Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
July 8, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (9-9, 43-45) vs. CAROLINA MUDCATS (10-9, 39-47)
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 -- 7:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium
LHP Daniel Watts (0-2, 6.08) vs. LHP Ryan Merritt (9-2, 1.65)
LAST TIME OUT: The Hillcats beat the Carolina Mudcats 5-4 last night...DH Jose Martinez put the Hillcats on top with an RBI single in the first inning...SS Emerson Landoni added an RBI single in the second to make 2-0...The Mudcats tied the score in the third inning...1B Joe Sever grounded into a fielder's choice at second base with the bases loaded and a throwing error as 2B Eric Garcia attempted to turn two allowed a second run to score...Lynchburg regained the lead in the bottom of the inning as Martinez doubled home a run an scored on an RBI groundout...RHP Cody Scarpetta (3-2) pitched the first five innings for Lynchburg only allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits and earned the win...The Hillcats took advantage of an error and a passed ball in the seventh to add what would become the game-winning run...Down 5-2, the Mudcats scored twice in the eighth...C Alex Monsalve hit an RBI single and LF Jerrud Sabourin scored on a balk on RHP Alex Wilson who had entered to get the final out of the eighth...He retired the one batter he faced in the eighth inning on the first pitch following the balk...Wilson retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his ninth save of the season...The Hillcats are now 9-9 and tied for first place in the Northern Division...
VS. CAROLINA: The Hillcats are 3-7 against the Mudcats this season...Carolina has swept the Hillcats twice this year, once May 5-7 in Lynchburg and again last week July 1-3 in Carolina...Lynchburg won the only other series 2-1 in Carolina May 12-14...The Mudcats offense has been incredible against Lynchburg, batting .312 (111-for-356) while averaging almost 7.3 runs per game...The Hillcats hold a 6.62 ERA in the season series...C Alex Monsalve terrorized the Hillcats last week going 7-for-12 with two doubles and seven RBIs, and went 1-for-4 last night with another RBI...INF Eric Garcia has been especially successful against the Mudcats this season batting .360 (9-for-25) in seven games with two doubles, a triple, seven RBIs, and eight runs scored...
MASHING MARTINEZ: LF Jose Martinez went 3-for-4 last night with a double, two RBIs, a run scored, and a stolen base...It was his third three-hit game of the season, and he's only played in 16 games for the Hillcats...He has at least one hit in 14 games so far and is batting .393 (24-for-61) with four doubles, a home run, nine RBIs, nine runs scored, and he is 3-for-3 in steal attempts...He's also struck out just eight times, while walking seven times...The 2013 Southern League All-Star batted .285 for Double-A Mississippi last year, but was release in the offseason...He was signed again this year after beginning the year in independent ball...
DEFENSIVE WOES: The Hillcats have committed eight errors over their last three games, including three last night...These errors have led to eight unearned runs...They now have 20 miscues in 18 second half games after committing just 59 in 70 first half games...The 'Cats still rank tied for third in fielding percentage in the league (.976) two points behind Frederick (.978)...Former Hillcats SS Daniel Castro still holds the best fielding percentage among qualifying shortstops in the league (.978)...He committed seven errors in 70 games...In the 11 games since his promotion to Double-A, there have been three errors at shortstop, two by INF Eric Garcia and another by INF Emerson Landoni...
SERIES PLAY: The Hillcats improved to 15-12 in series openers yesterday...They are 10-2-2 in series in which they win the opening game, just losing their second such series over the weekend to Frederick after winning the opener Friday night...The only other series loss for the 'Cats after winning game one was April 18-21 to the Potomac Nationals who took the final three games of a four-game series...Those three losses kicked off the season-worst 10-game losing streak for Lynchburg...
WIN THE CLOSE ONES: The Hillcats are now 17-10 in one-run games after last night's 5-4 victory...Only the Potomac Nationals are better in such games at 19-9, and the 'Cats are 2-4 against the 'Nats in one-run affairs...
MISTAKES USUALLY COST YA: Despite three errors last night, the Hillcats held on to win bringing their record when committing multiple errors to 5-13...When their opponents have multiple miscues, the 'Cats are 20-9
WILSON AT IT AGAIN: RHP Alex Wilson tossed 1.1 perfect innings last night extending his scoreless innings streak to 12.1...It's his second double digit scoreless inning streak this season and the longest current streak for a Hillcat...He also has the longest streak of the season for any Hillcat when he tossed 15 consecutive scoreless frames from May 8 - June 7...He also earned his team-best ninth save of the season last night, which ranks tied for third in the league...In 24 appearances this season, he has allowed runs only five times, and is yet to blow a save...In 43.1 innings he has 42 strikeouts and just 12 walks...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Ryan Merritt was selected in the 16th round by the Cleveland Indians in 2011 out of McLennan Community College (TX)...A second-team All-State selection in high school, Merritt hit .455 and posted a 0.98 ERA his senior year...He played one season at McLennan and went 9-3 with a 1.23 ERA...The McKinney, TX native struck out 88 and walked only 12 in 88 innings...Made his professional debut in the Arizona League in 2011 allowing just one earned run in 8.1 innings over four appearances...He has moved up every season since, stopping in the short-season New York-Penn League in 2012 (3-4, 4.09) and then he began 2013 in Low-A Lake County (6-9, 3.42)...He received an August promotion to Carolina and made two starts, both against the Hillcats...Merritt currently leads the Carolina League in ERA (1.65) and WHIP (0.91), wins (9), batting average against (.199) and is second in innings (98.1)...He is 1-0 against the Hillcats in two starts with a 2.57 ERA, allowing two earned runs over seven innings in both outings...Last Wednesday he gave up five hits and two runs in the first two innings to the Hillcats but did not allow another hit or run through seven frames...
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