SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) - May 23, 2013

Published on May 23, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS (15-27) at HICKORY CRAWDADS (25-19)

Thursday, May 23, 2013 - 7:00 p.m.

L.P. Frans Stadium - Hickory, N.C.

Game #43 (15-27) - Away Game #24 (10-13)

RHP Kyle Hansen (0-1, 11.70) vs. LHP Luis Parra (0-0, 0.00)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) will try to snap a three-game losing skid when they make their first trip to L.P. Frans Stadium to face the Crawdads (A, Rangers) for a four-game series. Hickory has won four straight games after losing six of their previous eight. The Intimidators will try to knock the Crawdads out of second place in the Northern Division, where they are currently 2.0 games behind division leader Hagerstown. Kannapolis is 11.0 games back, seventh in the standings. The Intimidators split a four-game series with the Crawdads in April in Kannapolis. Kannapolis owns the all-time series 141-123 dating back to 1995, however Hickory has controlled the series 25-12 over the last two seasons.

Radio Broadcasts: Tonight's game can be heard live at intimidatorsbaseball.com as Josh Feldman will be in Hickory to call three of the four games against the Crawdads. The Intimidators will carry the series opener in Hickory, plus games Saturday and Sunday. Friday's game can be heard through the Crawdads broadcast feed available through their website at hickorycrawdads.com.

Intimidating Starter: Kyle Hansen, 22, makes his third start of the season and of his career after moving into the Kannapolis rotation May 12. The 6'8" right-hander joined the team May 5 from Extended Spring and made his first appearance out of the bullpen on May 6 against Greensboro, recording a six-out save while striking out four over 2.0 hitless innings. The White Sox picked Hansen in the sixth round of the June 2012 draft out of St. John's University in Queens, NY where he was a First-Team All-Big East selection as a sophomore and a Second-Team All-American by Baseball America in 2010. He led St. Dominic High School (Oyster Bay, NY) to their first state championship as a senior and was twice named First-Team All-State. Hansen is the younger brother of Boston's 2005 first-round pick Craig Hansen, who pitched in the Major Leagues with the Red Sox and Pirates from 2005-09, going 4-9 with a 6.32 ERA in 95 relief appearances. Craig is currently in the Mets system.

Hickory's Hurler: Luis Parra, 21, makes his second start after working 3.0 scoreless, hitless innings at Delmarva on May 19 in his Crawdads debut. The 6'2" southpaw spent the last two seasons with the AZL Rangers and the previous two seasons in the DSL. Entering this season, Parra boasted a career record of 12-14 with a 3.66 ERA in 56 games (41 starts). Last season with the AZL Rangers, he went 5-6 with a 3.79 ERA (25 ER/59.1 IP) in 13 games (13 starts).

Mourning the Morning: Kannapolis dropped Wednesday morning's game to West Virginia, 8-6, as the Power completed a three-game sweep of the Intimidators. The Power pounded out 17 hits and tagged starter Brandon Brennan with a loss. All nine Power batters recorded at least one hit. Dilson Herrera (3-5) and D.J. Crumlich (3-4) led the charge while league RBI-leader Stetson Allie went 2-4 with two RBI, capping off a strong series in which he hit .538 (7-13) with two home runs, a double, a triple and eight RBI over three games. Kannapolis took a 5-4 lead in the fourth on a Michael Johnson single, but West Virginia scored three runs over the next two innings to get back in front. Brent Tanner his a home run (2) to pull the Intimidators within a run in the seventh, 7-6.

Mashing in May: Utility man Michael Johnson continued to produce at the plate, going 2-4 with a walk and an RBI on Wednesday while playing first base, his 16th-straight game to reach base safely. He upped his average to .320 (33-103), tied for ninth-best in the SAL this season, and raised his on-base percentage to .429, tied for third on the circuit. During the month of May, he ranks third in Minor League Baseball in average (.431, 22-51) and on-base percentage (.551). He has hit safely in 14 of his last 16 games, dating back to May 4. Johnson got off to a slow start in April, appearing in 15 of the team's 25 games while batting .212 (11-52). The White Sox selected him in the 31st round in June 2011 out of Samford where he set the school record for career runs scored (175).

Micah on the Move: Leadoff man Micah Johnson went 2-4 with a run scored and stolen two bases in four attempts on Wednesday. He now leads Minor League Baseball with 42 stolen bases and has been caught stealing an MiLB-most 10 times. He has hit safely in his last six games, putting his average at exactly .300 (48-160) on the season. Johnson's five triples are the most in the SAL, and his 39 runs scored are tied for first on the circuit. When leading off an inning, he is batting .349 (22-63) this season and is hitting .324 (44-136) against right-handers compared to .167 (4-24) against lefties. Baseball America rated Johnson as the White Sox No. 25 Prospect this season, naming him the Fastest Baserunner in the organization's 2012 draft class.

Roller Cose-ster: Jake Cose continued to lower his ERA with 4.0 scoreless frames Saturday and now ranks second in the SAL with a 1.61 ERA (8 ER/44.2 IP), behind Savannah's Rainy Lara (1.42). Cose has not allowed an earned run in his last four starts and only allowed three unearned runs in those outings, spanning 24.2 innings. Cose last allowed an earned run April 23 against Rome. Six of the eight earned runs he has allowed this year came in one start, a home loss to Delmarva on April 17. He has struck out at least six batters in five of his eight starts this season.

Hickory's Homers: The Crawdads lead all of baseball with 69 home runs as a team with the next closest team being the High-A Stockton Ports (63) and MLB's Cleveland Indians (62). By comparison, the Intimidators have hit 15 home runs this season, however the Intimidators are batting .247 as a team compared to the Crawdads' .233 average, second-lowest in the league (Lexington, .215). Three of the league's top four home run hitters are on the Crawdads roster as league-leader Ryan Rua (13) is followed closely by Joey Gallo (12) and Lewis Brinson (10). Jorge Alfaro is tied for fifth with nine.

Brennan Battling: Starter Brandon Brennan suffered his league-leading seventh loss Wednesday against West Virginia, tying him for the second-most losses in minor league baseball. The White Sox No. 23 Prospect according to Baesball America, Brennan is offer to a rocky start this season, now at 1-7 with a 7.74 ERA in nine starts. He gave up a career-high 13 hits in his last outing and now leads the SAL in hits allowed (65), runs allowed (44) and earned runs allowed (37).

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 23, 2013


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