SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Intimidators vs. Braves - Game Notes - June 14, 2013

Published on June 14, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) look for consecutive home wins for the first time this season when facing the Rome Braves (A, Braves) in the second game of this 4-game series. Kannapolis is fresh off its 50th win over Rome with a 5-3 victory on Thursday night in the series opener. The Intimidators are sending Kyle Hansen to the mound in search of his third win in four starts while the Braves counter with right-hander Frank Lafreniere. The Intimidators and Braves are tied 2-2 in the season series.

Radio Broadcasts: Tonight's game can be heard live through intimidatorsbaseball.com with Josh Feldman with the pregame show starting at 6:50 p.m.

Intimidating Starters: Kyle Hansen, 22, takes the ball for his seventh start of the season and first appearance against a Braves affiliate. The 6'8" Hansen has been better in his road starts, going 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA in four road starts compared to going 0-2 with a 12.46 ERA (12 ER/8.2 IP) in two starts at CMC-NorthEast Stadium. He did work a six-out save in Kannapolis in his season debut on May 6. The White Sox picked Hansen in the sixth round of the June 2012 draft out of St. John's University in Queens, NY where he was a First-Team All-Big East selection as a sophomore and a Second-Team All-American by Baseball America in 2010. He led St. Dominic High School (Oyster Bay, NY) to their first state championship as a senior and was twice named First- Team All-State. Hansen is the younger brother of Boston's 2005 first- round pick Craig Hansen, who pitched in the Major Leagues with the Red Sox and Pirates from 2005-09, going 4-9 with a 6.32 ERA in 95 relief appearances.

Rome's Righty: Frank Lafreniere, who turned 23 last week, makes his 10th of the season but just his second since May 18. The Canadian- born right-hander worked in relief in his last three outings, including a pair of 4.0-inning relief appearances. In nine starts, Lafreniere is 2-3 with a 5.48 ERA compared to 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA in four relief appearances. He faced the Intimidators on April 25, giving up six runs (four earned) on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings, taking no decision in Kannapolis. The Braves drafted him in the 47th round of the June 2010 draft, and he spent his first two years of pro ball in the GCL before joining Advanced Rookie Danville in 2012, going 5-2 with a 4.02 ERA in 12 starts. Lefties are batting .302 against Lafreniere compared to .277 for righties.

About Last Night: Kannapolis rode the right arm of starter Brandon Brennan to a 4-0 lead over the first six innings en route to a 4-3 win on Thursday over the Braves. Eric Grabe put Kannapolis on the board with a second-inning triple, plating Yoandy Barroso, and Grabe scored on a Jeremy Dowdy groundout for a 2-0 edge. Patrick Palmeiro came through with an RBI-double in the sixth inning, and Michael Marjama scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead. Brennan earned the win after 6 2/3 innings, striking out six. Tony Bucciferro got into trouble in the ninth but stranded the tying run for the save (1).

Brennan Better: With Thursday's strong outing over Rome, Brandon Brennan earned his second consecutive win and third of the season after enduring a seven-game losing streak. He gave up one run over 6 2/3 innings, just his second start this year allowing one run. After giving up a leadoff double in the first inning, Brennan held the next 23 Braves batters hitless, not surrendering a second hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning. He struck out six batters, one shy of his career high and walked two. He is still the SAL leader in losses (9), hits allowed (91), runs allowed (59) and earned runs allowed (50) as well as the new league leader in at-bats against (286) and total batters faced (314). The White Sox selected Brennan in the fourth round in June 2012.

Triple Take: Third baseman Eric Grabe put the Intimidators on the board with a triple in the second inning on Thursday against Rome, his second triple of the season. As a team, the Intimidators have 19 triples, second-most in the SAL behind Delmarva (21). Intimidators second baseman Micah Johnson leads the league with seven triples.

Micah on the Move: Leadoff man Micah Johnson swiped two bases Thursday, upping his Minor League-leading total to 52 stolen bases this season. He walked in the first inning and stolen second and third base, the 10th time this season he was swiped both second and third in one triple around the diamond, however for the first time in those 10 two-steal trips, he failed to cross the plate. Johnson's 59 runs scored leads the SAL and ranks third in the Minors. He is batting .322 (79-245), eighth in the SAL. He ranks fourth in hits and is tied for fifth in the league with a .410 on-base percentage.

Micah's Streak Snapped: All-Star second baseman Micah Johnson was 0-2 Thursday to end his season-long-tying 8-game hitting streak. He hit . 419 (13-31) from June 5-12.

Elite Elander: Rome outfielder Josh Elander is among SAL leaders is several offensive categories. He leads the league in games played (66), ranks second in RBI (58), tied for second in doubles (22) and total bases (141), third in hits (80) and extra-base hits (36). His batting average of .321 (80-249) ranks 10th in the SAL. The Braves selected Elander in the sixth round of the June 2012 draft out of TCU where he spent the last three seasons as a teammate of Intimidators outfielder Jason Coats.

Around the organization:

Kevin Vance worked 3.0 scoreless innings for Double-A Birmingham on Thursday striking out six batters. Vance, a 19th round pick in the 2011 draft, spent the first half of 2012 with the Intimidators before moving up to Winston-Salem. He is 2-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 19 relief appearances for the Barons this season. Brent Tanner wasted no time in making an impact for the High-A Winston- Salem Dash upon his return to the Carolina League. Tanner came through with the game-tying and game-winning hits in Winston's 5-3 win at Wilmington in 11 innings on Thursday.

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 14, 2013


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