SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies) - July 18, 2014

Published on July 18, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. LAKEWOOD BLUECLAWS

44-51, 15-13 (Chicago White Sox) 37-60, 10-18 (Philadelphia Phillies)

Friday, July 18, 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

2nd Half Game #29 (96 of 137)

LH Jordan Guerrero (6-0, 2.95) vs. RH Ranfi Casimiro (2-9, 5.72)

Today's Preview:The Intimidators (A, White Sox) return home for a 4-game home stand against the BlueClaws (A, Phillies). Kannapolis is coming off a win on Thursday to end a 7-game losing streak and is tied for 4th in the SAL Northern Division Second Half standings, 3.0 games back of first place, while Lakewood is 8.0 games back in seventh. The BlueClaws are coming off of a series win at Hickory, taking two of three games against the Crawdads. Jordan Guerrero takes the mound for Kannapolis while the BlueClaws counter with Ranfi Casimiro in the first meeting between the two teams since a fog-out in Lakewood on May 9. The Intimidators took both games that were completed in Lakewood in May.

Intimidating Starter: Jordan Guerrero, 20, makes his third start of the season and 19th appearance. Guerrero, who has been trading piggy-back starts with Andre Wheeler, is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA (3 ER/10 IP) in two starts this season, including a win in his last start July 6 at Hagerstown. The left-hander from Moorpark, Calif., leads the Intimidators with six wins, including a spotless relief record, going 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA in 16 games out of the pen. He is coming off 2.0 scoreless innings against Asheville in last Saturday's 15-inning game. The White Sox selected Guerrero in the 15th round of the June 2012 First-Year Player Draft, and he spent the last two seasons with Advanced Rookie Bristol. In 2013, he went 0-3 with a 4.26 ERA in five games (five starts) for the Bristol White Sox.

BlueClaw on the Bump:Ranfi Casimiro, who turned 22 on Wednesday, makes his 19th start of the season and second against Kannapolis. He took a loss against the Intimidators on May 8, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits over 4.2 innings. Casimiro has lost his last four starts, allowing at least four earned runs in each outing since June 27. He has struggled in July, going 0-3 with a 9.42 ERA (15 ER/14.1 IP) in three starts. Casimiro is tied for second in the SAL with nine losses and ranks third in walks (48). Casimiro made his domestic debut in 2012 with the GCL Phillies, going 3-2 with a 3.49 ERA in 10 games (seven starts), however his numbers dipped in his second tour in the GCL in 2013, going 2-6 with a 5.21 ERA in 11 starts.

Last Time Out:Three pitchers combined for the Intimidators fifth shutout win, 1-0, in Augusta on Thursday. Kannapolis scored the game's lone run in the ninth inning to snap a 7-game losing streak. Thad Lowry returned from the Disabled List to toss 5.0 strong innings, keeping the GreenJackets hitless through the first four frames. He finished with six strikeouts and two walks while allowing one hit, a leadoff single in the fifth, in a no decision. Ben Brewster took over in the sixth inning and worked three hitless innings. Brewster (2-0) struck out two and walked one on his way to his second professional win. Brad Salgado gave up a pair of singles but stranded Augusta's tying and winning runs for the save (1). In the ninth, Jacob Morris led off with a base hit, moved to second on a walk to Brett Austin. After a Carl Thomore sac-bunt advanced the runners, Ryan Leonards' sac-fly cashed Morris for the game's only run. Raymundo Montero (0-3) took the loss, allowing a run in his 1 and 1/3 innings on the mound.

Another Shutout: The Intimidators secured their fifth shutout win on Thursday and first since Thad Lowry threw a complete-game no-hitter in a rain-shortened 5.0-inning win at West Virginia on June 3, a 3-0 win for the Intimidators. Kannapolis is now 5-6 in shutouts, tied for the seventh-most shutouts in the league this season.

Ending the Slide: Kannapolis stopped a 7-game losing streak on Thursday with a win in the series finale at Augusta. The Intimidators lost seven straight from July 9-16, matching the team's longest losing streak of the season from May 19-26. The two 7-game skids were the longest for Kannapolis since losing eight straight from April 25 to May 6, 2013.

Home Sweet Home?: The Intimidators have lost five straight home games dating back to July 3, equaling a season high. Kannapolis dropped its series finale to Delmarva on July 3 and suffered a 4-game sweep at the hands of Asheville from July 10-13.

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

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