CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on May 26, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


THE HILLCATS:

Lynchburg fell 4-1 in the final game of a three-game series at Potomac on Sunday...They still retained first place in the Northern Division and the best record in the league by winning the series in Woodbridge...That series finished off a stretch of 13 out of 16 on the road for the Cats...They went 10-6 over that time and 4-3 on their recent seven-game road trip...Tonight is game one of a three-game series against Salem and the first contest of a six-game homestand...

VS. SALEM:

The Hillcats opened up their season series with the Red Sox by taking two out of three in Salem...Last season Lynchburg won the season series against Salem, then the Avalanche and an affiliate of the Houston Astros, by a count of 12-8, and were 8-2 here at City Stadium...Salem was the only team in the Carolina League that the Hillcats had a winning record against...In the all-time series Salem leads 146-129 but they are 61-74 in the Hill City and Lynchburg has won eight games in a row over Salem at Calvin Falwell Field...

FIGHT FOR FIRST:

Lynchburg won the battle for first place in the Northern Division by winning two out of three over Potomac in the match-up last weekend...The Nationals entered the series just a half game back of the Hillcats for the top spot in the North...The Cats have held the top spot in the division almost every day of the 2009 campaign...

MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE:

The Hillcats completed a 4-3 road trip on Sunday afternoon at Phitzner Stadium...Lynchburg is now 13-10 on the road this season...They started the trip with a 13-9 win in 11 innings...3B Pedro Alvarez homered in the ninth inning to put the game into extra innings and the Cats won their fourth extra inning game in a row...Lynchburg won on Saturday with another comeback effort, rallying from four runs down by scoring seven unanswered runs and winning 8-5 to secure a series victory over the Nationals in Woodbridge...

SWEET SERIES SUCCESS:

The series win against the P-Nats last weekend made it six series in a row without dropping a set for Lynchburg...They have not lost a series since the beginning of May when they lost two out of three at City Stadium to Kinston...Since then, they have gone 5-0-1 in sets, including their series win over Potomac...

SET AGAINST THE SOUTH:

This series against Salem is a series against a Southern Division opponent sandwiched between seven series against the Northern Division...The Hillcats are in the midst of playing 23 of 26 against the North...They just completed three series in a row against their division foes, and went 6-4 over that stretch...

CATCHING THE WORM:

Lynchburg is 12-1 in series openers this season, including a pair of game one wins on their previous road trip to Frederick and Potomac...They have won 11 consecutive series openers...Not surprisingly, they are 9-2-2 in sets so far this season...

INSIDE THE PARK:

On Sunday OF Jared Keel became the third Hillcat this season to hit an inside the park home run with his round tripper in the ninth inning against Potomac...SS Jordy Mercer hit the first of the three for Lynchburg at Salem and UTIL Miles Durham hit one at home against Wilmington...Last season the Cats did not hit one all season...

COMING HOME:

INF Jose De Los Santos has scored 29 runs in the 26 games he has played in this season for Lynchburg...He scored five times in the series at Potomac and seven times on the seven-game road trip...Last Friday night was the third time this season he has scored three times in a game...He also has stolen 19 bases in 26 games...He stole four in the previous series and seven on the road trip...De Los Santos is tied for third in the league in runs scored and is in second in stolen bases despite the fact that he has missed 17 games with a pair of injuries...

PUT ME IN, COACH, I'M READY TO PLAY TODAY:

INF Ray Chang has proven himself ready to play when called upon this season...His 1-for-2 performance on Sunday extended his season-long hitting streak to 15 games...Over that stretch Chang has gone 25-for-56 (.446) with 17 RBI and 13 runs scored...His 15-game hit-streak has covered 30 Hillcats games and he has gotten a hit in 18 of the 20 games he has played in...Chang is batting .542 (13-for-24) with men in scoring position this season, including his bases clearing double with two outs in the seventh inning Saturday night that turned a one-run deficit into a two-run Lynchburg lead...Over the recent seven-game road trip he went 9-for-18 with four doubles, seven RBI and four runs scored...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER:

RHP Seth Garrison was selected by the Red Sox in the 23rd round of the 2008 amateur entry draft out of Texas Christian University after Boston failed to sign him after drafting him in 2007...His junior season and final year at TCU he went 2-3 with a 4.41 ERA in 17 games (13 starts) for the Horned Frogs...Last year he made his professional debut with Short-Season Low-A Lowell and went 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA and nine saves for the Spinners...This season he skipped a level and began the year with Salem...He has gone 2-4 with a 5.72 ERA in eight starts for the Red Sox...In his only start against Lynchburg earlier this season he tossed four innings, allowed seven runs (four earned) on nine hits and took the loss in Salem...

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Carolina League Stories from May 26, 2009


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