CarL1 Lynchburg Hillcats

Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes

Published on July 12, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release


LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (9-13, 43-49) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (13-10, 57-34)

Saturday, July 12, 2014 -- 7:05 PM

TicketReturn.com Field

RHP Cody Scarpetta (3-2, 2.67) vs. LHP Victor Payano (3-6, 5.20)

LAST TIME OUT: The Hillcats fell 2-1 in their series opener against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans last night...DH Chris Garia led off the bottom of the first with an infield single, and SS Edwin Garcia followed with a double down the third base line...Garia scored on the play as LF Jose Martinez mishandled the ball in left field, allowing an unearned run to score against RHP Lucas Sims...RF Royce Bolinger put the Pelicans up 2-0 with a solo homer in the fifth...The Hillcats plated their only run in the sixth inning...2B Emerson Landoni hit an RBI double to cut the Myrtle lead in half...LHP Andrew Faulkner (8-1) earned the win tossing five scoreless innings for the Pelicans, allowing five hits, walking two, and striking out five...Sims (6-8) suffered the loss giving up two runs, on earned, on six hits, while walked one and striking out five over 6.2 innings...RHP Abel De Los Santos collected the save, his seventh, getting the final five outs for the Pelicans...The Hillcats are now 9-13 in the second half and in fourth place in the Northern Division....

VS. MYRTLE BEACH: The Hillcats are 2-8 against the Pelicans this season...Myrtle Beach swept the Hillcats in three games in their first trip to City Stadium June 3-5, and the Hillcats were able to win one of three at the beach June 9-11 ...In the most recent meeting, the Hillcats took the middle contest of a three-game set at the end of June but still dropped the series...The Pelicans have out-scored the Hillcats 77-44 in the season series after last night's 2-1 Myrtle Beach win...LF Jose Martinez went 4-for-5 last night and is currently batting .563 (9-for-16) in four games against Myrtle Beach with a home run, a triple, two RBIs, and two runs scored...Meanwhile, INF Luis Mendez has enjoyed facing the Hillcats more than most Pelicans...He's batting just .207 on the year, but is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with three doubles, an RBI, and four runs scored against the Hillcats...

TIME TO GET YOUR HITS IN A ROW: The Hillcats collected eight hits last night, but each of them fell in a different inning...They recorded a hit in every inning except the eighth, and stranded at least one runner in each inning...The 'Cats went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position stranding 14 runners and eight in scoring position...They also out-hit their opponents (8-6) again, yet lost for a second straight night...Lynchburg posted 17 hits in its 11-6 defeat Thursday night, their second-most in a game all season and its highest total in a loss...The Hillcats previously had 13 hits in a 7-6 loss to Salem on June 7...The 17 hits included six doubles and a home run, but the Hillcats only scored multiple runs in an inning once by virtue of going 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position, hitting into two double plays, having one runner picked off second base, and stranding nine other runners...Lynchburg is now 33-9 when out-hitting opponents this season...

MARTINEZ MASHES: OF Jose Martinez went 4-for-5 with a triple last night...It was his first four-hit game of the season, and eighth multi-hit game out of the 20 he's played in for the Hillcats...He's also had five three-hit games, and has hit safely in all but three games so far, and has kept his batting average at .362 or higher...He's currently batting .405 (32-for-79) with six doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 RBIs, and 11 runs scored for the Hillcats...

TAKING ON WATER: Last night's loss was the fourth in a row for the Hillcats...It's their second four-game losing streak of the second half...They are now 2-10 over their last 12 games, which has dropped their overall season record to 43-49...At their lowest, the 'Cats were seven games under .500 at 9-16, at the end of their 10-game losing streak from April 19 - May 1 ...A loss tonight would put them seven games under once again on the season...Eight of the 10 recent losses have come at the hands of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Carolina Mudcats...Their next six games will be against those same two foes...The 'Cats are 18-30 versus the Southern Division, and 25-19 against the Northern Division...

SPENDING LOTS OF TIME AT THE BALLPARK: Last night's game went two hours and 59 minutes, despite a final score of just 2-1...The Hillcats have averaged just over three hours and three minutes per game over their first 11 games of July, and are just 2-9 this month...The pitching staff has been struggling to the tune of a 6.73 ERA after allowing just one earned last night...Opponents are hitting .320 against the 'Cats and the staff has walked 49 over 95 innings...The offense has been there, batting .266 with 21 doubles, two triples, seven home runs this month, but are still averaging under four runs per game (43R/11G)...They are batting just .200 with runners in scoring position (17-for-85) in July...

TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: LHP Victor Payano was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2010 out of San Juan de la Maguana, DR at 17 years old for $75,000...Had originally agreed to terms with the Cleveland Indians in 2009 for a $900,000 bonus, but failed his physical...Baseball America rated Payano as the 14th-best prospect out of Latin America eligible in the 2010 signing period ahead of phenom SS Jurickson Profar, who made his big league debut with the Rangers last season...Payano made his professional debut in 2010 with the DSL Rangers (3-1, 3.40)...Made 17 appearances, 12 starts, throwing 50.1 innings in his first season...Spent 2011 with Short-season Spokane (2-5, 5.44)...First full season came in 2012 with Low-A Hickory (6-8, 4.63)...Named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team after going 4-3 with a 3.36 ERA in the first half...Last season went 5-7 with a 6.29 ERA in 22 games, 21 starts for the Pelicans...In one start against the Hillcats he gave up three runs in three innings on five hits, while walking five and striking out one...He took a no-decision...Has walked a league-most 71 in 79.1 innings this year...Hasn't won in last 10 starts (0-5) ...

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Carolina League Stories from July 12, 2014


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