SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. West Virginia Power (Pirates) - May 22, 2013

Published on May 22, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS (15-26) vs. WEST VIRGINIA POWER (23-22)

EDUCATION DAY PRESENTED BY CMC-NORTHEAST

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 - 10:05 a.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

Game #42 (15-26) - Home Game #19 (5-13)

RHP Brandon Brennan (1-6, 7.96) vs. RHP Clay Holmes (1-3, 5.50)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) will try to avoid a home series sweep at the hands of the hot-hitting Power (A, Pirates). Kannapolis is 6-5 in series finales this season and 3-4 in day games. The Intimidators second June 2012 fourth round pick Brandon Brennan to the mound as he tries to bounce back after collecting his league-leading fourth loss in his last outing. The Power counter with Clay Holmes, who has walked the third-most batters in the SAL. The Intimidators are 11.0 games back of first-place Hagerstown, seventh in the SAL Northern Division, while the Power are 23-22, third in the division and 5.0 games out of first place.

Intimidating Starter: Brandon Brennan, 21, makes his ninth start of the season and first against a Pirates affiliate. He is coming off four straight losses and six in his last seven starts, tying for the most losses in the SAL. He is coming off his longest outing of the season, working into the seventh inning. Baseball America rated Brennan the No. 23 Prospect in the White Sox organization after Chicago selected him in the fourth round last June out of Orange Coast (Calif.) C.C. He went 11-1 with a 1.25 ERA at Orange Coast before making his professional debut with Advanced Rookie Great Falls, going 3-2 with a 4.34 ERA in 14 games (seven starts) in 2012.

Power Pitcher: Clay Holmes, 20, makes his ninth start of the year. He is coming off a no decision against Lexington in which he allowed a run on one hit over five innings while striking out five while walking three. He took losses in his last three decisions, April 20-May 2, but he has not logged a decision over his last two outings. Holmes is 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA (3 ER/10.1 IP) in two road starts.

About Last Night: West Virginia blasted three home runs, including two by Stetson Allie as the Power took a 9-3 victory and clinched a series win over Kannapolis. Allie went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, two home runs (11, 12) and two runs scored while Dilson Herrera finished 3-for-5 with a home run, 4 RBI and a pair of runs scored. Power starting pitcher Orlando Castro (4-3) worked six scoreless innings and limited to Intimidators to three base runners along the way to earn the win. Euclides Leyer (2-5) took the loss, allowing six earned runs over five innings. Kale Kiser added a ninth inning triple and later scored on a Michael Johnson 2-run base hit.

Orlando Magical: West Virginia's starting pitcher Orlando Castro (4-3) lowered his ERA to 1.95 (11 ER/50.2 IP), sixth-best in the SAL, with Tuesday's win. He is second in the league in WHIP (0.89) and innings pitched (50.2). The Power pitcher leads the league with the lowest walks/9 IP ratio (0.89) with five walks in 50.2 IP.

Mashing in May: Michael Johnson continued to produce at the plate, going 2-5 with two RBI on Tuesday, his 15th-straight game to reach base safely. He upped his average to .313 (31-99) on the season, 11th-best in the SAL. His .547 on-base percentage during May is third-best in Minor League Baseball (Greensboro's Cameron Flynn, .588, and Rancho Cucamonga's Ryan Mount, .557) and his May average of .426 (20-47) is fourth-best in the Minors. He has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games. The 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 slapped two singles Tuesday, going 2-4 with a run scored, a walk and a stolen base. He swiped third base in the first inning, his Minor League-leading 40th stolen base in a MiLB-leading 48 attempts. Micah Johnson scored his 38th run of the year, second-most in the SAL. Johnson also leads the league with five triples. 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.

Power Hitters: West Virginia is batting .270 as a team, second-best in the SAL (Asheville, .277) with several hitters among league offensive leaders. Stetson Allie hit a pair of home runs and enjoyed his second 3-RBI game of the series on Tuesday to give him 38 RBI, taking the SAL lead in RBI from teammate Josh Bell. He is tied for fifth in the SAL in average (.329), leads the league in total bases (102), is second in hits (54) and slugging percentage (.622), tied for second in home runs (12) and ranks third in extra-base hits (24). Allie does rank fifth in the SAL with 55 strikeouts. Josh Bell ranks second with 37 RBI and ranks third in at-bats (171). Raul Fortunado is tied for second with four triples. Walker Gourley is batting .329, tied for fifth.

For Whom Josh Bell Tolls: Right fielder Josh Bell went 2-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored for the prospect-rich Power on Monday. Bell, Baseball America 's No. 6 Prospect in the Pirates system, also added his first outfield assist of the season when he threw out Jean Almanzar at third base while the Intimidators shortstop stretching for a triple. The Pirates "stunned the baseball landscape when they landed the thought-to-be-unsignable Bell" (2nd round, 61 overall) at the 2011 deadline according to BA, after he wrote all 30 teams and asked them not to select him because he was committed to attending Texas.

Cose Lights Out: Jake Cose continued to lower his ERA with 4.0 scoreless frames Saturday and now ranks fourth in the SAL with a 1.61 ERA (8 ER/44.2 IP). He is tied for fifth in the SAL in innings pitched and is eighth in the SAL with 46 strikeouts. 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 o April 17. He has struck out at least six batters in five of his eight starts this season.

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