CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats Game Notes for June 6

Published on June 6, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (35-17) @ WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (27-25)

June 6th, 2009 -- 5:05 PM @ Daniel S. Frawley Stadium

GAME ONE: RHP Ronald Uviedo (2-3, 3.81) vs. RHP Alex Caldera (1-2, 6.00)

GAME TWO: LHP Chi Hung Cheng (5-2, 3.51) vs. LHP Daniel Duffy (5-2, 2.95)

THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg edged Frederick 7-6 in a rain shortened game on Wednesday night at Harry grove Stadium to earn their first road series sweep of the season...Since then the first two games of their four-game series with Wilmington have been postponed due to rain...Their win on Wednesday was the fourth in a row for the Hillcats who have now won eight of their last nine games...The victory moved the Cats to a season-high 18 games over .500 and they still have a five-game lead for first place in the Northern Division and the best record in the league...Tonight are the first two games of a four-game series at Wilmington and the fourth and fifth contests of a seven-game road trip...

VS. WILMINGTON: The Hillcats are 3-3 against the Blue Rocks this season with both teams winning a three-game series on their home field...They lost two out of three games in a three-game series at Wilmington in mid-May...That was the first road series of the season for Lynchburg and that is still the only road series loss for the Cats all season...Last season the Rocks topped the Cats in the season series 11-9 and were 6-4 at Frawley Stadium...Wilmington has the all-time advantage over Lynchburg 165-119 and they are 86-57 at home...

MAGIC NUMBER: The win on Wednesday night for Lynchburg shrunk their magic number to clinch the Northern Division to 15...They lead the division by five games with 18 games left to play...

LIFE AT THE TOP: Lynchburg entered today tied for the second most wins in all of minor league baseball with 35...They also have the second best winning percentage amongst full season clubs at .673 (only behind Brevard County in the Florida State League)...The Hillcats have been in first place almost every day of the first half of the season...

CATCHING THE WORM: With their series opening win over Frederick on Monday night, the Hillcats improved to 15-1 in series openers this season...They have now won 14 in a row and are 8-0 in game one contests on the road...Not surprisingly, they are 12-2-2 in series the season and are 5-1-2 on the road...

SERIES STREAK: The Cats sweep of the Keys Wednesday night was their third sweep of the season and their first on the road...They have now gone nine series in a row without dropping a set..They are 8-0-1 over that stretch...They have not lost a series since May 1st-3rd when they dropped two out of three at home to Kinston...They are now 12-2-2 in their series this season...They are 5-1-2 in series on the road and their only loss was at Wilmington in their first road series of the season...

SPELLING RELIEF: Over the last 11 games the Hillcats bullpen is 2-0 with a 0.51 ERA (two earned runs in 35 and 1/3 innings) with six holds and five saves in five chances...Lynchburg is 9-2 in those contests...On the season they are 16-4 with a 3.19 earned run average with 18 holds and 18 saves...

THREE BAGGIN': Last night OF Miles Durham hit his fourth triple of the season Wednesday night and he is now tied for third in the league with three-baggers...The Hillcats as a team have 19 on the season, which is the most in Carolina League...OF Alex Presley leads the circuit with six triples on the season...

DURHAM DIALED IN: OF Miles Durham extended his current hitting streak to 12 games Wednesday night, his longest of the season...Over that time he is 17-for-48 (.354) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, seven RBI and 11 runs scored...His two home runs on the previous homestand both proved to be game winners...Since his average dipped to .238 on May 2nd, Durham has hit .342 (38-for-111) with eight doubles, a triple, six home runs, 21 RBI and 23 runs scored in 28 games played to raise his average to .297...He is currently third in the league in hits (58), tied for third in doubles (15) and triples (4) and is second in extra-base hits (25)...

SOCKING SAKAMOTO: 1B Kent Sakamoto snapped out of a 0-for-24 stretch with a two-run home run on Tuesday night to cap off a 6-1 win for Lynchburg...He followed that up with another home run in his next official at-bat on Wednesday night...On May 1st versus Kinston he had his first multi-homer game of his career...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHERS: RHP Alex Caldera will get the start in game one and was drafted in the 13th round of the 2007 draft by the Royals out of the University of California-Irvine...He made his debut at the Rookie League level that year with the Burlington Royals and went 1-2 with a 3.40 ERA and two saves in 12 games (seven starts)...He advanced to Low-A with the Burlington Bees and posted a 12-6 record with a 2.90 ERA in 25 starts...Caldera began this season with Wilmington and has gone 1-2 with a 6.00 earned run average in 10 starts...He made a start against Lynchburg at home on April 19th and allowed five runs in four innings of work in taking a no-decision...The Blue Rocks rallied to win that game 8-7 in ten innings to win the rubber-match of a three-game series...LHP Daniel Duffy is slated to start game two and was selected in the 3rd round of the 2007 Amateur Entry Draft by Kansas City out of Cabrillo high school in California...He began his Royals career with the Arizona Royals that fall and went 2-3 with a 1.45 ERA in 11 games (nine starts)...He pitched the next season in 2008 with Low-A Burlington and went 8-4 with a 2.20 ERA in 17 starts for the Bees...That year he struck out 102 batters in 81 and 2/3 innings...This year he advanced to High-A with Wilmington and has posted a 5-2 record with a 2.95 earned run average in 10 starts...Duffy is ranked as the sixth best prospect in the Royals minor league organization by Baseball America...The lefty has made one start against Lynchburg, going five innings, allowing one run in a no-decision...The Hillcats rallied to win that game 6-4 in ten innings...

Check out the Lynchburg Hillcats Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from June 6, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central