CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on May 29, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


THE HILLCATS:

Lynchburg finished off a series sweep of Salem with a 12-1 drubbing of the Red Sox last night at City Stadium...That was the most lopsided win of the season for the Hillcats and they now have a season-high four-game lead over Potomac for first place in the Northern Division and the best record in the league...They have also established a new high water mark by moving 14 games over .500...Tonight is game one of a three-game set against Potomac and the fourth contest of a six-game homestand...

VS. POTOMAC:

The Hillcats and Nationals are meeting for the third time this season...Lynchburg won both series including a set last weekend at Phitzner Stadium...Last season the two teams split the season series 10-10 and the P-Nats were just one of two teams the Cats had a .500 record or better against last year...Lynchburg won the final five games against each other last season...In the all-time series Lynchburg has the edge 148-138 and they are 80-68...After a 5-2 start this season against the P-Nats, the Hillcats have now won 10 of the last 12 games between these two teams...

FRIENDLY FALWELL:

Last night's win moved the Hillcats to 17-6 at home this season...This six-game homestand comes right after and right before a stretch of 13 out of 16 on the road...Lynchburg is in the middle of 26 out of 38 games away from Calvin Falwell Field...Last season the Cats were just 32-36 at City Stadium...

BUST OUT THE BROOMS:

Lynchburg completed their second series sweep of the season last night with a win in the final game of the three-game set with Salem...They have now gone seven straight series without losing a set...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 6-0-1...Their only other series sweep was in a rain shortened series at home versus Myrtle Beach (5/4-5/7)...

SET AGAINST THE SOUTH:

The previous series against Salem was 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...Tonight is the start of three series in a row against Northern Division foes...

NOTHING FOR FREE:

Last night was the Hillcats second straight game without a walk allowed...They walked just one batter in the three game series against Salem...The Cats have allowed a Carolina League low 105 free passes this season...Potomac has walked the second fewest with 122 given out this season...

NO RALLY REQUIRED:

In all three games versus Salem the Cats jumped out to an early lead...They were up 3-0 at one point in all three games and won the series by a combined score of 19-3...

McTASTIC:

RHP Matt McSwain matched his career-high with eight innings of work last night, allowing just one run on four hits and earning his fifth straight win...He has thrown four straight quality starts and his outing last night was the longest by a Hillcat this season...Over his five game winning streak (six starts) he has an ERA of 2.65, he has gone at least five innings in each start and allowed three runs or less in all of them as well...

YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST:

3B Pedro Alvarez smacked his first triple of the season last night...A night earlier he stole the first bag of his young career...

ABOVE AND BEYOND:

INF Ray Chang drove in three runs last night and now has 24 RBI in 22 games this season...He has his Hillcats season-long 15-game hit streak snapped on Tuesday night and in his first game back last night he went 3-for-5 with a double, three RBI and three runs scored...

ONE FOR EVERY BASE I'M GONNA STEAL:

INF Jose De Los Santos became the first Hillcat this season to steal three bases in the same game when he swiped three bags on Wednesday night and he followed that up with another steal last night...He is now 23-for-24 (96% success rate) in stolen base attempts and his 23 thefts has tied him for the top spot in the Carolina League...De Los Santos had 28 steals last season (14 with Hickory and 14 with Lynchburg), but he also got caught 20 times for a success rate of 58%...He has stolen his 23 bags in just 29 games played this season...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER:

RHP Brad Meyers was selected by the Nationals in the 5th round of the 2007 amateur entry draft out of Loyola Marymount University...His junior season and final year with the Lions he went 4-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 16 games (15 starts)...He made his professional debut that same year the the GCL Nationals and did not have a decision or allow a run in three starts (nine innings)...He advanced to full season Low-A Hagerstown and went 1-1 with a 0.44 ERA in four starts with the Suns...He was again promoted to Advanced-A Potomac where he had no decisions in three starts with the P-Nats and a 5.07 ERA...Last season he went back to Hagerstown and posted a 9-7 mark with a 4.79 earned run average in 22 games (21 starts)...He began this year with Potomac and has gone 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA in eight games (seven starts) with the Nats...He made one start against Lynchburg in 2007, taking a no decision while throwing four innings, allowing six hits and three runs...

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Carolina League Stories from May 29, 2009


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