SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins) - June 12, 201

Published on June 12, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

29-34 (Chicago White Sox)

40-26 (Miami Marlins)

Thursday, June 12, 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

Game #64 (of 137)

RH Jake Sanchez (5-3, 3.05) vs. RH Matt Milroy (5-3, 2.83)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) close the first half with a 4-game series against the Grasshoppers (A, Marlins) at CMC-NorthEast Stadium, the first of four series and 15 games between these in-state rivals. This series starts with an All-Star pitching duel as Kannapolis sends its lone All-Star Jake Sanchez to the mound to take on fellow right-hander Matt Milroy, one of Greensboro's six All-Star selections. Kannapolis is coming off a rain-shortened series against Savannah, in which the Intimidators split two games with the Southern Division First Half Champions. The Intimidators owned last season's series against the Grasshoppers, taking seven of 10 games between the clubs. Greensboro enters this game with an outside chance of winning the Northern Division First Half championship, trailing the first place Hagerstown Suns by 3.0 games. With four games left before the break, any combination of two Suns wins or Grasshoppers losses, gives Hagerstown the First Half crown.

Intimidating Starter: Jake Sanchez, 24, makes his ninth start of the season and first career start against a Marlins affiliate. He is coming off a no decision at Asheville and is two starts removed from his first complete game, working all 7.0 innings in a 5-1 win over Hagerstown in the first game of a June 1 twin-bill. Sanchez, who will represent Kannapolis in next week's SAL All-Star Game, ranks tied for sixth in the league in WHIP (1.11), 10th in strikeouts (63) and 13th in ERA (3.05). He opened 2014 with 18.1 scoreless innings, not allowing a run in the entire month of April, going 3-0 with 3 saves in seven games (one start). As a starter, Sanchez is 3-3 with a 3.92 ERA (19 ER/43.2 IP) in eight starts. Last season, he led the Pioneer League in ERA (2.87), strikeouts (76) and opponent average (.230) and ranked third in IP (81.2). He went 6-3 in 14 starts for Advanced Rookie Great Falls and ranked second among White Sox farm hands in ERA after signing as a free agent on June 8, 2013, out of the independent Frontier League. Sanchez joined the independent Joliet Slammers in 2012 after graduating from Iowa Wesleyan.

Hoppers Hurler: Matt Milroy, 23, makes his nine start of the season and sixth straight after opening the season as a reliever and spot-starter. He is coming off back-to-back no decisions, working 4.0 innings in his last two starts, including a career-high tying six walks on June 2 at Lakewood. While Milroy has not earned a win in his last three starts - last beating Rome on May 23 - he has struck out five batters or more in each of his last 11 games (eight starts). Milroy leads the SAL in strikeouts (78) - including twice fanning a career-high nine batters this season - and average (.194) while ranking fifth in WHIP (1.10) and 10th in ERA (2.83). This is Milroy's second season in the Sally League, going 0-2 with a 5.49 ERA in 17 games (nine starts) in 2013. Against Kannapolis last season, he went 0-0 with a 4.09 ERA (5 ER/11 IP) in three games (two starts). He made his professional debut in 2012 with Short-Season Jamestown, going 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA in nine games (eight starts) after the Marlins picked him in the 11th round of the June 2012 Draft out of Illinois, where he was 2-6 with a 3.88 ERA in 20 games (2 starts) as a junior.

About Last Night: Kannapolis and Savannah were rained out in the series finale. The game will not be made up because it was the final meeting between the two clubs in 2014. As a result of the cancelled game, Savannah - the league's defending champion - clinched the SAL Southern Division First Half title.

Ski Streaks: Trey Michalczewski used an eight inning single on Tuesday to extend his career-long hitting streak to 14 games, the second-longest active hitting streak in the league behind Hickory's Joe Jackson (both streaks started when Kannapolis played at Hickory on May 27). Michalczewski is batting .373 (19-51) with 15 RBI 4 HRs, 6 doubles, and a triple during the streak. His has also reached base safely in 16 straight games, setting a new career-long streak.

Losing Late: Kannapolis led through seven innings on Tuesday before eventually falling to the Gnats for the team's first home loss when leading through seven innings this season. The Intimidators are now 18-4 when leading through seven, including 7-1 at home. The game was tied 1-1 through eight innings, and with the loss, Kannapolis is now 1-6 in games tied after eight innings this season (0-2 at home).

Close Calls: The Intimidators are now 11-9 in 20 one-run games this season, tied for the 4th-most one-run games in the SAL this season (West Virginia 7-16, Rome 12-10, and Augusta 11-10). Kannapolis has the fourth-best winning percentage (.550) in one-run games in the league while today's opponent, the Savannah Sand Gnats lead the league at .667 (12-6), including Tuesday night's win.

The Bounty Hunter: Hunter Jones went 2-5 on Tuesday to reach base safely in 15 straight games since May 26, including an 8-game hitting streak from May 26 to June 2. He is now batting .309 (21-68) in his last 18 games after hitting just .071 (2-28) in his first 8 games.

Cloud 9: Robinson Leyer struck out a career-high nine batters over 7.0 scoreless innings on Tuesday, matching his career-long outing set in his previous start at Asheville on June 5. He has had one of the hottest arms in the SAL since mid-April going 4-1 with a 1.59 ERA (10 ER/56.2 IP) in his last 10 starts, the best ERA in the league since April 16. The 7-inning outing by Leyer is his second of the year and fourth by an Intimidators pitcher in 2014 to match a team season-high. He has now made four quality starts including three straight.

Broadcast: This season, all 70 home games as well as select road games can be heard live on the Intimidators Baseball Network available at IntimidatorsBaseball.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. Today's pregame show begins at 6:50 p.m. with first pitch at 7:05 p.m.

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 12, 2014


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