CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on June 8, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (24-34) @ SALEM RED SOX (34-24)

June 8th, 2010 -- 7:05 PM

Lewis Gale Field @ Salem Memorial Ballpark

RHP Curtis Partch (2-4, 3.91) vs. LHP Fabian Williamson (4-3, 4.03)

THE HILLCATS: Lynchburg lost a late lead for the second straight game in a 5-4 loss at Salem last night... The Hillcats have now followed a season-high five-game winning streak with a five-game losing skid, which matches the longest this season by the Cats...Tonight the Hillcats play the middle game of a three-game series at Salem and the sixth contest of seven in a row on the road...

VS. SALEM: The Hillcats are 5-6 against the Red Sox thus far this season and are 1-4 at Memorial Ballpark...The Cats went 10-10 against the Sox in the 460 series last season and were 5-5 at Lewis Gale Field...In the post-season the Cats swept the Sox three games to none in the Mills Cup Championship...In the all-time series Salem leads 161-142 during the regular season...

HAVEN'T WE DONE THIS BEFORE? Lynchburg is at the tail end of 13 games in a row that are all against Salem and Frederick...They just played six at home against the two teams (three against each squad, going 5-1) and now are on the road to play seven games (four in Frederick and three at Salem, thus far 0-5) at the Keys and Sox home parks...The Hillcats began the season with 14 games against only Salem and Frederick as well and they will have a similar stretch at the end of July...

USE BOTH HANDS: Last night the Hillcats relinquished three separate leads for the second straight game...The led 1-0, 2-1 and 4-2 entering the ninth inning a night ago before eventually falling 5-4 thanks to three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning by the Red Sox...On Sunday in Frederick they were up 2-0 after a half an inning, up 3-2 after an inning and a half and led 5-3 heading into the sixth inning losing the lead again...Last night was Lynchburg's 18th blown lead this season in 58 games...

SO CLOSE, BUT SO FAR AWAY: The Hillcats were two outs away from a win last night...On Sunday they were up a run and four outs from a victory before falling in Frederick...Last night marked the first time this season Lynchburg has lost when entering the ninth inning with a lead, they were 17-0 when leading after eight innings prior to the series opener in Salem...The Cats now have nine saves on the season and eight blown saves...

I WANNA GO HOME! After completing a 5-1 homestand that ended with five straight wins last Wednesday, Lynchburg has lost their first five games of seven in a row on the road against the same two teams they played in the homestand...The Hillcats have dropped to 8-20 on the road and they have now lost 11 of their last 13 outside of the Hill City...

ISOLATED THUNDER STORMS: RHP Justin Freeman allowed three runs (two earned) in the bottom of the ninth inning last night to blow the save and take the loss...He had only allowed one earned run in his last seven outings which covered 10 innings (0.90 ERA) entering the game...The only run he allowed over that time tied the game in the ninth inning at Myrtle Beach to give him a blown save...Freeman dealt a perfect eighth inning before the first three batters in the bottom of the ninth inning got base hits...He is now 5-for-8 (63%) in save opportunities this season...

MAKING THEM MATTER: INF Alex Buchholz hit his fourth home run of the season last night in the top of the first inning...He has now homered three times in his last seven games, after he hit just one long ball in his first 47 contests...He also has two doubles over that time making five of his last seven hits extra-base knocks...His batting average has actually dropped in the last seven games, but his slugging percentage has gone from .377 to .418 (an increase of 41 points)...Buchholz had two homers in 94 games last season and five in his career prior to this season in 128 contests...

GLUE GUY: RHP Jordan Hotchkiss made his third straight start last night and allowed two runs in a season-high five innings of work...He was in line for the victory until the Red Sox rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning...Hotchkiss has now started (0-0, 2.25 ERA in three starts), pitched in middle relief (a team-high three holds) and tossed a the back end of the pen (five games finished)...If he qualified for the league leaders (11 and 2/3 innings short), he would lead the Carolina League in earned run average (1.80)...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Fabian Williamson who was acquired by the Red Sox last year in a trade with the Seattle Mariners...He first pitched professionally in 2007 with the AZL Mariners where he went 6-2 with a 3.43 ERA in 14 games (12 starts)...He also made one start with Low-A Wisconsin and he took a no-decision and did not allow a run in six innings...In 2008 he threw for Rookie Pulaski in the Appalachian League and posted a 4-3 mark with a 4.10 ERA in 11 starts...Last season was his first in the Red Sox system and he had a 10-5 record with a 2.42 ERA with the Low-A Greenville Drive...In 11 starts this season with Salem he has gone 4-3 with a 4.03 ERA...Two of his first three starts this season were against Lynchburg and he went a combined 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA (two earned runs in ten innings) against the Hillcats...

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