SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Augusta GreenJackets (Giants) -- August 2, 2014

Published on August 2, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS

51-57, 22-19 (Chicago White Sox) 53-56, 19-22 (San Francisco Giants)

Saturday Aug, 2 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-Northeast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

2nd Half Game #42 (109 of 137)

LH Jeff McKenzie (2-2, 4.50) vs. RH Robert Ramer (1-2, 6.05)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) send left-hander Jeff McKenzie to the mound for the first time since his first career complete game as Kannapolis hosts the GreenJackets (A, Giants) in the third game of this 4-game series. Augusta took Friday night's game with a shutout victory, 5-0, to even the series at one game apiece. The Intimidators and GreenJackets play a total of just seven games in 2014, and Augusta leads the season-series, 3-games-to-2, including a series win in mid-July at Lake Olmstead Stadium.

Promotions Preview: The Intimidators will wear Chicago White Sox uniforms during tonight's game as part of "Future White Sox Night" with post-game fireworks presented by F&M Bank. Gates open at 6 p.m.

Sally League Standings: Despite Friday's loss, Kannapolis (22-19) remained 4.0 games back of first place in the SAL Northern Division Second Half Standings. The Intimidators are fourth behind Hagerstown (26-15), Hickory (24-16), and Greensboro (25-17).

Intimidators Starter: Jeff McKenzie, 23, makes his seventh start for Kannapolis and second against the GreenJackets. He tossed 6.0 scoreless innings in a no decision at Augusta on July 15, an eventual 12-inning loss for Kannapolis. McKenzie threw the first complete game of his career in his last outing on July 27 at Lakewood, tossing all 7.0 innings in the first game of a doubleheader, limiting the BlueClaws to three runs (two earned) in a win. He made two starts with Advanced Rookie Great Falls to open this season, going 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA before earning a promotion to Kannapolis on June 25. In eight starts this season between the Voyagers and the Intimidators, he is 3-2 with a 3.74 (19 ER/45.2 IP). He made his professional debut in 2013, working in the Voyagers bullpen and going 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA (4 ER/25 IP) in 16 games, converting all six save chances. The White Sox drafted McKenzie in the 28th round of the June 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal State Bakersfield, where he was named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, becoming his school's first All-American baseball player in 2013 by going 13-2 with a 1.88 ERA (24 ER/114.2 IP), six complete games (four shutouts) and 88 strikeouts.

Augusta's Arm: Robert Ramer, 24, makes his fourth start with Augusta and first against Kannapolis. The Giants signed Ramer out of the Independent Frontier League on June 28 after going 7-0 with a 1.90 ERA with the Evansville Otters. Ramer picked up a win with 5.0 scoreless innings in his affiliated debut on July 6 against Greenville, but he struggled in his next three starts, going 0-2 with a 8.16 (13 ER/14.1 IP). He made his professional debut with the Otters in 2013, going 3-1 with a 3.93 ERA in six starts after graduating from Purdue. Ramer was 16-6 with a 4.19 ERA over four years with the Boilermakers. The right-hander is from the Bay Area, attending Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, Calif.

About Last Night: Four Augusta pitchers combined to shut out the Intimidators, 5-0, Friday. Chase Johnson (3-6) tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits while striking out five to earn a win. He turned the mound over to three relievers who each spun a scoreless inning. Luis Castillo worked a perfect seventh, and Ray Black allowed the only hit against the Augusta pen in the eighth. Jake Smith struck out the side in a perfect ninth to finish the shutout. The GreenJackets strung together four hits with one out in the second inning for an early 3-0 lead. Craig Massoni's double scored Ryan Jones from first to break a scoreless tie. Cristian Paulino followed with an RBI-triple, and he scored on a Rando Moreno base hit. Robinson Leyer (5-7) tossed 6.0 innings for Kannapolis in his team-leading 21st start of the season. He gave up three runs on six hits while striking out three and walking five in the loss. In the eighth inning, Rafael Rodriguez extended Augusta's advantage with a 2-run home run (5) for a 5-0 lead. Jose Brito gave up two runs over 2.0 relief innings for Kannapolis, and David Putman tossed a scoreless ninth in his return to the Intimidators.

Shut Out: Kannapolis suffered its seventh shutout loss of the season and first since falling to Asheville 1-0 at home on July 10 in a second straight shutout loss. In fact, the Intimidators went a season-long 18 consecutive innings without scoring a run over back-to-back shutouts including at Greensboro on July 9. Kannapolis is 5-7 in shutouts this season with its most recent win on July 15 in Augusta, 1-0.

Atta-boy, Adam: Centerfielder Adam Engel went 1-4 on Friday to run his current on-base streak to a career-best 19 straight games since July 11, tied for the 21st-longest streak in the SAL this season and the second-longest by an Intimidators player (Danny Hayes had a 24-game on-base streak April 11 to May 8). During that run, Engel is hitting .325 (26-80) with three double, three triples, three home runs, and 11 RBI while posting an on-base percentage of .407. He has seven triples this year, fifth in the SAL.

Fish back in the pond: Catcher Zach Fisher returns to Kannapolis today from Advanced Rookie Great Falls, where he hit .338 (44-130) with four home runs and 35 RBI in 32 games. He ranks tied for fourth in the Pioneer League in RBI and tied for eighth in batting average. Last season with Kannapolis, he hit .268 (19-71) with a home run and 10 RBI in 20 games from April 6 to May 17 before transferring to Extended Spring Training and spending the rest of his season with the Voyagers, batting .302 with six home runs and 32 RBI in 42 games in the Pioneer League. In a corresponding move, catcher Jeremy Dowdy - who hit .295 (49-166) with a HR and 19 RBI in 44 games - was promoted to AA Birmingham.

Game Broadcasts: This season all 70 home games and select road games 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. iPhone/iPad: bit.ly/ZqLOx9 PC/Droid: bit.ly/16WINds

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