SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) at Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins) - June 8, 2013

Published on June 8, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS (21-37) at GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS (28-30)

Saturday, June 8, 2013 - 7:00 p.m.

NewBridge Bank Ballpark - Greensboro, N.C.

Game #58 (21-37) - Away Game #35 (15-20)

RHP Brandon Brennan (1-9, 7.23) vs. RHP Matt Milroy (0-1, 4.91)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) look to bounce back at NewBridge Bank Ballpark when against the Grasshoppers (A, Marlins) Saturday after taking 5-1 loss in the series opener Friday. Greensboro leads the season-series, 3-1, taking two of three games at CMC-NorthEast Stadium in early May. With the loss Friday, the Intimidators were officially eliminated from first half contention in the SAL Northern Division, now 11.5 games back of first place Hagerstown (32-25) with 10 games to play. Greensboro is 5.0 games out of first in the division, fourth in the standings. This is the Intimidators' final road series of the first half before a seven-game home stand June 10-16 against Augusta and Rome to head into the All-Star Break.

Hotter Hoppers: Greensboro has won 10 of their last 13 games, including a six-game winning streak from May 25-30. The Grasshoppers are coming off a home series win against Augusta, taking two of three games. The Hoppers are 7-3 in their last 10 games, tied with Savannah for best in the SAL. The Intimidators enter this series 5-5 over their last 10 games, winning a series at first-place Hagerstown earlier this week.

Intimidating Starters: Brandon Brennan, 21, makes his 12th start of the season and second against the Hoppers. He is coming off a career-long outing, working 8.0 innings, striking out a season-high-tying seven in a loss to Savannah on June 1. The 8.0-inning start matched the longest by an Intimidator this season (Myles Jaye, 4/14 vs. HIC). Brennan currently has the fifth-highest ERA among qualifying pitchers in the Minors, has allowed the third-most runs (54) and tied for the seventh-most earned runs allowed (45), leading the SAL in all categories, along with hits allowed (80). The right-hander showed signs of improvement in his last outing, logging his first career quality start. Baseball America rates Brennan the No. 23 Prospect in the White Sox system after he went 3-2 with a 4.34 ERA in 14 games (seven starts) in his professional debut with Advanced Rookie Great Falls in 2012. The Sox selected him in the fourth round of the June 2012 draft out of Orange Coast (Calif.) C.C. where he went 11-1 with a 1.25 ERA in 15 games (14 starts), including a 10.0-inning start on May 19, 2012, against Rio Hondo, in which Brennan took no decision.

Going for Greensboro: Matt Milroy, 22, makes his third start of the season after working 4.0 innings or less in each of his first two appearances of this season. In his season debut, he allowed one unearned run against West Virginia over 4.0 innings on May 28, but he allowed five runs (four earned) over 3.1 innings in his last outing June 2 at Delmarva. The Marlins drafted Milroy out of Illinois in the 11th round in June 2012 and sent him to Short-Season Jamestown where he went 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA in nine games (eight starts). He walked 23 batters over 35 innings while striking out 30 in his professional debut. Milroy was primarily a reliever for the Illlini, going 5-10 with a 5.76 ERA in 43 games (11 starts) in three years in college.

About Last Night: After Kannapolis scored the first run of the game, Greensboro used three home runs and never looked back, beating the Intimidators 5-1 on Friday night. Yordy Cabrera (8), Jesus Solorzano (6), and Viosergy Rosa (12) went yard as three of the Grasshoppers six hits went over the wall. Ramon De Orbe kept Kannapolis off balance, working 6.0 innings, allowing a run on six hits to earn the win. Euclides Leyer took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out six batters for the third straight game.

Micah For Three: Micah Johnson went 3-4 with his SAL-leading seventh triple and league-leading 56th run scored on Friday in Greensboro. The Minor League leader in stolen bases upped his average to .323 (71-220), tied for 10th in the SAL. Johnson ranks third in the Minors in runs scored, just behind Cedar Rapid's Bryan Buxton (58) and High Desert's Chris Taylor (57). Johnson's 47 stolen bases are nine ahead of Lake Elsinore's Travis Jankowski (38) and 15 ahead of the next-closest Sally Leaguer, Augusta Jesus Galindo (32). He has recorded at least three hits in five games this season, including a pair of four-hit games this season. In Great Falls last season, Johnson had nine three-hit games for the Advanced Rookie-level Voyagers.

Richmond Streaking: Center fielder Josh Richmond went 1-4 Friday to hit safely in 10 straight games, the fourth Intimidator to do so this season. Here are the 10-game hitting streaks by Intimidators this season:

Hit Streak Player Dates Stats

12 games - Jason Coats - April 12-24: .478 (22-46), 6(2B), 8 RBI, 7 Runs, .520 OBP, .609 SLG

11 games - Michael Marjama - April 4-15: .333 (15-45), 3(2B), 6 RBI, 8 Runs, .380 OBP, .400 SLG

10 games - Josh Richmond - May 28-June 7: .400 (16-40), HR, 8(2B), 3B, 9 RBI, .429 OBP, .725 SLG

10 games - Michael Johnson - May 15-25: .450 (18-40), HR, 3B, 7 RBI, 10 Runs, .532 OBP, 575 SLG

Giving Up A Trio: The Intimidators allowed three home runs in a game on Friday, just the third time this season Kannapolis has given up three bombs. The last time Intimidators arms allowed three home runs came on May 21 to West Virginia when All-Star first baseman Stetson Allie hit a pair of home runs.

Lotta Losses: With Euclides Leyer suffering his seventh loss of the season on Friday, Kannapolis now has three pitchers in the top-5 in the SAL in losses. Leyer and teammate Jefferson Olacio are tied with Asheville's Shane Broyles and Rome's Rafael Briceno with seven losses each behind SAL-leader Brandon Brennan (9).

Hot-Hitting Hopper: Greensboro Cameron Flynn went 1-4 on Friday, and his four plate appearances were enough to qualify as the SAL's top hitter, batting .353 (48-136) in 40 games this season. Flynn also leads the league with a .437 OBP. The left-handed hitter Flynn is batting .391 (45-115) against righties compared to a .143 (3-21) average when facing fellow southpaws. He's batting .284 at home compared to .420 on the road.

No-No Notes: Braulio Ortiz, Adam Lopez and Joe Dvorsky combined for the third no-hitter in Intimidators history in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader at Hagerstown. All three have come in 7-inning games. The last no-no for Kannapolis came Aug. 20, 2010, when Matt Wickswat, Jake Petricka and Taylor Thompson no-hit the Hickory Crawdads in the second game of a home doubleheader, a 1-0 Intimidators win. Brian Miller threw the first and only individual no-hitter in Intimidators history on June 10, 2003, when he pitched Kannapolis past Greensboro (then known as the Bats), 2-0, in the first game of a twin bill. Two pitchers threw individual no-hitters before the team was known as the Intimidators. Rich Hunter tossed a no-no in 1995 for the Piedmont Phillies, and Rob Burger threw a no-hitter in 1997 for the Piedmont Boll Weevils.

All-Stars In This Series: The Intimidators and Grasshoppers each have two All-Stars that will represent the Northern Division in the SAL All-Star Game on June 18 in Lakewood, N.J. Kannapolis second baseman Micah Johnson and outfielder Jason Coats (LF) were voted starters in the game, as was Greensboro's Viosergy Rosa, DH for the Northern Division. Greensboro reliever Frankie Reed was also named to the All-Star team.

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