Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
July 25, 2005 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
TONIGHT'S GAME
The Lynchburg Hillcats open up a week-long road trip with the opener of a three-game series against the Winston-Salem Warthogs at Ernie Shore Field... Last night, the Hillcats earned a series sweep with an 6-5 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 11 innings...The Cats finished their seven-game homestand at 6-1...Over a longer stretch, the Cats are 37-23 (.617) in their last 60 games...Lynchburg currently leads the Northern Division by 1.5-games over the Frederick Keys...The Cats are in a stretch of playing 21 out of 31 games away from Lynchburg City Stadium (8-6)...Also, they are a season-high 19 games over .500...
⢠Hog Report: Winston-Salem has lost 3 straight games...Over a longer stretch they have lost 7 of their last 9 contests...
2005 SERIES WITH WINSTON-SALEM
The season series is tied at 7 games apiece. The Warthogs won the 2004 series 12 games to 8, taking 9 of the last 10 games played between the two teams. Lynchburg won the 2003 series, 11-8, however, the Hogs turned the tide by sweeping the Cats in 3 G in the 2003 Mills Cup Series. Going back to 2001, the Cats have won 56 of the last 93 (60%) matchups. Overall, they lead the lifetime series, 118- 94 (.559).
* Since the Hillcats inception (1995), Winston-Salem has only won the season series three times (1996, 2000, 2004) and they have never taken more than 12 games from the Cats in a single season (2004).
TRENDS
The Hillcats are 28-25 against the Southern Division...They are 9-14 on the road agasint the South...They are 32-17 against left-handed starters...They are 42-20 in games decided by 3 runs or less...They have been tied or in sole possession of first place for every day since June 24th....They are 18-12 in series openers...They are seeking to win both halves in the Northern Division for the first time in franchise history...Tonight they are beginning a stretch in which 14 out of 17 games are on the road...
TIDBITS
OF Bobby Kingsbury has hit safely in each of his last 5 games (8-20, .400-2-8)...He hit the Cats first GS of the year on Thursday , hit a game-tying HR with two outs in the ninth on Friday, and had a game-winning 1B yesterday...OF Pat Magness leads all of professional baseball with 91 walks drawn...His next closest competitor is Carolina's (AA, SL) Jeremy Hermida with 85 free passes...OF Nyjer Morgan has hit safely in a team-high 8 straight games (12-36, .333-0-7)...The speedster has stolen five bases in seven attempts during the streak...OF Vic Buttler has reached base safely in 18 of his last 20 G...
SEASON RECORDS
First Half: Overall (40-30) Home (25-11) Road(15-19)
Second Half: Overall (19-10) Home (14-5) Road (5-5)
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS 2005 GAME NOTES - 7/25/05
⢠Tonight, the Hillcats send RHPWardell Starling (see page 3) to the mound looking to snap a two-game losing streak against LHP Gio Gonzalez, in a rematch of a 9-3 victory for the Warthogs five days ago.
⢠Gonzalez, 20, is a 5-11, 185-pound lefty drafted by Chicago as a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds (38th overall) in the 2004 draft. He made his professional debut at Bristol (R, Appalachian) and went 1-2, with a 2.25 ERA before being promoted to Kannapolis. In 8 starts with the Intimidators, he compiled a record of 1-2, with a 3.76 ERA (40.2 ip, 39 h, 20 r, 17 er, 20 bb, 34 k). Was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 28 Prospect in the 2004 draft class and cited by the same publication as having the Best Breaking Ball, Best Fastball and Closest to the Majors in the White Sox system.
⢠Gonzalez has gone 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in 1 g, 1 gs vs. LYN in 2005 (6.0 ip, 5 h, 3 r, 3 er, 3 bb, 8 k, .227)
⢠GG vs. LYN, 7/20 (W, 9-3): W, 6.0 ip, 5 h, 3 r, 3 er, 3 bb, 8 k (RBI-1Bs by Lee and Magness in 3rd; Balked in a R in 6th after 2 BBs)
⢠Starling has gone 0-1 with a 9.69 ERA in 3 g, 3 gs vs. W-S in 2005 (13.0 ip, 21 h, 14 r, 14 er, 3 bb, 5 k, .368)
⢠WS vs. W-S, 5/14 (W, 9-6): n/d, 4.0 ip, 6 h, 4 r, 4 er, 1 bb, 3 k (3 straight hits to start game incl. 2-run Hinton 2B; Carcia HR in 2nd, left leading 5-4)
⢠WS vs. W-S, 6/5 (L, 10-9): n/d, 5.0 ip, 6 h, 4 r, 4 er, 1 bb, 1 k (Scoreless into the 4th inning; allowed solo HR to Hall and 3 more R in 4th; left 4-2)
⢠WS vs. W-S, 7/20 (L, 9-3): L, 4.0 ip, 9 h, 6 r, 6 er, 1 bb, 1 k (RBI-2B by Nanita, 1B by Valido in 2nd; Back-to-back HRs by Hall & Hinton)
Carolina League Stories from July 25, 2005
- P-Nats Shell Pelicans - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Rocks fall in Salem in rain-shortened game - Salem Red Sox
- Johnson stopped in quest for tenth win; Kinston wins 5-1 - Frederick Keys
- Avalanche cruise to a 4-0 victory over the Blue Rocks - Salem Red Sox
- Potomac Nationals update - Potomac Nationals
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Potomac Nationals Infielder Named Player of the Week - Potomac Nationals
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