Hillcats Game Notes July 1st
July 1, 2009 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
Salem pounded Lynchburg last night 13-4 in game one of a quick two-game series at City Stadium...Tonight wraps up the two-game set with the Red Sox, and it is the last of four contests in a row against the Sox...
VS. SALEM: The Hillcats are 6-3 against the Red Sox in the 460 series this season and are 3-1 at Calvin Falwell Field...The last time they met in Lynchburg, the Cats earned one of their five sweeps of the 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 148-133, but they are 62-77 in the Hill City...
THE MONTH OF JUNE: Lynchburg went 17-11 in the month of June...The pitching staff posted an impressive 3.74 ERA and is currently second in the Carolina League with a 3.86 ERA on the season...The offense though mustered just a .219 batting average and has dropped to last in the circuit on the year with their .244 clip...After starting the month 13-5, the Hillcats finished 4-6 and went under .500 in the second half for the first time all season...
WEIRD, WILD, WACKY STUFF: The Cats complete their second straight two-game series with the Red Sox tonight in Lynchburg, after playing a two-game set in Salem with the Sox on Sunday and Monday...They next 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 (June 18th-July 9th)...
SALEM SOCKING: Last night the Red Sox scored 13 runs on 16 hits in their series opening victory at City Stadium...The 13 runs were the most scored against Lynchburg this season and the most scored by Salem...The 16 hits tied the most against the Hillcats this season, matching the 16 the Sox had against the Cats on May 10th...After preventing their opponent from scoring double digits in 69 games in first half, Lynchburg has allowed double digits twice in their six contests thus far in the second part of the campaign...
THE COWBOY WAY: Former Oklahoma State Cowboy INF Jordy Mercer went 1-for-4 last night with his second triple of the season, two RBI and a run scored in the Hillcats loss...In the last four games he is a combined 8-for-17 (.471) with four doubles, a triple, a homer, five RBI and five runs scored...In his last 16 games Mercer has raised his average from .226 to .249 by going 20-for-60 (.333) with nine doubles, a triple, a home run, 13 RBI and 13 runs...Mercer's teammate at OSU 1B Matt Hague, went 1-for-3 a night ago with an RBI...It his last five games the first baseman has gone a combined 9-for-17 (.529) with five RBI...He has hit in 10 of his last 11 games and has gone 14-for-34 (.412) over that time, raising his average from .278 to .299...Over the last four games Mercer and Hague have gone a combined 15-for-30 (.500) with five doubles, a triple, a homer, ten RBI and five runs scored...
R-ROD: RHP R.J. Rodriguez earned his 15th save in as many opportunities this season on Sunday night in the Hillcats 4-2 win at Salem...It was the third time this season he has notched a save on back-to-back days...The All-Star closer has not allowed an earned run since May 18th, a span of 12 appearances that has covered 12 and 2/3 innings (not including the 2/3 of an inning he worked in the All-Star game without allowing a run) of action...He has lowered his earned run average from 4.70 to 2.57 over that time and he is 1-0 with five saves and a 0.00 ERA in June...
SUFFICIENT SUPPORT: RHP Matt McSwain earned his team leading seventh win of the season on Sunday 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...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Seth Garrison was selected by the Red Sox in the 23rd round of the 2008 amateur entry draft out of Texas Christian University after Boston failed to sign him after drafting him in 2007...His junior season and final year at TCU he went 2-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 17 games (13 starts) for the Horned Frogs...Last year he made his professional debut with Short-Season Low-A Lowell and went 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA and nine saves for the Spinners...This season he skipped a level and began the year with Salem...He has gone 3-7 with a 4.70 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) starts for the Red Sox...In his two starts against Lynchburg this season he is 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA...In his last four outings Garrison has gon 1-1 with a save and a 0.92 ERA and has lowered his earned run average from 6.27 to 4.70...
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