Hillcats Game Notes August 20, 2015, 5:30 p.m. vs. Frederick (DH)
Published on August 20, 2015 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (29-22, 62-59) vs. FREDERICK KEYS (26-25, 58-63)
Thursday, August 20, 2015 -- 5:30 p.m.
Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium
RHP Antonio Romero (1-1, 3.02) vs. TBA
LHP Luis Lugo (7-9, 4.34) vs. RHP Mikey O'Brien (2-4, 2.05)
LAST TIME OUT: Last night's game was suspended in the bottom of the third inning. Lynchburg is trailing 1-0 but has two runners on base with one out. The suspended game will resume at 5:30 and be completed as a nine-inning contest. After that, the two teams will play a seven-inning game.
VS. FREDERICK: Lynchburg is 10-11 overall against the Frederick Keys this season, but are 7-4 against them at home at City Stadium...The last time the two squads met, Frederick took two of three games and moved back within three games of first place after Lynchburg won the series opener 17-2...The Hillcats as a team are hitting .265 against the Keys, which is two points higher than their season average...CLINT FRAZIER's numbers at the plate haven't been too affected by Frederick pitching as he leads the team with a .368 average with six home runs (two multi-home run games) and 22 RBIs in 20 games...Along with his 28 hits, FRAZIER has also walked 13 times against the Keys...The two teams rank as the top two clubs in the Carolina League in terms of total hits...Lynchburg has 1,048 hits on the season and Frederick has 1,031...The Salem Red Sox (1,000) are the only other team in the Carolina League to have reached the 1.000 hit total this season.
BIG NIGHT AT THE PLATE: With a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with a trio of triples, catcher ERIC HAASE tied a Carolina League Record for triples by an individual in a single game...HAASE is the first player in the Carolina League to record three triples in a game since CHONE FIGGINS accomplished the feat as a member of the Salem Avalanche on June 7, 2000...FIGGINS went on to play 10 seasons in the Major Leagues for the Rockies, the Angels, and the Dodgers and was selected to the 2009 All-Star Team as a member of the Angels...CLINT FRAZIER also recorded a pair of solo home runs in the win over the Keys...The blasts mark the second time in 2015 that FRAZIER has gone yard twice in a single game and both times came against the Frederick Keys, the first came on May 30 on the road at Harry Grove Stadium in a game the Hillcats won 12-8.
CRUCIAL SERIES: The Hillcats have a three game lead over the Frederick Keys with 19 games to play...The Hillcats took a pivotal first game of the series by a score of 8-2...Following the three-game series the Hillcats do not face an opponent in the top two of either division for the remainder of the season....Lynchburg will play six games against the last-place Salem Red Sox, eight games against the South Division third place Carolina Mudcats, and three games against the Northern Division third-place Potomac Nationals...Frederick, who trails Lynchburg by three games, will play eight games against the first-place Winston-Salem Dash and three games against the Southern Division first-half champion and current second place Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
LET'S NOT KEEP IT CLOSE: Lynchburg claimed the opening game of the series against the Keys by five runs to improve to a league-best 31-16 (.660) in games decided by more than three runs....Close games tell a much different story, as the Hillcats are a league-worst 23-34 (.411) in contests decided by two runs or fewer...Conversely, Frederick leads the Carolina League with a 35-24 (.593) record in those same contests...Against the Keys, Lynchburg is 2-7 in one- and two-run games...The eighth and ninth innings have been the worst statistically for the Hillcats in terms of runs scored, as the opposition has outscored Lynchburg by 12 runs in the eighth and 11 runs in the ninth...Additionally, Lynchburg is a mere 3-7 in its 10 extra-inning contests this year, which is the second-worst mark in the Carolina League (Winston-Salem, 1-6)...Frederick is the second-best team in bonus baseball with a 7-3 record...
STANDARD PROCEDURE: Lynchburg's barrage of extra-base hits in August is really par for the course...The Hillcats not only lead the Carolina League in batting average with a .263 clip, but they also lead in on-base percentage (.340) and slugging percentage (.419)...Specifically, Lynchburg's .419 slugging percentage is 51 points better than the next-best team, which is the Pelicans with a .368 mark...The Hillcats top the circuit in doubles (257), triples (45) and home runs (91)...That totals 393 multi-baggers, which is 108 more than the second-highest sum in the league (Myrtle Beach, 285 extra-base hits)...Individually, Lynchburg has the top three home run hitters, the top three batters in doubles, the top three in triples, and the top three in extra-base hits in the league...Overall, the top four Carolina League players in slugging percentage all established those numbers with the Hillcats (NELLIE RODRIGUEZ, BRADLEY ZIMMER, LUIGI RODRIGUEZ AND CLINT FRAZIER).
STARTERS FINISHING STRONG: After surrendering only three runs Friday night, the Hillcats ERA dropped below 4.00 for the first time since April 17 when the team had a 3.72 earned run average...At that point, the Hillcats allowed 13 and 15 runs on back-to-back nights and the team's ERA ballooned to a season-worst 5.46..The Hillcats slowly whittled that down to 4.41 by the end of the first half, and the team had 18 quality starts going into the All-Star Break, seven of which came from ADAM PLUTKO...In the second half, the Hillcats' pitching staff has posted 24 quality starts in 50 contests and turned in a 3.31 ERA since the All-Star Break, more than a full run better than the first half.
Carolina League Stories from August 20, 2015
- O'Brien Throws No-Hitter as Keys Split Quasi-Twinbill - Frederick Keys
- Dash Walk off on Wild Pitch to Retake First Place - Winston-Salem Dash
- Bywater Tosses Shutout, Schrader and Curcio Homer in 8-0 Win - Carolina Mudcats
- Hillcats Walk-Off, Then Are No-Hit in De Facto Doubleheader - Hill City Howlers
- Bywater, Mudcats Blank Red Sox, 8-0 - Salem RidgeYaks
- Nationals and Blue Rocks Series Finale Canceled - Potomac Nationals
- Rocks Rained out of Their Series-Finale against Potomac - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- August 20 Carolina Mudcats Game Information - Carolina Mudcats
- Pelicans Game Notes: 7:00 p.m. ET at Winston-Salem Dash - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes (August 20 vs. Myrtle Beach) - Winston-Salem Dash
- Hillcats Game Notes August 20, 2015, 5:30 p.m. vs. Frederick (DH) - Hill City Howlers
- Mark Zagunis Activated from Disabled List; Martinez to DL - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Blue Rocks Plate Run in 8th and Hang on for 7-6 Win - Potomac Nationals
- Myrtle Beach Sweeps Doubleheader in Extras - Winston-Salem Dash
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