CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on July 22, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (9-18, 39-58) vs SALEM RED SOX (12-15, 43-53)

July 22nd, 2011 -- 7:05 PM

LewisGale Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark

RHP Aaron Shafer (3-2, 2.45) vs RHP Ryan Pressly (5-9, 4.45)

THE HILLCATS: Thursday, the 'Cats lost to the Salem Red Sox 7-1...Lynchburg managed just one unearned run in the top of the first inning, finishing with four hits...LHP Chris Hernandez continued his dominance of the Hillcats, with his fourth start of five innings allowing just one run against the 'Cats...He earned his eighth win of the season...The Hillcats currently sit in fourth place in the Northern Division at 9-18, 7.5 games back of the Nationals and Frederick Keys, who are tied atop the division...

VS. SALEM: The Hillcats are 4-11 against the Red Sox this season...This will be the last trip for Lynchburg to Salem Memorial Ballpark this year...The Red Sox have won six of eight so far when hosting the Hillcats...Last season, the Red Sox took the season series 11-8 over Lynchburg...Myrtle Beach (2010 Braves Advanced-A affiliate) fared worse against Salem, winning just five of the 20 match-ups...

THE DL CATS: Since the start of the season, Lynchburg has had to send a player to disabled list 14 times (11 different players)...OF Adam Milligan officially hit the DL for the third time this year Wednesday...He is out with a right knee strain, the same knee he required surgery on back in 2008...His previous two DL stints were due to hamstring pulls, also on the right leg...On a positive note, INF Joe Leonard, who was initially held back from the current road trip with chest pains has been cleared to play, joining the team Tuesday and making his return to the lineup Wednesday going 0-for-3 with a strikeout...

SCORING ISSUES: For the first time since August 2 and 3, 2001, the Hillcats were shut out in consecutive games, losing Monday and Tuesday 1-0...In 2011, the 'Cats have now been held scoreless 11 times...They have been shut out more times than any other team in the league and hold a league-worst shutout record of 6-11...Through just 27 second half games the 'Cats have been held scoreless six times, already surpassing their first half total...They've only given up 11 runs in their shutout losses this half, losing 2-0, 4-0, 1-0, 2-0, 1-0, and 1-0...Wednesday night, a two-run homer for Phil Gosselin in the top of the frist snapped a streak of 20 innings without a run for the 'Cats...Besides the shut outs the Hillcats have been held to three or less runs 16 times since the All-Star break and are averaging just 3.15 runs per game...

BEST OF THE BRAVOS: Eight members of the Hillcats are ranked amongst the top 30 prospects in the Atlanta Braves organization according to Baseball America...That list includes C Christian Bethancourt (12), SS Andrelton Simmons (15), RHP David Hale (17), RHP Dimasther Delgado (18), OF Todd Cunningham (20), OF Adam Milligan (22), INF Joe Leonard (23) and 2B Phil Gosselin (25)...

SIMMERING HOT JULY: After posting his worst statistics of the season in June, SS Andrelton Simmons has been on fire so far in July...He has hit safely in 18 of 19 July contests with eight multi-hit games and is currently on a 12-game hit-streak, his third double-digit streak of the season...He's hitting .361 with 11 runs scored and three runs driven in this month after posting a season-worst .258 clip in the month of June...He leads the league in hits with 107, and ranks third in average at .306...

STARTING STREAK SNAPPED: LHP Blaine Sims surrendered five runs in four and two-thirds innings last night, snapping a six-game streak for the rotation of allowing two runs or less...Six different starters put together the streak, going back to RHP Zeke Spruill on July 15...The streak continued through the rotation even extending when LHP Dimasther Delgado made a spot start Wednesday...During the six-game span, the starters posted an ERA of 1.29...Even after last night's outing the Hillcats' starters have lowered their season ERA to 3.80...The relievers meanwhile currently own an ERA of 4.12...

SAVE THOSE ARMS: RHP Zeke Spruill was skipped in the rotation Wednesday due to how many innings he's thrown this season...It was the first start he's missed all year...Leading the league with 123.2 innings pitched, Spruill has nearly doubled his innings count from last season already...He missed two months with a broken hand in 2010...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER:RHP Ryan Pressly was selected in the 11th round of the 2007 draft by the Red Sox out of Marcus (TX) High School...Was seventh among Red Sox minor league pitchers with a 3.72 ERA in 2010...Held opponents to three runs or less in 22 of his 24 starts for Greenville in 2010...His 24 starts was tied for second on the team...Pitched for Lowell in 2009, and tied for first on the team in strikeouts (64) and teid for second in wins (six)...Has started four times against Lynchburg, on April 13, April 18, June 2, and June 7...Earned a win in the first three games he faced Lynchburg, and lost on June 7...Combined for 21 innings pitched, allowing 21 hits, 13 runs, seven of them earned, with seven strikeouts...Currently 5-9 with a 4.45 ERA...

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