Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on May 4, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (11-15) vs. SALEM RED SOX (15-12)
May 4, 2014 -- 2:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium
RHP Greg Ross (1-1, 2.88) vs. RHP Luis Diaz (2-2, 2.91)
LAST TIME OUT: Last night the Hillcats beat the Salem Red Sox 5-3...The Red Sox led 1-0 and 3-2 early in the game, but the Hillcats scored the final three runs to take their second straight victory...Hillcats starter RHP Lay Batista went three innings in his Lynchburg debut, and allowed just one run on a solo homer to RF Kevin Heller...The 'Cats went up 2-1 in third inning with the help of a single, three walks, and a wild pitch...3B Kevin Ahrens contributed an RBI ground out in that inning...RHP Zach Jadofsky relieved Batista, and gave up the lead in the fourth, allowing four hits, but he settled down to throw two perfect innings after that...Meanwhile, Lynchburg plated two runs in the fifth as LF Dan Carroll hit an RBI double and scored on 1B Levi Hyams' single two batters later...CF Kyle Wren drove in the final run of the game with a single in the sixth...Up 5-3, LHP Matt Chaffee was on the mound for the 'Cats in the seventh with the bases loaded an nobody out...He struck out the next three batters, retaining the two run advantage...RHP Brandon Cunniff then came on to throw the eighth and ninth...He walked his first batter, and then struck out the next six he faced to record his third save of the season...The Hillcats are now 11-15, tied for third place in the Northern Division, 4.5 games out of first...
VS. SALEM: The Hillcats are 2-4 against the Red Sox...The Red Sox have swept both of the last two series between these clubs going back to the final series of 2013, both series were in Salem...That clearly won't be happening this weekend as the Hillcats have won the last two games...Lynchburg is now looking to win the series with a victory this afternoon...Friday night's win snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Hillcats against the Red Sox...Overall last year, the 'Cats were just 6-14 against Salem, going 3-7 at home...
CARROLLERS WELCOME: Recently promoted OF Dan Carroll joined the Hillcats from Low-A Rome Monday...His first game with the Hillcats that night was suspended due to rain...Tuesday was rained out, and Wednesday was an off-day, so Thursday night was his first game of record with the Hillcats...Through three games he is 3-for-7 with a home run, five RBIs, three runs scored, and a pair of walks...The Braves purchased Carroll's contract last season from the independent Lincoln Saltdogs...He reached the Double-A level with the Seattle Mariners organization...A third round pick back in 2007, he played six seasons in the Mariners' farm system before receiving his release...His best season was in 2011 when he stole a career-best 62 bases and hit a career-best 18 home runs for the High Desert Mavericks of the California League...Carroll was originally slated to begin the year with Lynchburg, but a concussion at the end of Spring Training sidelined him for a few weeks...
WHAT'S TRENDING: The Hillcats have a few trends working against them today as they try to win their third game in a row, a feat they are yet to accomplish this season...They are also just 1-5 in series finales, 1-5 in day games, and 0-4 on Sundays...
SHUTTING THE DOOR: LHP Matt Chaffee and RHP Brandon Cunniff combined to strike out nine of the last 10 Salem batters last night...Chaffee pitched out of a bases loaded, no outs jam in the seventh, and Cunniff walked one before striking out six in a row to finish the eighth and ninth frames...Cunniff has struck out 21 in 15.2 innings...His 12.06 K/9IP ranks fourth amongst relievers in the Carolina League...Chaffee has fanned 18 in just 10 innings...His 16.2 K/9IP would be tops in the circuit but he is two-thirds of an inning from qualifying...Cunniff also ranks third in batting average against (.102)...
AND RUNNIN' RUNNIN': The Hillcats stole four more bases last night giving them 38 on the season, good for the most in the Carolina League...The next closest team is Myrtle Beach with 33, while the fewest in the circuit belongs to Frederick (18)...CF Kyle Wren stole his 15th base last night, and currently leads the Hillcats and the league, while 2B Jose Peraza stole his 14th base last night and he ranks second...Their 29 combined steals make them the second best teammate duo in all of Minor League Baseball behind OFs Malcolm Holland and Jacob Scavuzzo of the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League (A)...
PERAZA EN FUEGO: INF Jose Peraza went 2-for-5 with a run scored last night, and has now hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games raising his average from .255 to .348, which currently ranks fourth in the circuit...He is batting .426 (26-for-61) during this stretch...He is currently on an eight-game hitting streak, tied for the second longest active streak in the circuit...He has scored six times and stolen five bases during the hitting streak...He has batted lead off in every Hillcats game so far this season...He is second in the league in at-bats (112) and first in hits (39)...He's second in stolen bases (14)...He now has 13 multi-hit efforts in 26 total games this season, five of which are three-hit games...
GOING DEEP: OF Will Skinner went 2-for-3 Friday night with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored...The long ball was his team-best third of the season...With the game tied 1-1, his two-run shot put the 'Cats up 2-1 and they led the rest of the way...Two of his three home runs have now been go-ahead homers, but the team is just 1-2 when he goes deep...All three of his bombs have come at home...He hadn't hit one out since April 6, which was Sunday of opening weekend...He went 71 at-bats without a long ball...
ODE TO ODOM: C Joe Odom went 2-for-4 last night with a run scored...He has now hit safely six of his last seven games raising his average from .000 to 258...Odom began the season 0-for-11...His first two hits came in Frederick on April 13, a double and home run..He has six hits since, all singles...He is batting .381 (8-for-21) over his last seven games with four RBIs and two runs scored...
TODAY'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Luis Diaz was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent August 28, 2008 out of Valencia, Venezuela...Began his career in the Dominican Summer League in 2009 and 2010 before making the jump to short-season A-ball in the New York/Penn League in 2011...He went 4-4 with a 2.53 ERA in 14 starts...He ranked sixth in the NYPL and second amongst Red Sox minor leaguers in ERA that season...Also was second in the NYPL in WHIP (0.964)...Struggled in Low-A Greenville in 2012 (3-8, 6.01) and repeated their last year...Went 7-4 with a 2.05 ERA and earned a late promotion to Salem where he made two starts at the end of August...He broke camp with Salem this year and is 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA through five starts...Tonight will be his first start against the Hillcats and fourth start on the road...He is 2-1 with a 1.23 ERA on the road this season...Meanwhile he has struggled at home going 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA...He is coming off his worst start of the year as he gave up six runs, five earned, over 3.2 innings...He allowed seven hits and walked four, and set season-highs in runs, hits and walks...
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