SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Greensboro Grasshoppers (Miami) - June 13, 2014

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


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

29-35 (Chicago White Sox) 41-26 (Miami Marlins)

Friday, June 13, 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

Game #65 (of 137)

RH James Dykstra (3-5, 3.70) vs. RH Max Garner (3-4, 3.91)

Today's Preview:Opening Day starter James Dykstra returns to the mound for the Intimidators (A, White Sox), which face the Grasshoppers (A, Marlins) in Game 2 of this 4-game set to close the first half of the South Atlantic League season. Dykstra, who missed his last start, will try to stop Greensboro's season-high seven-game hitting streak. Kannapolis dropped Thursday's series opener, 5-2, to preserve Greensboro's hopes of clinching the first half. The Hoppers trail the first place Hagerstown Suns by 2.5 games, and any combination of two Hagerstown wins or Hoppers losses will clinch the SAL Northern Division First Half championship for the Suns.

Intimidating Starter: James Dykstra, 23, makes his 11th start of the season after missing his previously scheduled start on June 8. The well-rested right-hander ranks second in the SAL among starters in lowest walks/9 IP ratio at 1.29 (8 BB-IBB/56 IP). Dykstra has been solid at home, going 1-2 with a 2.82 ERA (7 ER/22.1 IP) in four starts in Kannapolis compared to 2-3 with a 4.28 ERA in six road starts. He ranks 10th in all of Minor League Baseball with a 2.71 GO/AO ratio. He is two starts removed from his last win, spinning 6.0 scoreless innings at Hickory on May 27. The White Sox selected Dykstra in the sixth round of the June 2013 draft out of Cal State San Marcos. As a senior in 2013, he went 9-4 with a 2.02 ERA in 13 starts, working 89 innings en route to being named All-Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) First Team for the second straight year.

Hoppers Hurler: Greensboro's Opening Day starter Max Garner, who turned 24 on Wednesday, makes his league-lead-tying 14th start of the season when he faces a White Sox affiliate for the first time in his career. He has gone winless in his last four starts and is 0-1 with a 7.15 ERA in two June starts. Garner made it through the first two months of the season 3-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 11 starts before giving up 11 hits and eight runs over 6.0 innings in a June 3 loss at Lakewood. Garner worked a career-long 8.0 IP of scoreless ball in his last win on May 18. Twice this season, he fanned a career-high eight batters, both times against Delmarva in April. He made his professional debut in 2013 with Short-Season Batavia, going 0-2 with a 1.62 ERA in 14 starts. The Marlins drafted him in the 18th round of the June 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Baylor University.

About Last Night:Greensboro took advantage of a two-out error by Intimidators 2B Christian Stringer to score four runs on its way to a 5-2 win on Thursday. Matt Milroy matched his career-high with nine strikeouts over 6.0 scoreless innings for the Grasshoppers. Milroy (6-3) earned the win. Jake Sanchez took a hard-luck loss for Kannapolis, allowing four runs (none earned) on six hits over 5.0 innings. Joel Jimenez paced the Hoppers' offense, going 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Kannapolis trailed 5-0 going into the bottom of the ninth before Kale Kiser's second triple of the game drove in Jacob Morris and Jeremy Dowdy to put Kannapolis on the board before eventually falling in the series opener.

Hot Hoppers: With Thursday's win in Kannapolis, Greensboro has won a season-high seven straight games since June 6, surpassing a 6-game winning streak from May 22-27. Greensboro started this streak by taking the final three games of a 4-game set against the Suns at NewBridge Bank Park before sweeping a 3-game series at West Virginia.

Kiser Rolls: Outfielder Kale Kiser tripled twice on Thursday, including a 2-run triple in the ninth inning. His two-triple game is the first by an Intimidators player since Keenyn Walker accomplished the feat on July 1, 2012. Kiser now has four triples on the season, tied for eighth in the SAL, and all four have come in the month of June. As a result, Kiser is tied for the Minor Leagues lead, along with Delmarva's Mike Yastrzemski and Lynchburg's Jose Peraza, in triples this month.

Ski Streaks:Trey Michalczewski doubled on Thursday night, going 1-3 to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, tying Hickory's Joe Jackson for the longest-active hitting streak in the league this season. The 19-year-old third baseman is now batting .370 (20-54) with 12 extra-base hits during the stretch: four home runs, seven doubles, and a triple. His has reached base safely in a career-long 17 straight games.

Jones, The Bounty Hunter: Hunter Jones drew a walk Thursday to run his on-base streak to 19 straight games with Kannapolis, dating back to May 23. During this stretch, he is batting .292 (21-72) with all four of his career home runs and 11 RBI.

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.

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 13, 2014


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