CarL1 Down East Wood Ducks

July 30 Game Information

Published on July 30, 2019 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Down East Wood Ducks News Release


After an off day on Monday, the Wood Ducks (23-14, 73-24) head to Zebulon for a three game series with the Carolina Mudcats (16-22, 55-52). Left-hander Sal Mendez (6-0, 2.05) will start for the Woodies, opposed by fellow left-hander Aaron Ashby (2-5, 3.63) for Carolina. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. and the pregame show will begin at 6:50 p.m. on 960AM The Bull, and online at 960thebull.com as well as on the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Radio Apps. Complete game notes are attached.

LAST TIME OUT: Clay Middleton homered and tallied three hits as the Wood Ducks took the series finale from the Blue Rocks, 6-1, Sunday. JP Martinez doubled and drove in two, while Sherten Apostel also sin-gled home a run. Noah Bremer gave up just one run in six innings to earn his second win of the season, while Francisco Villegas followed with two scoreless frames, and Michael Matuella followed with a perfect ninth.

NO RUNS FOR YOU!: The Wood Ducks 1-0 win over the Mudcats, Thursday, was their 17th shutout win of the season, and sixth 1-0 victory. Down East boasts a 2.63 team ERA this season which leads all of Minor League Baseball, while their 17 shutouts are also tied for the most in MiLB with the Quad Cities River Bandits in the Midwest League, and the Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League. Since team ERA records began being kept in 2005, no MiLB team has fin-ished a season with an ERA below 2.65.

SUPER SAM: Sam Huff has now hit safely in 16 straight games going 18-51 (.353), with four home runs, 7 RBI, 9 walks, 17 strikeouts dating back to July 9. Huff now is tied with Jarren Duran (SAL) for the second longest streak in the Carolina League. Wilbis Santiago (LYN) has hit safely in each of his last 17 games to lead the league.

TERRY ON A TEAR: Curtis Terry has now hit safely in 28 of his last 32 games, including 11 multi-hit games. He is now sporting a .905 OPS since joining Down East, June 21. Within that stretch was a 12-game hit streak (19-44, .432) which came to an end last Saturday, Terry now has 19 home runs on the season combined with his time in Hickory.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: JP Martinez doubled against the Blue Rocks on Sunday, to give him 8 doubles in the last 15 games. Over that stretch he has gone 16-for-53 (.302) with 11 RBI.

MAGNIFICENT MENDEZ: Sal Mendez has been excellent for the Wood Ducks this season, especially since joining the starting rotation. Mendez leads the Carolina League with a 2.05 ERA, and as a starter that mark is just 1.54. Seven of Mendez' 11 starts have been quality outings, and he has given up just three earned run in 25 innings (1.08 ERA) over four starts in July.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRENGTH: It hasn't just been the Wood Ducks who have performed well this season, the Rangers organization as a whole has been among the best

1. TEXAS RANGERS 344-254 .575

2. Tampa Bay Rays 363-270 .573

3. Los Angeles Dodgers 351-278 .558

WHERE THEY RANK: Diosbel Arias ranks 4th in hits (107), T-6th in dou-bles (21), T-7th in walks (45), and 9th in batting (.283), JP Martinez ranks 9th in SLG (.417), and Eric Jenkins ranks T-4th in stolen bases (21), and T-5th in triples (5).

CUP OF JOE: Joe Kuzia has been tremendous out of the bullpen for the Wood Ducks since joining the club May 9. He has converted 15 of 16 save opportunities in addition to picking up a trio of wins in relief. Kuzia put together a 19-inning scoreless streak from 5/19-6/26. Overall this season he boasts an ERA of 0.74 and a WHIP of 1.05. Kuzia now ranks second in the Carolina League in saves, with all 15 coming since May 26. Kuzia has not allowed a run in 21 of his 24 appearances this season.

THE FUTURE IS HERE: Sam Huff clubbed a game-tying home run in the seventh inning of the SiriusXM Futures Game on Sunday to take home MVP honors. Huff becomes the second Ranger all-time to take home the award, joining Joey Gallo (2014). Huff followed it up by hitting a home run his first game back in Myrtle Beach, and clubbed another Friday against Lynchburg, and one more Sunday against Winston-Salem.

HOW 'BOUT A ROUND OF APPLAUSE: The 3,250 fans at Grainger Stadium Wednesday mark the most at a game this season, and third most in Wood Ducks history. Down East had a record 4,217 at the inaugural game, April 10, 2017, and drew 3,491 July 3, 2018.

A HALF FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS: The Down East Wood Ducks became just the sixth team in Carolina League history to finish a half with a winning percentage of .700 or better, while their 50 wins are the second most in any half in league history:

1. 1980 Peninsula (1st) 51-19 .729

2. 2019 DOWN EAST (1st) 50-20 .714

T3. 1982 Peninsula (2nd) 49-20 .710

T3. 1983 Lynchburg (1st) 49-20 .710

5. 1994 Wilmington (1st) 48-20 .706

6. 1980 Peninsula (2nd) 49-21 .700

SHOWTIME: Former Wood Duck Pedro Payano made his Major League debut for the Rangers, June 6, becoming the eighth Wood Ducks to make it to The Show. Payano delivered a scoreless sixth inning against the Twins. He joins Ricardo Rodriguez, Jeffrey Springs, C.D. Pelham, and Brett Martin, Joe Palumbo, Pete Fairbanks, and Locke St. John. Down East has also had a player go from Adv.-A to the majors in one year in each of the three seasons (Rodriguez-'17, Pelham-'18, Fairbanks-'19).

RAGS AT THE HELM: Corey Ragsdale takes over as skipper for the Wood Ducks in 2019. Ragsdale will remain the Rangers Minor League Field Coordinator, while assuming a managerial seat for the first time since 2015, when he led the Hickory Crawdads to a South Atlantic League Championship, the second of his career.

Check out the Down East Wood Ducks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from July 30, 2019


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