiker entered 2010 ranked by Baseball America as the sixth-best prospect in the Rangers organization because of a stellar 2009. With Frisco in '09, he led the Texas League in strikeouts per nine innings (8.6) and was second in opponent batting average (.231). After that season, he played for Team USA in the World Cup with former Winston-Salem pitcher Lucas Harrell. Team USA won the competition. Kiker was drafted in the first round (12th overall) in the 2006 draft and features a fastball, changeup, and curveball.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 26, 2011


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