CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on July 28, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (14-17, 43-58) @ FREDERICK KEYS (15-16, 56-45)

July 28th, 2010 -- 7:00 PM

@ Harry Grove Stadium

RHP Lance Janke (3-8, 6.66) vs. RHP Oliver Drake (2-5, 4.62)

THE HILLCATS: Last night Lynchburg beat Frederick 9-3 and they have taken the first two games of the three-game series...The Hillcats have now won four straight games after dropping five out of six...Tonight they play the final game of their set with the Keys and the third of six straight on the road...The Cats are beginning a stretch of 14 out of 17 on the road...

VS. FREDERICK: The Hillcats are 8-11 against the Keys this season and are 3-6 at Harry Grove Stadium...The last time these two teams met at The Grove, Frederick swept Lynchburg in a four-game series...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 162-143...Last year the Cats record against the Keys was their best against any opponent in the Carolina League at home, on the road and overall...

WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW: Last night Lynchburg matched their season-high with nine runs in their victory over Frederick...It was the sixth time this season the Hillcats have plated nine runs in a game...Monday night they blasted four home runs en route to a 7-4 win over the Keys...They had only homered three times in a game once before this series and they had not hit four long balls in a game all season...The first inning also became just the third time this year the Hillcats have homered twice in the same frame...All four of their home runs came in the first four innings of Monday night's contest...

NOT GETTING CHASED: RHP Chase Ware pitched five innings, gave up two runs and earned the victory last night over Frederick...It was his first win for the Hillcats and his first win as a starter in his professional career...It was only the second time in his career that he has pitched five innings or more...Ware started all 13 games his senior season at Arkansas State, but 38 of his first 40 appearances as a professional (and his first 25 games this season) were out of the bullpen...

DENIS THE MENACE: OF Denis Phipps went 1-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a run and a walk...When he homered in the third inning on Monday night, it gave the center fielder a hit in seven straight at-bats, matching the longest streak in Hillcats history (OF Pedro Powell, 2004)...Phipps is now riding a ten-game hitting streak and over that time he is batting .447 (17-for-38) with six doubles, a triple, four home runs, 12 RBI, 10 runs scored, five walks and three steals...In 13 games with Lynchburg since coming down from Double-A Carolina the outfielder is batting .408 (20-for-49) with five home runs and 14 RBI...Last Thursday night he homered on his 25th birthday to give him a homer in three straight games, becoming the first Hillcat to accomplish the feat this season...

FREE FALLIN': RHP Justin Freeman worked a scoreless ninth inning Sunday night to earn his seventh save of the season...He has now thrown 16 and 1/3 consecutive scoreless frames, passing the longest scoreless streak by a Hillcat this season (RHP Nick Christiani, 5/11-6/8)...Over those 13 games his ERA has dropped from 4.60 to 3.02...The right-hander is first in the league in games pitched (39), tied for second in games finished (26), tied for second in holds (7), first in fewest walks per nine innings (1.13) and third in fewest base runners per nine innings amongst relievers (9.82)...Freeman is also second on the team with seven 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 nine appearances (10 innings) out of the pen...

HURRAY FOR DAY: OF Kyle Day went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored last night and has now hit in a season-high 13 straight games, which has now passed the longest streak by a Hillcat this season (OF Josh Fellhauer and INF Alex Buchholz both hit in 11 straight)...In those 13 games he is batting .400 (20-for-50)...Over a longer stretch he has hit in 21 of his last 23 games and over that time he is 32-for-80 (.400) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs (including a grand slam), 16 RBI, 12 runs scored, seven walks and three steals...In those 23 contests Day has raised his average from .226 to .282...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Oliver Drake was taken by the Orioles in the 43rd round of the 2008 draft out of the United States Naval Academy...His sophomore and final season with the Midshipmen he went 6-3 with a 3.70 ERA in 13 starts...He made hi professional debut with Rookie Bluefield that same year and was 1-0 with a 0.77 ERA in seven games...He finished the season with Short Season Low-A Aberdeen and went 0-0 with a 0.87 ERA and a save in five relief appearances...Last season he progressed to full season Low-A with Delmarva and posted an 8-9 mark with a 4.34 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) with the Shorebirds...This year Drake began with Frederick and he has a 2-5 record with a 4.62 ERA in 16 games (13 starts) with the Keys...The right-hander has made two appearances (one start) against Lynchburg and he has no decisions and a 5.14 ERA...He entered the season ranked as the 22nd best prospect in the Orioles organization according to Baseball America...

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