Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
July 20, 2010 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (9-14, 38-55) vs. FREDERICK KEYS (12-11, 53-40)
July 20th, 2010 -- 7:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field @ Lynchburg City Stadium
RHP Jordan Hotchkiss (6-3, 2.35) vs. RHP Ryan O'Shea (5-5, 3.83)
THE HILLCATS: Last night Lynchburg lost 6-3 in the series opener of a three-game set with Frederick at City Stadium...Tonight is the middle game of the series with the Keys and the second contest of a seven-game homestand...
VS. FREDERICK: The Hillcats are 5-10 against the Keys this season and are 4-4 at City Stadium...The last time these two teams met, Frederick swept Lynchburg in a four-game series at Harry Grove Stadium...Last season the Cats went 14-5 versus the Keys and were 7-2 at in the Hill City...Lynchburg holds the all-time advantage 161-143...Last season the Cats record against the Keys was their best against any opponent in the Carolina League at home, on the road and overall...
NOT SO SWEET HOME: The loss last night was Lynchburg's seventh in a row at home...They have gone from two games over .500 to five games under during that time...The Hillcats completed their seven-game road swing Saturday night with a 4-3 mark after they went 0-6 on their most recent homestand...
HOLDING THE FORT: Last night the Hillcats bullpen tossed five and 1/3 innings of perfect relief...They retired all 16 men they faced and stranded the only runner they inherited...The bullpens ERA enters tonight at 4.26 after sitting over 6.00 for much of the first half of the season...
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: RHP James Avery was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week yesterday for the week of July 12th through the 18th...The right-hander dealt eight scoreless innings in his last start on Friday night to earn his fifth win of the campaign...He only gave up two hits and struck out six...It was his longest start of the season, two outs shy of matching the longest outing of his career and the longest start by a Hillcats pitcher this season...Avery became the second Hillcat this season to earn POW honors...The other was C Devin Mesoraco, who was named Player of the Week for the week of May 10th through the 16th...The last Hillcats hurler to be named was RHP Matt McSwain last season in August...
AND WE'LL BE FREE: RHP Justin Freeman worked a scoreless ninth inning last night...He has now thrown 14 consecutive scoreless frames and over those 13 games his ERA has dropped from 4.60 to 3.18...He is an inning and 1/3 shy of tying the longest scoreless streak by a Hillcat this season (RHP Nick Christiani, 5/11-6/8)...The right-hander is first in the league in games pitched (37), tied for second in games finished (25), tied for fifth in holds (6), first in fewest walks per nine innings (1.19) and second in fewest base runners per nine innings amongst relievers (9.33)...Freeman is also second on the team with six saves...In April his ERA was 7.88, in May it was 3.07, in June it dropped to 2.40 and so far in July he has not given up a run in seven appearances out of the pen...
PARTCHED: RHP Curtis Partch gave up six runs on eight hits in three and 2/3 innings of work last night to suffer his team-leading eighth loss of the season...He is tied for fourth in the Carolina League in defeats...The right-hander returned to a starting role after two relief appearances...In his last four starts he is 1-3 with a 13.50 ERA (25 earned runs in 16 and 1/3 innings)...In those four outings he has given up 42 hits in 16 and 1/3 innings...
BOW AND ARROW: LHP Andrew Bowman threw two and 1/3 innings of perfect relief last night...The lefty stuck out a season-high five batters...He has now thrown five straight scoreless appearances (seven and 1/3 innings) and hasn't surrendered a run in eight of his last nine outings...His ERA has dropped from 6.90 to 5.40 over that time...
KNIGHT AND DAY: OF Kyle Day went 1-for-4 last night and has now hit in a season-high six straight games...He has hit in 14 of his last 16 games and over that time he is 22-for-52 (.423) with three doubles, a triple, a grand slam, ten RBI, eight runs scored, five walks and three steals...In those 16 contests Day has raised his average from .226 to .271...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Ryan O'Shea was selected by the Orioles in the 27th round of the 2008 amateur entry draft out of the University of New Orleans...In 2008 he made his professional debut with Short-Season Low-A Aberdeen and went 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and three saves in 16 games in relief...Last season he played full season with Low-A Delmarva and posted an 8-8 mark with a 3.60 ERA...This season with Frederick he has gone 5-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 18 starts...He has made three starts this season against Lynchburg and he has gone 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA...In his last two starts he is 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA (nine earned runs seven innings)...
• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...
Carolina League Stories from July 20, 2010
- Controversial Balk Dooms Blue Rocks - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Hudson's Defensive Heroics Not Enough - Frederick Keys
- Errors Cost Dash in Rain-Shortened Loss - Winston-Salem Dash
- \Kinston Wins Rain Shortened Game 4-2 - Kinston Indians
- Cats Win to Snap Home Losing Streak - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Red Sox-Nationals Rained Out - Salem Red Sox
- Keys Begin Seven-Game Homestand Thursday - Frederick Keys
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- RHP Seth Garrison Joins Salem - Salem Red Sox
- Major Leaguer to Start Against Dash Thursday - Winston-Salem Dash
- Olsen To Start Thursday For Potomac In Winston Salem - Potomac Nationals
- LHP Danny Rosenbaum Joins P-Nats - Potomac Nationals
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
