Hillcats Game Notes
Published on August 31, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg shutout Salem last night with a 4-0 win at City Stadium...The Hillcats have taken the first two games of the final series of the season...Tonight is game three of a four-game set and game five of a six-game homestand, which are the last games of the 2008 regular season for the Green & Gold...
VS. SALEM: The Cats has a 10-8 advantage in their season series against the Avs thanks to a pair of victories to start this series...Lynchburg is 6-2 against Salem at City Stadium...Last season Salem dominated the series taking 16 of the 20 games between the two...Including an 8-2 record against the Hillcats in Lynchburg....The Avs have the advantage in the all-time series against the Cats 145-125, but they are 61-72 against the them in the Hill City...Salem has the advantage in the all-time series against Lynchburg 453-451...The Avalanche are the only team in 2008 that the Hillcats can finish with a winning record against and they can secure that with a win tonight...
AVOIDING HISTORY: With the two wins to begin their current series the Hillcats have ensured that they will not have the worst record in team history...Last season Lynchburg had the fewest wins (55), most losses (82) and lowest winning percentage (.402) in the Hillcats team history (which began in 1995)...The Cats have now won 56 games, they cannot lose more than 82 and their winning percentage can be no worse than .406...
CELLAR DWELLARS: This series features the last place team in the Northern Division (Lynchburg) against the worst team in the Southern Division (Salem)...While neither team will be making the playoffs this season, this series does have significance in that both teams are trying to avoid the worst record in the Carolina League...One win in the last two games for the Hillcats would keep them out of the worst record in the league in both the second half of the campaign and the season overall...Lynchburg had the worst record in the CL in the first half, going 29-41...
LONG HOLLIDAY: Tonight's Hillcats starter LHP Brian Holliday enters the contest ranked first in earned runs allowed (198), hits allowed (416), walks issued (170), second in losses (21), games started (52), innings pitched (311.0) and is eighth in games (81) and tied for eighth in wins (15) in Hillcats team history...The lefty has spent parts of four seasons in Lynchburg and made his Hillcats debut on April 9th, 2005 at City Stadium against Frederick...A win tonight would put him in a tie for fifth in wins and he needs to throw nine innings to become the all-time leader in innings pitched...
RBI RACE: Current Hillcats LF Jared Keel and UTIL Miles Durham and former Cat UTIL Jamie Romak enter today tied for the Pirates organizational lead with 80 RBI...Keel took the lead on Friday night when he doubled in a pair of runs, but was tied by Durham and Romak after they both drove in a run last night...
BEATING BASS: Last night Lynchburg improved to 5-1 against Salem's starter Corey Bass...The right hander has started against the Hillcats six times and has posted an ERA of 6.47...Surprisingly, that earned run average is lower than his 6.70 mark on the season...One-third of his 15 losses (which leads the Carolina League) have come at the hands of the Cats...
WHACK STAT: A save has not been recorded against Lynchburg in 19 games, going back to August 7th against Myrtle Beach when the Pelicans beat the Hillcats in the Hill City, 3-2...They have gone 8-11 over that stretch...Cats opponents this season have notched 36 saves against Lynchburg in 136 games, which is 26% of the games and 45% of the losses...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Erick Abreu signed by the Astros organization after being released by the Yankees...He spent five seasons in the Yankees organization and pitched for their Dominican Summer League team in 2002 and the start of 2003...He finished that season by making two appearances (one start) for the Gulf Coast Yankees...In 2004 he was again in the GCL going 1-0 with 1.46 ERA in six games...After missing all of 2005, Abreu pitched for Charleston in the South Atlantic League in 2006 and went 6-2 with a 1.88 ERA in 16 games (13 starts)...Last season he made his Advanced-A debut with Tampa in the Florida State League and went 0-2 with a 7.63 ERA in eight games (two starts)...This season the right hander has gone 7-6 with 3.61 ERA and one save in 34 games (18 starts) for the Avalanche...His first 16 outings were in relief and he was 3-0 with a 1.95 ERA and one save...As a starter he is has posted a 4-6 mark with a 4.59 ERA...In five appearances against Lynchburg (three in relief and two starts) he is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA...
Carolina League Stories from August 31, 2008
- Pelicans Clinch Second Half Southern Division Title - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- K-Tribe beats Myrtle Beach 6-4 - Kinston Indians
- Hillcats use eighth to drop Avs - Salem RidgeYaks
- Tripp Blast Lifts Frederick Past Winston-Salem - Winston-Salem Dash
- Tripp Homerun Pushes Keys Past Warthogs - Frederick Keys
- Blue Rocks blank Nationals - Potomac Nationals
- Hartsock Ties League Lead for Victories, Chambliss Saves - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Pelicans Game Notes - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Hillcats Game Notes - Hill City Howlers
- Keys Surpass 2007 Attendance - Frederick Keys
- Potomac Nationals Game Notes - Potomac Nationals
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