SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Intimidators vs. Crawdads - Game Notes - May 24, 2013

Published on May 24, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) are coming off their longest, and perhaps their most emotionally up-and-down game of the season, a 12-inning come-from-ahead loss on Thursday to the Crawdads (A, Rangers), who came back from four runs down in the final innings to earn a 7-6 win. The loss puts Kannapolis 12.0 games back in the SAL Northern Division while Hickory remained 2.0 games behind the division leader Hagerstown. The Intimidators have now lost four straight, nine of their last 10 and 18 of the team's last 23 games. Today Kannapolis sends right-hander Jake Cose and his sparkling 1.61 ERA - 2nd in the SAL - to the hill against Texas' No. 14 Prospect C.J. Edwards, whose 2.05 ERA ranks seventh in the SAL.

Heads Hung in Hickory: The Intimidators have a rough recent history of suffering walk-off defeats in L.P. Frans Stadium. Thursday's walk-off defeat to the Crawdads was the fifth for Kannapolis since the start of 2011. The Intimidators dropped two of three games at Hickory in walk- off fashion April 29-May 2, 2011, as then-Rangers prospect Christian Villanueva came through with the game-winning hits - including a walk- off home run - in the series. On July 30, 2012, Kevin Torres' game- winning single topped the I's in the ninth. Three nights later, the Crawdads took the series finale on Chris Grayson's game-winning single in the 11th.

Intimidating Starter: Jake Cose, 22, makes his ninth start of the Intimidators and his second against the Crawdads after holding Hickory to two runs (one earned) on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out seven to earn a win on April 12. Cose has lowered his ERA in each of his last five starts and last allowed an earned run on April 23. He has given up just three unearned runs over his last four starts, including 7.0 scoreless innings at Charleston on April 28 and four scoreless frames May 18 in his last start - a game in which the Intimidators went on to shut out first place Hagerstown. Cose struck out a then-season-high eight batters over 6 2/3 innings in a hard-luck loss to the Grasshoppers on May 6 in which he allowed two unearned runs on five hits. He followed that performance by striking out a new season-high nine batters at Lexington on May 13. The White Sox selected Cose in the 27th round of the June 2011 draft out of San Joaquin Delta (Calif.) Junior College.

Hickory's Hurler: C.J. Edwards, 21, makes his 10th start of the season and first against the Intimidators as he did not face them in Kannapolis in April. The right-hander ranks seventh in the league in ERA (2.05), tied for first with one complete game, ranks fourth in strikeouts (54), fifth in WHIP (0.97), average (.178), and in highest strikeouts/9 IP ratio (10.06) among starters. Edwards, the No. 14 Prospect in the Rangers system according to Baseball America, is third in the SAL in fewest base runners/9 IP ratio (8.75). The Rangers took Edwards in the 48th round of the June 2011 draft out of high school, and he signed at the deadline. As BA ntoes, "the lanky right-hander then promptly breezed through the Arizona League in his 2012 pro debut, allowing just six hits and no runs in 20 innings on his way to a promotion to short-season Spokane." He went 5-3 with a 1.48 in 14 games (13 starts) last season between the AZL Rangers and Spokane. About Last Night: Hickory bounced back from an overturned walk-off home run and overcame a 4-run deficit in the bottom of the 12th to defeat Kannapolis, 7-6, on Thursday night. Please see Page 2 of today's Game Notes for complete game recap and official box score.

"NC17:" No contact for 17 Crawdads: The Intimidators struck out a season-high 17 batters on Thursday, including a career-high seven over six innings from starter Kyle Hansen. Braulio Ortiz and Adam Lopez struck out five each as all but one Crawdad fanned during the game. The Intimidators previous high for strikeouts this season came May 13 in an 11-inning game at Lexington as Kannapolis pitchers struck out 15 batters.

Mashing in May: Utility man Michael Johnson continued to produce at the plate, going 2-5 with a go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning while playing shortstop, his 17th-straight game to reach base safely, tied for the 15th-longest streak in the league this season (tied for seventh-longest active streak). He upped his average to .324 (35-108), eighth-best in the SAL this season. His on-base percentage of .427, ranks fourth on the circuit. During the month of May, he ranks second in Minor League Baseball in on-base percentage (.541) and third in average (.429, 24-56). He has hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, dating back to May 4, including a current season-long eight-game hitting streak, during which he is batting .469 (15-32). Johnson got off to a slow start in April, appearing in 15 of the team's 25 games while batting .212 (11-52). The Sox selected him in the 31st round in June 2011 out of Samford where he set the school record for career runs scored (175).

Micah on the Move: Leadoff man Micah Johnson went 2-5 with two runs scored and one stolen base Thursday. He now leads Minor League Baseball with 43 stolen bases and has been caught stealing an MiLB- most 10 times. He has hit safely in his last seven games, raising his average to .303 (50-165) on the season. Johnson's five triples are the most in the SAL, and his 41 runs scored lead the circuit. Baseball America rated him the Sox No. 25 Prospect this season, naming him the Fastest Baserunner in the team's 2012 draft class.

Hickory's Homers: The Crawdads lead all of baseball with 69 home runs as a team. By comparison, the Intimidators have hit 15 home runs this season, however the Intimidators are batting .249 as a team compared to the Crawdads' .234 average, second-lowest in the league. Four of the league's top six home run hitters are on the Crawdads roster as league co-leader Ryan Rua (13) is followed closely by Joey Gallo (12), Lewis Brinson (10) and Jorge Alfaro (9).

Free Swingers: While Hickory leads baseball in home runs, the team has struck out a SAL-most 484 times, 75 more than the next closest team (Greenville, 409). The bang-or-bust offense is batting .234, the second lowest in the league, but the team is batting .347 on balls in play. Lewis Brinson lead's the league with 77, and Joey Gallo ranks third with 66 strikeouts. In fact six of the league's top 20 strikeout candidates are on the Hickory roster, including No. 7 Jordan Akins (56). No. 11 Nomar Mazara (52), No. 16 Jorge Alfaro (46), and No. 19 Joe Maloney (45). By comparison, only one Intimidators - Tyler Williams (52) - is in the top 20.

Brennan Battling: Starter Brandon Brennan suffered his league-leading seventh loss Wednesday against West Virginia, tying him for the second- most losses in minor league baseball. The White Sox No. 23 Prospect according to Baesball America, Brennan is offer to a rocky start this season, now at 1-7 with a 7.74 ERA in nine starts. He gave up a career- high 13 hits in his last outing and now leads the SAL in hits allowed (65), runs allowed (44) and earned runs allowed (37).

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 24, 2013


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