SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Asheville Tourists (Rockies) - July 13, 2014

Published on July 13, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. ASHEVILLE TOURISTS

14-10, 43-48 (Chicago White Sox) 18-6, 59-34 (Colorado Rockies)

Sunday, July 13, 2014 - 5:05 p.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

2nd Half Game #25 (92 of 137)

RH Robinson Leyer (5-5, 3.16) vs. RH Johendi Jiminian (10-4, 4.52)

Today's Preview:Fresh off of the team's second-longest game of the last nine years, the Intimidators (A, White Sox) look to avoid being swept at home by the Tourists (A, Rockies) in today's series finale. Kannapolis, which has now dropped four straight, fell 7-5 in 15 innings to Asheville on Saturday night, and today Robinson Leyer makes his team-leading 18th start a day after Kannapolis used a season-high six pitchers to get through Saturday night's marathon game.

Intimidating Starter: Robinson Leyer, 21, makes his second start against Asheville and 18th this season. He is coming off his first career complete game, tossing 7.0 innings and allowing two runs on three hits in a rain-shortened outing July 8 at Greensboro. It was Leyer's third 7-inning start this season, matching his career-high. He currently ranks 11th in the SAL with a 3.16 ERA this season, and since April 16, his 2.12 ERA (20 ER/85 IP) is tied for 19th-best in all of full-season Minor League Baseball. He dominated the month of June, going 1-1 with a 1.16 ERA (4 ER/31 IP) in five starts. In his one start at Asheville, he worked 7.0 strong innings at hitter-friendly McCormick Field, limiting the Tourists to a run on seven hits to earn a win. The younger brother of former Intimidator Euclides Leyer, he spent 2013 with Advanced Rookie Bristol, going 2-7 with a 6.35 ERA in 13 starts.

Twirling Tourist: Johendi Jiminian, 21, makes his 19th start of the season and first against Kannapolis. The right-hander is tied for second in the South Atlantic League with 10 wins while leading the circuit in wild pitches (18). He is coming off consecutive wins against Greenville and Rome. After starting the season by going 4-1 with a 1.27 ERA in five starts in April, Jiminian struggled in ensuing months, going 2-2 with an ERA of 9.00 (22 ER/ 22 IP) in five starts in June. He struck out a season-high eight batters in 6.0 innings in a June 4 win at Savannah, and he has twice worked a season-high 7.0 innings, most recently in a May 30 win at Charleston.

About Last Night:The Intimidators twice rallied from a run down in extra innings before the Tourists won a 15-inning marathon, 7-5, Saturday at CMC-NorthEast Stadium. Kannapolis played its longest game of the season in terms of both innings and time. Asheville broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the 15th when Raimel Tapia doubled to score Michael Benjamin. Correlle Prime followed with an RBI-triple to add the insurance run. The two teams combined to use 14 pitchers, including eight from Asheville, with no position-players taking the mound over the 5-hour, 11-minute game. Asheville's Trent Blank (3-0) earned the win, working the 13th and 14th innings, and Jefri Hernandez spun a scoreless 15th for the save (1). Kannapolis reliever Alex Powers (0-2) gave up three runs on six hits over 3.0 relief innings and was tagged with the loss. The Intimidators led 3-1 going into the top of the ninth, but Ryan McMahon's 2-out double scored David Dahl and Tapia to tie the game against Brad Salgado. Christian Stringer finished 3-7 with an RBI and a run scored for Kannapolis, while Nolan Earley went 4-6 with two RBI and a run scored. Andre Wheeler struck out a career-high nine batters over 4.0 innings while allowing one unearned run in his 10th start of the season.

Go Long: Kannapolis played not only its longest game of the season on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, but the 5-hour, 11-minute marathon was the longest Intimidators game since May 20, 2005, when the Intimidators dropped an 18-inning game to Delmarva, 7-6, in 5 hours and 50 minutes. The only other 5-hour game Kannapolis has played since 2005 (the first year of MiLB's BAM stats) came in the 2005 post-season when the Intimidators hosted a 21-inning game, eventually beating Charleston (S.C.) 4-3 in a 5-hour, 9-minute game in the Southern Division Series.

Two Years Ago: Prior to last night's 15-inning game, the Intimidators previous 15-inning game occurred two years ago to the day, on July 12, 2012, at Lexington, a 6-5 loss to the Legends.

Wheeler Dealin': Starting pitcher Andre Wheeler struck out a career-high nine batters in 4.0 innings of work on Saturday, surpassing his previous career-high of eight, which was set against Asheville June 8.

High Five: Asheville's Raimel Tapia went 5-8 on Saturday night, the first 5-hit game for an Intimidators opponent since both Tapia and Jordan Patterson each collected five hits in a 13-inning game on June 7 at Asheville's McCormick Field. On Saturday, Asheville totaled 19 hits, the most allowed by Kannapolis in a game this season. Asheville also left 17 on base, the highest for an Intimidators opponent in 2014.

Tough Break: Kannapolis led 3-1 going into the ninth inning on Saturday before eventually falling to the Tourists in 15 innings. It was the first home loss for the Intimidators when leading after eight innings this season. Kannapolis is now 13-1 at home when leading through eight innings and 29-2 overall.

Broadcast: This season, all 70 home games and select road games are broadcast on the Kannapolis Intimidators Baseball Network available at IntimidatorsBaseball.com and on the TuneIn Radio App with Josh Feldman, now in his fourth season with the team.

Check out the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from July 13, 2014


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.

OurSports Central