Hillcats at Red Sox Tonight
June 29, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg took the first game of a brief two-game series at Salem with a 4-2 win last night...The Hillcats have won back-to-back games after falling in four straight contests, their longest losing skid of the season...Tonight finishes a two-game series with the Red Sox in Salem and is followed by a two-game series against the Sox in Lynchburg...
VS. SALEM: The Hillcats are 6-1 against the Red Sox this season and are 3-1 at Salem Memorial Ballpark...The last time they met Lynchburg earned one of their five sweeps this season by winning all three games of their set at City Stadium...Last season the Cats won the season series against Salem, then the Avalanche and an affiliate of the Houston Astros, by a count of 12-8...Salem was the only team in the Carolina League that the Hillcats had a winning record against...In the all-time series Salem leads 146-133 and they are 85-56 at home...Lynchburg has won 11 out of their last 12 games against Salem...
WEIRD, WILD, WACKY STUFF: The Cats finish a two-game series with the Red Sox tonight in Salem, and then play a two-game set in Lynchburg with the Sox...Then they head to Winston-Salem to play one game with the Dash at Wake Forest Baseball Park and return home for a three-game series at City Stadium with Winston-Salem...The strange scheduling does allow the Hillcats the chance to sleep in their own bed for 23 straight nights...That stretch includes the All-Star break, an off-day, 15 out of 18 games at home and three commuter away games...
OPENING ACT SUCCESS: Last night Lynchburg won the series opener of this brief two-game series to improve to 20-3 in game one contests this season...After starting the year 18-1 in eries openers and winning 17 in a row, the Hillcats had lost two of their last three game one games before their victory last night...
MIGHTY MERCER: INF Jordy Mercer went 2-for-4 last night with a double, a homer, two RBI and two runs in the Hillcats win...In the last two games he is a combined 5-for-8 with three doubles, a homer, three RBI and three runs scored...In his last 14 games Mercer has raised his average from .226 to .246 by going 17-for-51 (.333) with eight doubles, a home run, 11 RBI and 11 runs...
SUFFICIENT SUPPORT: RHP Matt McSwain earned his team leading seventh win of the season last night by limiting the Red Sox to one run on seven hits in five innings of work...The right-hander had allowed just two earned runs in his last two starts combined and lost both starts...The Hillcats had given him just one run of support in both of his last two starts combined prior to putting up four runs last night in the 4-2 win...McSwain is now sixth in the league in ERA (2.93), tied for second in wins and third in innings pitched in the Carolina League...
OFF AND RUNNING: INF Jose De Los Santos stole his 31st base of the season last night and it was his second steal in his last two games...The swipe two nights ago came after six games without a steal and just one theft in his last 16 games prior to Saturday night...This after the he stole 28 bases in his first 36 contests of the year...
SLEW OF SINGLES: 1B Matt Hague went 2-for-4 last night with a pair of runs driven in...It was the third straight multi-hit game for the first baseman who has gone a combined 6-for-11 with four RBI in those three contests...He has in eight of his last nine games and has gone 11-for-28 (.393) over that time, raising his average from .278 to .293...Of those 11 hits, 10 have been singles...Hague only has two extra-base hits in his last 20 games played...Over that time he has 20 hits, 18 of them have been singles...He has played in four games since missing 10 contests with an ankle injury he suffered at in a collision at home plate in Kinston on June 12th, and has gone 6-for-14 (.429) since returning to the line-up...
HARVEY: RHP Harvey Garcia made his Hillcats debut last night after making two appearances with the GCL Pirates, allowing two runs in two innings after he missed all of 2008 with shoulder tendinitis...In 2007, Garcia pitched at three different levels in the Florida Marlins organization, including the major league level where he went 0-1, with a 4.38 ERA in eight games with the Marlins...Last night he pitched one scoreless inning and earned his first hold of the campaign...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Kyle Weiland was selected by the Red Sox in the third round of the 2008 draft out of the University of Notre Dame...He pitched primarily in relief in his three years of work for the Irish, going 2-2 with a 5.04 ERA with seven saves in 26 games his junior season last year...He made his professional debut last year as well with Short-Season Low-A Lowell, and went 3-3 with a 1.50 ERA in 15 games (10 starts) with the Spinners...This season he skipped full season Low-A to head to Salem and has gone 2-6 with a 4.71 ERA with the Res Sox...After starting the season 1-5 with a 7.78 ERA in his first nine starts, he has a record of 1-1 with 0.64 ERA in his last five outings...He was ranked as the 23rd best prospect in the Red Sox system prior to the start of this season by Baseball America...Tonight will be his first start against Lynchburg...
Carolina League Stories from June 29, 2009
- Salem subdues Lynchburg in 6-2 win - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Rally Rocks Strike Again - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Meyers stellar as Nats bounce back - Potomac Nationals
- Pelicans hang on for 6-5 win - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Myrtle Beach downs Kinston, 6-5 - Kinston Indians
- Keys lose in 10 - Frederick Keys
- Salem knocks off Lynchburg, 6-2 - Salem Red Sox
- Meyers silences Dash bats as P-Nats cruise to victory - Winston-Salem Dash
- Help the P-Nats Fight ALS - Potomac Nationals
- Dash to Host Firecracker Fun Night on July 2 - Winston-Salem Dash
- Hillcats at Red Sox Tonight - Lynchburg Hillcats
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