SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) at Hagerstown Suns (Nationals) - July 24, 2014

Published on July 24, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS at HAGERSTOWN SUNS

47-52, 18-14 (Chicago White Sox) 65-38, 21-12 (Washington Nationals)

Thursday, July 24, 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

Municipal Stadium - Hagerstown, Md.

2nd Half Game #33 (100 of 137)

RH Thad Lowry (4-4, 4.14) vs. RH Jake Johansen (5-5, 5.00)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) have won three straight games and can clinch a series win over the Suns (A, Nationals) by taking the second of three games in Hagerstown on Thursday at Municipal Stadium. Kannapolis, which opened the series with a 6-2 win, sends right-hander Thad Lowry to the mound for his second start since returning from the Disabled List. He will face Nationals prospect Jake Johansen, who faces Kannapolis for the third time this season.

Sally League Standings: Kannapolis (18-14) has won four of its last five games to move into third place, 2.5 games back Greensboro and Hagerstown, which are tied atop the division at 21-12.

Intimidating Starter: Thad Lowry, 19, makes his second start since returning from the Disabled List. He is coming off 5.0 scoreless innings at Augusta on July 17 in which he opened with four hitless innings before allowing a leadoff single in the fifth inning in a no decision. Lowry opened his season 0-3 with a 7.59 ERA in three starts in May but opened a strong stretch with a complete game no-hitter in a rain-shortened 5-inning contest at West Virginia on June 3. It was the first complete game no-hitter for Kannapolis since June 10, 2003, when Brian Miller no-hit the Greensboro Grasshoppers. In June and July, Lowry is 4-1 with a 3.30 ERA (16 ER/43.2 IP) in eight starts. The White Sox selected Lowry in the fifth round of the June 2013 draft, and he went 3-5 with a 5.48 ERA in 15 games (7 starts).

Hagerstown Hurler: Jake Johansen, 23, makes his 18th start of 2014 and his fourth career start against Kannapolis. The Allen, Texas, native is coming off consecutive road losses to Lexington and Delmarva. He is three starts removed from his last win, working a career-long 6.2 innings and allowing a run on five hits to beat the BlueClaws on July 8. In three career starts against the Intimidators, Johansen is 0-2 with a 3.68 ERA (6 ER/14.2 IP). He dropped his most recent start to Kannapolis, working 5.0 innings and allowing three runs on three hits with three walks and six strikeouts at CMC-NorthEast Stadium on May 31 in the first game of a doubleheader. The Nats drafted Johansen in the second round of the June 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Dallas Baptist University. During his pro debut in 2013, he went 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA in 10 games (10 starts) with Short-A Auburn before earning a promotion to Hagerstown to make two starts in the SAL at the end of the season. He is MLB.com's No. 12 Prospect in the Nationals system.

Last Time Out: Brandon Brennan tossed 5.2 innings to dim the Suns in a 6-2 win on Wednesday, allowing a run on three hits to earn his first win since rejoining Kannapolis. Adam Engel led off the game with a home run (6), and Danny Hayes added a home run (8) of his own in the fifth to lead the Intimidators offense. Jacob Morris went 3-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. The Intimidators enjoyed strong relief outings from Tyler Barnette and Jose Brito to secure the win.

Electric Engel: Adam Engel extended his hitting streak to a career-best 10 games by going 2-5 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored on Wednesday. He is batting .378 (17-45) in his last 10 games since July 11. Engel is the fourth Intimidators player with a double-digit hitting streak this season and first since Brett Austin hit safely in 10 straight games from June 24-July 8. Engel joins Austin, Trey Michalczewski (17 games) and Omar Narvaez (10 games) with 10-game hitting streaks. Engel's previous career-long hitting streak was nine games last season with Great Falls.

Morris On The Mark: Jacob Morris extended his own hitting streak to a season-best six games on Wednesday, going 3-4 with two doubles and two runs scored. Morris is now batting .500 (12-24) with five doubles, a home run, and three RBI during the stretch (since July 16). His career-long hitting streak of nine games came August 3-11, 2013, with Great Falls (.457, going 16-35).

Brennan Better: Brandon Brennan continued to show great progress in his return from an elbow injury that cut short his 2013 season. In his last five starts in the South Atlantic League, including his final three starts of 2013 and first two games with Kannapolis this year, Brennan is now 3-0 with a 0.87 ERA (3 ER/31.0) dating back to last June. This season, he is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in two starts for Kannapolis since rejoining the team on July 15 from Advanced Rookie Great Falls.

Homerin' Hayes: Danny Hayes hit his eighth home run of the season on Wednesday, going 1-4 with his SAL-leading 56th walk against the Suns. He leads the Intimidators and ranks fifth in the league with a .403 on-base percentage to go along with a team-best .301 (101-335 average).

Road Broadcasts: This week's games in Hagerstown and Lakewood will be broadcast on the Kannapolis Intimidators Baseball Network available at IntimidatorsBaseball.com & on the TuneIn Radio App with Josh Feldman, now in his fourth season as the Voice of the Intimidators.

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