Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on May 3, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (14-11) vs. WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (12-15)
May 3rd, 2013 -- 6:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field at Lynchburg City Stadium
RHP James Hoyt (2-0, 2.33) vs. RHP Aaron Brooks (0-3, 7.64)
THE HILLCATS: Beat the Winston-Salem Dash 6-4 last night to win and took the series 3-1...OF Will Skinner hit a two-run home run in the second inning and drove in two more for the 'Cats in the third, as Lynchburg jumped out to a 6-0 lead early...RHP Navery Moore gave up two runs in seven innings to earn the win...The Dash scored two runs in the ninth, but RHP Wilson Rivera entered with the tying run on first and one out and shut the door for his first save of the season...The Hillcats are now 14-11 still in first place in the Northern Division...
VS. WILMINGTON: The Hillcats meet the Blue Rocks for the first time tonight on what was scheduled to be their 28th game of the season...Tonight the first place Hillcats, winners of seven of their last 10 play the last place Blue Rocks who have lost seven of their last ten...Tonight will be the first meeting since the 'Cats beat the Rocks 2-1 in the Northern Division Championship series last September...During the regular season a year ago, the two clubs split the series 10-10...
SERIES PLAY: Lynchburg has won (2) or split (1) each of its last three series, going 7-3 in that span...They are 5-3 in series openers, and have won (4) or split (1) each series in which they take the first game...Overall, the 'Cats are 5-2-1 in series play...
THE SEE-SAW CONTINUES: RHP Navery Moore remained true to his season-long pattern of good start, bad start, good start, bad start, last night...In starts one, three and five, he is 0-2 with a 13.39 ERA, pitching 12.1 innings, allowing 18 earned runs...In starts two, four, and six, he is 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA, completing 18 innings and giving up just two earned runs...Moore matched a career-high with seven innings last night, and became just the second Hillcats starter to go seven innings this season...RHP A.J. Holland did it Monday...
DON'T MAKE ME COME BACK THERE: Hillcat starters have been spoiled with an outstanding bullpen this year, but lately the pen has fallen on tough times...In the last eight games, relievers have posted a 5.52 ERA allowing at least one earned run in each contest, including ten over the last three nights...Prior to that stretch they had put together a streak of 12.1 consecutive scoreless innings, bringing the bullpen ERA down to 1.73...It has inflated by more than a run in the past week to 2.90...Prior to this stretch of eight games, the pen had given up one earned run or more in 9 of its first 17 games...
LA STELLAR RETURN: 2B Tommy La Stella missed nearly all of Spring Training and almost the entire first month of the season before getting activated from disabled list Monday...He is 8-for-11 with a home run, three RBI, six runs scored, seven walks, and a hit by pitch in his first three games back...Last season, he missed six weeks with a broken leg and went 10-for-12 in his first four games back...Ended up batting .593 (16-for-27) over the final two weeks of the season raising his average from .273 to .302...La Stella will make his first start on defense (2B) ...
NEEDED A LITTLE R&R: OF Will Skinner entered last night without a hit in his previous 20 at-bats...He hadn't been in the lineup in five days...Naturally, he sent the first pitch he saw last night over the left field wall for his third home run of the season...His last hit back on April 17 was also a homer...Skinner went 2-for-3 with four RBI last night nearly doubling his season total to nine RBI, and his average went from .104 to .137...The four RBI set a new career-high 2011 25th round pick out of Middle Tennessee State University...Skinner has at least one hit in just five of his first 14 starts...The Hillcats are 5-0 in those games...He also has at least one RBI in every game he records a hit...
BECKWITH RUNNERS ON BASE: 1B William Beckwith has reached base via hit, walk, or hit by pitch in 18 straight games going back to April 12...His on-base percentage has gone up nearly 100 points from .286 to .383...It's the longest current on-base streak in the league right now and ranks third overall this season, three behind Felix Sanchez's (Salem) mark of 21 games which dates back to July 16, 2012...Beckwith has five home runs this season which ranks tied for fourth in the league...Also has five stolen bases, tied for the team lead...
TRENDING: The Hillcats have won the opening games of each of their last three series...In the last two, the Hillcats' wins have snapped three-game winning streaks for their opponents, which both happened to come against the Wilmington Blue Rocks...Wilmington enters tonight on a three-game winning streak of their own...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Aaron Brooks was selected in the ninth round of the 2011 draft by the Royals out of Cal State San Bernardino University...Went to Cajon High School (CA) where he set career records in wins and home runs...Was named California College Athletic Association "Freshman of the Year" at CSSBU in 2009...Posted a 2.74 ERA his junior year and finished third in the nation in walks per nine innings...Made his professional debut with Rookie-level Idaho Falls...Went 6-2 with a 3.84 ERA...Finished second in ERA and innings pitched (79.2)...Posted a 9.125 K/BB ratio (73K/8BB)...Spent 2012 with Low-A Kane County...Went 9-12 with a 4.98 ERA in 27 starts...Finished tied for sixth in the league in starts, and tied for the league lead in losses...Was fifth in strikeouts (120) and fourth in innings (153.2)...Second fewest walks per nine innings pitched in his league each of his first two professional seasons...Tonight will be his first start against the Hillcats and fifth start of the season...Already has eight walks this year in 17.2 innings...
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