CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Hillcats Game Notes May 4, 2015, 6:30 p.m. vs. Myrtle Beach

Published on May 4, 2015 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (9-14) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (13-9)

Monday, May 4, 2015 -- 6:30 PM

Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium

RHP Clayton Cook (1-0, 2.70) vs. RHP Jen-Ho Tseng (1-0, 3.86)

LAST TIME OUT: Lynchburg starter ADAM PLUTKO turned in another good outing on Sunday afternoon, but the Hillcats offense only produced one run, and PLUTKO took his second tough-luck loss of the season...Myrtle Beach's RF BILLY MCKINNEY hit two solo home runs to account for all of the Pelicans' offense Sunday afternoon...His first of the day came in the fourth inning with one out to give Myrtle Beach a 1-0 lead...MCKINNEY'S second homer was only the third hit of the game off PLUTKO, but it provided the Pelicans with a 2-0 advantage...PLUTKO turned in his fourth quality start in five outings for the Hillcats, going 6.1 innings and allowing two runs on six hits...The right-hander had four one-two-three innings...Not to be outdone, Pelicans RHP TYLER SKULINA went six shutout innings and only allowed one hit, an infield single by C ERIC HAASE in the fifth...SKULINA also struck out a career-high eight hitters...3B PAUL HENDRIX followed HAASE'S hit with a walk, but the Hillcats left the two men on...PLUTKO gave way to RHP NICK PASQUALE in the seventh with the bases loaded, and PASQUALE got DANIEL LOCKHART to line into a double play to end the threat and keep the deficit at two...Lynchburg received a one-out double from 1B NELLIE RODRIGUEZ in the bottom of the seventh, but he was stranded at third by Myrtle Beach reliever, RHP BEN WELLS...The 'Cats made it interesting in the ninth...They loaded the bases with one out when CLINT FRAZIER was hit by a pitch, BRADLEY ZIMMER walked, and NELLIE RODRIGUEZ singled to right...With two outs, down to his final strike, HAASE was hit by a pitch to bring home the first run for Lynchburg...With the tying and winning run in scoring position, HENDRIX hit a groundball up the middle, but SS CARLOS PENALVER ranged up the middle, spun, and recorded the final out at first...Lynchburg suffered its fourth loss in a row by a final score of 2-1...

VS. MYRTLE BEACH: Myrtle Beach has taken the first three games from the Hillcats this season...Lynchburg and Myrtle Beach will square off a total of 17 times in 2015...This series marks the only time the Pelicans will visit Lynchburg in the first half...In fact, the Pelicans' only return trip is for a three-game series July 22-24...Last year, Lynchburg went 7-13 against Myrtle Beach, including 3-7 at City Stadium...Meanwhile, Carolina (the 2014 Indians affiliate) also went 7-13 against the Pelicans...SS IVAN CASTILLO has gone 4-for-9 in the current series with a double and a triple...1B NELLIE RODRIGUEZ is hitting .364 with three of his four hits being doubles...For the Pelicans, 1B JACOB ROGERS is 5-for-11 with a home run and two RBIs...Myrtle Beach's pitching staff has held Lynchburg to 18 hits in three games for a batting average of .198...

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: Lynchburg tried to mount a late-inning rally in of the past two games, but each time the Hillcats have left the tying and go-ahead runs on base...Last night a ninth-inning effort came up one run short in a 2-1 defeat...The night before, Lynchburg had the bases loaded with one out trailing 5-4, but a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning...This season, the Hillcats are 0-11 when trailing after six innings, joining the Winston-Salem Dash (0-10) and the Salem Red Sox (0-7) as the only teams in the league without a late-inning comeback victory...Last year, Lynchburg won 48 games in which they trailed at one point, including 30 in which the opponent was the first to score...This included 14 comeback victories when the Hillcats trailed in the seventh inning or later...

ICE THAT ARM QUICKLY: With a league-high three doubleheaders and four different pitchers on the Disabled List, the Hillcats have been forced to rely on the bullpen a lot...Only five pitchers in the Carolina League have made eight appearances already, and three of them are Hillcats...RHPs ROBBIE AVILES, DELVY FRANCISCO, and BEN HELLER have all pitched in eight contests this year to tie for the league lead...

CATCHING THEM IN THE ACT: C ALEX MONSALVE threw out another baserunner Saturday night, giving him eight caught-stealings for the year...He and ERIC HAASE have been among the league's best for throwing out attempted base stealers...Combined, the two have caught 40.7 percent (11-of-27)...HAASE ranks second on the circuit with a 37.5 caught stealing percentage...MONSALVE does not qualify for the league leaders, though he has thrown out 8-of-19 runners for a 42.1 percent caught stealing rate...The league leader for those who qualify is JOSE BRICENO of Carolina at 44.0 percent...RHP D.J. BROWN leads the league for pitchers, as baserunners are 0-for-4 against him when trying to steal a base...

CITY STADIUM = RODRIGUEZ STADIUM: Both NELLIE AND LUIGI RODRIGUEZ are producing substantially better numbers at home compared to the road...LUIGI RODRIGUEZ is batting .372 at home and .143 on the road...All seven of his extra-base hits, including three homers, and 12 of his 14 RBIs have been in Lynchburg...For NELLIE RODRIGUEZ, he has a .356 average with six doubles and a home run at City Stadium, while he is hitting a mere .095 (4-for-42) on the road...

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