Frederick Keys Report
July 17, 2003 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Frederick Keys News Release
The Keys are still in third place in the Carolina League Northern Division, but are just a game behind first place Lynchburg and a half-game behind second place Potomac. The Keys dropped the second game of a three-game series with the Winston-Salem Warthogs, 5-4, on July 10 after losing the first game the night before. They salvaged the series by taking the final game, 6-5. On July 12, the Keys started a four-game series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Myrtle Beach shutout the Keys in the first game, 2-0, but the Keys picked up their play to take the next three from the Pelicans. The Keys shutout the Pelicans on July 13, 2-0, behind the pitching of RHP Nick McCurdy and continued their strong pitching by gaining a 4-0 shutout victory the next day. In the series finale, second baseman Gary Cates led the Keys offensive assault, driving in five RBI, and leading the team to a 7-4 victory.
Roster Update
The Keys were pretty quiet for a change on the transaction front this week. On July 11, IF/OF Hugh Quattlebaum was transferred to Class AAA Ottawa. This will be Quattlebaum's second stint with the Lynx. The next day, catcher Raul Martinez was transferred back to Class AA Bowie, where he started the season, and the Keys received catcher Tommy Arko from short-season Class A Aberdeen. In 14 games with the Ironbirds, Arko batted .256 with four home runs and seven RBI. He started the season at Class A Delmarva, playing 47 games and batting .204 with four home runs and 12 RBI.
League Leaders
For the second-straight week, second baseman Omar Rogers and first baseman Mike Huggins place 5th and 6th respectively in the Carolina League's Top 10 Batting list. Rogers, who just recently was activated from the Disabled List and is seeing most of his action as the team's designated hitter, is batting .305 with 20 RBI in 62 games. Huggins follows closely behind with a .303 batting average and 51 RBI in 81 games. He is also 5th in the league for hits with 95. Centerfielder Woody Cliffords is 8th in the Carolina League for batting with a .293 average. Cliffords is 4th in the league with a .404 on-base percentage and has 52 runs scored, good for 5th place in the Carolina League. LHP Rommie Lewis improved his record to 4-7 in the Keys 4-0 shutout victory over Myrtle Beach on July 14. He currently places 9th on the Carolina League Top 10 Pitching list with a 3.13 ERA and is the only Keys pitcher on the list. Lewis also places 3rd in the league with 44 walks. Relief pitcher Andy Mitchell is tied for the league lead in appearances with 38 and reliever Sendy Rleal follows closely behind in third place with 37.
The Maine Man
RHP John Maine played in the All-Star Futures game on July 13 as a member of the U.S. team. He pitched to two batters in the 6th inning, throwing five pitches, three for strikes. He got both batters to fly out.
Right-Hand Dominant
The Keys are having much success against right-handed pitching this season, batting .277 with 38 home runs and 282 RBI in 2,120 total at-bats. Southpaw pitchers, on the other hand, have been giving Keys batters fits all season. As a team, the Keys are batting just .228 in 867 at-bats against lefties. The Keys have just 15 home runs and 64 RBI against left-handed pitching.
Go Grab Some Pine
The Keys recorded a season-high 14 strikeouts in a 5-4 loss to the Winston-Salem Warthogs on July 10. Starting pitcher John Maine put up six of those strikeouts through 4.0 innings. Andy Mitchell came on in relief and recorded two strikeouts in 2.0 innings, and Scott Rice followed with five through 2.0 innings. Closer Jacobo Sequea came on in the 9th inning and recorded the final K in one inning of work.
The Rleal Deal
Relief pitcher Sendy Rleal has gone 11.0 innings over ten straight appearances without surrendering a run and has yet to allow a run in the Second Half...Rleal began his scoreless streak on the last day of the First Half against Potomac (6/15) and has given up just three hits while striking out 12 batters during the streak...With runners in scoring position, opposing batters are hitting just .158 (6-for-38) with one home run against him.
Make No Mistake About It
Centerfielder Woody Cliffords ended a 77-game errorless streak with one error in a 2-0 loss to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Saturday, July 12...The last time Cliffords recorded an error was all the way back in the first month of the season on April 17 at Winston-Salem.
Going Yard
Outfielder Cory Keylor hit two solo home runs in the Keys 2-0 shutout victory over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Sunday, July 13 to account for all of the Keys offense. He is the second player this season to hit two home runs in one game (Mike Huggins also hit two against Myrtle Beach on May 31) and joins 43 other Keys players who have hit accomplished the feat. No Keys player has hit more than two home runs in one game.
Running on Empty
The Keys went 21 innings without surrendering a run, a season-high. They did not allow a run over the final three innings of a 2-0 loss to Myrtle Beach on July 12 and followed that with two consecutive shutouts. The streak ended in the final-game of the four-game series with the Pelicans after the team gave up three runs in the top of the 2nd inning.
We're Going Streaking
IF/OF Pete Shier is currently in the midst of a 16-game consecutive game on-base streak at home. The streak began on June 11 in a 4-3 victory against Wilmington, and during those 16 games, Shier is batting .339 with three home runs and an on-base percentage of .406.
Super G
In his last six games, second baseman Gary Cates is batting .565 (13-for-23) with a double and seven RBI. He hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the Keys 7-4 victory over Myrtle Beach on Tuesday, July 15, and had five RBI in that game. That ties a Keys season-high for most RBI in a game. Outfielder Adam Manley also accomplished the feat on July 6 at Lynchburg.
Attendance Report
The Keys played all of their games during this past week at Harry Grove Stadium. On Saturday, July 12, a season-high 9,136 fans watched the Keys drop the series opener to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 2-0. It was the largest crowd this season at Harry Grove Stadium by over a thousand fans and ranks as one of the largest in Frederick Keys history. The team currently sits in second place, behind first place Wilmington, in the Carolina League for attendance with a total of 161,514 fans attending 43 games at Harry Grove Stadium. The Keys are averaging 3,756 fans a game, also good for second place in the league behind Wilmington.
Carolina League Stories from July 17, 2003
- Diamond Jaxx Sweep Mudcats by Identical 3-1 Scores - Carolina Mudcats
- Rocks Blanked in Salem - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Huggins Given Inaugural Steve Bechler Memorial Spirit Award - Frederick Keys
- Frederick Keys Report - Frederick Keys
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.
