CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats Game Notes August 12th

Published on August 12, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


Lynchburg fell 5-2 in the series opener to Kinston last night at City Stadium...The loss stopped the Hillcats three-game winning streak...Tonight the Cats play the middle-game of their three-game series with Kinston and game two of a six-game homestand...They are in the midst of 13 out of 16 at Calvin Falwell Field...

VS. KINSTON: The Hillcats are 9-9 against the Indians thus far this season and are 3-5 at City Stadium...Lynchburg has the edge in the all-time series at 147-146, and they are 82-63 in the Hill City ...Kinston is the only team in the league with a winning record against Lynchburg at Calvin Falwell Field this season...

THIRTY SOMETHING: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently named their updated top 30 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system with significant input from four of the top people in baseball operations...Of those thirty, seven are currently on the Hillcats roster, RHP Bryan Morris (9), LHP Jeff Locke (10), INF Chase d'Arnaud (11), LHP Rudy Owens (14), INF Jordy Mercer (23), UTIL Josh Harrison (26), RHP Nate Adcock (27)...Former Hillcat 3B Pedro Alvarez is rated as the number one prospect in the system...

LOOKIN' TO SCORE: Lynchburg went 0-for-14 with men in scoring position last night in their 5-2 loss to Kinston...Four times in the first seven inning the Hillcats had the lead-off man aboard but could not score...In the month of August the Cats are batting just .190 (19-for-100) with men in scoring position...

WANNA BE STARTIN' SOMETHIN': Last night Lynchburg's starter LHP Justin Wilson allowed just one earned run in five innings of work...In the last 11 games the Hillcats starting pitchers have posted a 2.38 ERA (12 earned runs in 45 and 1/3 innings)...In 10 of those 11 games the starter has allowed one run or less...The only time they allowed more than a run (RHP Matt McSwain allowed five runs in five and 2/3 innings), only one run had been allowed through the first five innings...Despite these numbers, the starters record over these 11 games in just 5-2 and Wilson took a tough luck loss last night...

STARTIN' TO COME TOGETHER: LHP Justin Wilson is posting a 1.73 ERA (seven earned runs in 36 and 1/3 innings) in his last seven starts and has lowered his ERA from 6.75 to 4.83 over that time...LHP Jeff Locke has a 1.65 ERA (three earned runs in 16 and 1/3 innings) in his last three outings and has lowered his ERA from 5.94 to 4.61...LHP Rudy Owens has not allowed a run in his first two starts (nine and 1/3 innings) with Lynchburg and now has a combined ERA of 1.56 on the season...

MUCKY IN THE MIDDLE: Last night RHP Moises Robles allowed three runs in one inning after entering the game with no score...In his last three appearances he has allowed 11 earned runs in two and 2/3 innings (37.08 ERA) of work to raise his ERA from 2.43 to 5.29...This after he had not allowed an earned run in 18 and 2/3 innings...LHP Paul Mildren has allowed 19 earned runs in his last 11 and 1/3 innings (15.09 ERA) to raise his ERA from 4.06 to 5.77...He had allowed just three earned runs in his last 15 and 1/3 innings (1.76 ERA) prior to his recent stretch...RHP Mike Colla has allowed 20 earned runs in his last 19 innings (8.55 ERA) to raise his ERA from 0.86 to 4.11...He had allowed just three earned runs in his first 31 and 1/3 innings this season...He did toss 2/3 of a scoreless inning in his last appearance on Sunday and stranded two inherited runners to earn a hold in the Hillcats 4-2 win at Myrtle Beach...

PRIORITY PACKAGE: Priority reliever RHP Tom Boleska worked three innings last night and did not allow an earned run...The right-hander has now not allowed a run since his return from the Disabled List on July 19th...That span now covers 15 and 1/3 innings pitched...On the season he has allowed just one earned run in 21 and 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.42...

CLOSING IN: RHP R.J. Rodriguez notched his Carolina League leading 24th save of the season on Sunday night at Myrtle Beach...The all-star closer has notched 24 saves, just five saves short of tying the all-time Hillcats single-season record...D.J. Carrasco had 29 saves in 2002 to set the record...Rodriguez has now moved ahead of Rafael Chavez (22) for second place in Cats history...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Russell Young was selected in the 28th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft by the Indians out of Dartmouth College...His final year with the Big Green he made nine starts and 5-4 with a 4.55 ERA...He was primarily a starter all four years at the Ivy League school...He began his professional career last season with Short Season Low-A Mahoning Valley and went 6-3 with a 3.37 ERA in 15 starts...This season he began the season with Low-A Lake County and was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in four games (two starts) before his promotion to Kinston...Young made his Advanced-A debut at City Stadium on May 1st and took the loss, allowing seven runs in four innings of work...He has made two starts against Lynchburg and is 1-1 with a 7.59 ERA (nine earned runs in 10 and 2/3 innings)...In his 17 starts with the Indians he has gone 4-5 with a 3.41 ERA...After starting his time with the K-Tribe 0-3 with a 7.36 ERA in his first six starts, he has gone 4-2 with a 1.78 ERA in his last 11 games for the Indians...

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Carolina League Stories from August 12, 2009


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