Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
Published on July 24, 2014 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Hill City Howlers News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (15-18, 49-54) vs. SALEM RED SOX (14-18, 47-53)
Thursday, July 24, 2014 -- 7:05 PM
Calvin Falwell Field at City Stadium
RHP Jarett Miller (6-6, 4.02) vs. RHP Simon Mercedes (2-6, 4.20)
LAST TIME OUT: The Hillcats lost to the Salem Red Sox 12-3 last night...RF David Nick hit a solo homer in the first inning putting the Hillcats up 1-0, but the Red Sox went on to score the next 12 runs...LF Kevin Heller hit a two-run homer in the second inning...Salem then added seven runs in the fourth on six hits and an error...1B Jantzen Witte had the big hit of the inning with a two-run double...LHP Daniel Watts (2-3) pitched just 3.2 innings, allowing nine runs, seven earned, on 10 hits...He walked no one, struck out four, and suffered the loss...Heller added a two-run double in the sixth, which put Salem up 12-1...CF Daniel Carroll hit a solo home run in the eighth and PH Tyler Tewell hit an RBI single in the ninth, but the Hillcats fell by nine...RHP Joe Gunkel (2-3) earned the win for Salem allowing just one run over six innings...The Hillcats fell to 15-18 in the second half...They sit in fourth place in the Northern Division, 2.5 games behind the first place Wilmington Blue Rocks...
VS. SALEM: The Hillcats are 6-10 against the Red Sox this season...Salem just clinched the series with a win last night and have won three of five series against the 'Cats...The home team had won each series until this week...Overall the home team is 11-5...Seven of the 16 games have been decided by two or less runs...But after last night's 12-3 final, the Red Sox have beaten the Hillcats by nine or more runs three times, out-scoring the 'Cat overall 96-65...3B Kevin Ahrens is batting .357 (20-for-56) against Salem...He has eight doubles, seven RBIs, and eight runs scored in 15 games, but he's 0-for-7 in this series...The best active Red Sox batter against Lynchburg is 2B Reed Gragnani, who is batting .400 (16-for-40) with a double, two triples, eight RBIs, and 10 runs scored in 10 games...Meanwhile, OF Aneury Tavarez has hit three of his 10 home runs against the Hillcats and has 13 RBIs and 12 runs scored in 14 games...
TWO TOUGH NIGHTS: Salem beat Lynchburg for a second straight game last night and has out-scored the Hillcats 22-3 in the process...This 19 run differential is the worst the Hillcats have seen in two games all season...The last time this happened, the Hillcats lost 10-2 and 11-0 in Winston-Salem September 1-2 in 2010...Before scoring in the eighth inning last night, the Hillcats had tallied just one run in 26 innings, going back to Sunday...They've now lost three games in a row, their third slide of three games or more in the second half...The only team with a worse record in league since the All-Star Break is Salem at 14-18, a half-game behind Lynchburg (15-18)...
MUSCLING UP: OF David Nick and OF Daniel Carroll both hit home runs last night bringing the Hillcats total to 42 on the season, the fewest in the Carolina League...They've hit 26 at home at 16 on the road...Carroll's long ball snapped a drought of 105 at-bats without a homer...It was the second longest homer-less stretch for an active Hillcat with at least one home run...INF Levi Hyams has two home runs this season but has gone deep since April 10, spanning 251 at-bats...
PITCHING STEPS BACK: The Hillcats had only allowed 20 runs over their last eight games coming into this series...They were 6-2 in that stretch with a 4-3 loss and a 1-0 loss...They have surrendered 22 runs the last two nights...Last night was the 13th time they surrendered 10 or more runs this season...They are 1-12 in those games only beating the Salem Red Sox 12-11 on June 8 in Lynchburg...They trailed 11-3 in that game before scoring the final nine runs of the game, and won in walk-off fashion with three runs in the ninth...
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: 1B Justin Bloxom was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for July 14-20...He batted. .429 (9-for-21) with five doubles, a triple, home run, and six RBIs in six games...This is the second weekly award of his career...Was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week June 21, 2010...Monday he snapped a seven-game hitting streak with an 0-for-3 effort, but is 3-for-6 in his last two games...His batting average is up 94 points over his last 10 games...He's batting .400 (14-for-35) in his last 10 contests...Was hitting .174 through his first 12 games with the Hillcats prior to this stretch...Was signed as free agent after getting released by the Washington Nationals in June...
WHEN WILL IT BE AUGUST: The Hillcats are 8-14 in July, the worst record in the circuit...They are last ERA (5.34) and are second to last in batting average (.246)...This month is shaping up to be their worst of the season...They also went 9-15 in April while batting .254 with a 4.63 ERA, and that month ended with nine straight losses...If the Hillcats were to loss out this month that would be 10 straight...The bright side is they answered with a 20-11 record in May after struggling in April...
WILSON'S SCORELESS STREAK ENDS: RHP Alex Wilson surrendered a run Sunday night for the first time since June 11...He tossed 18.1 consecutive scoreless innings, the most by a Hillcats pitcher this season...He also has the second-longest streak for a Hillcats this year at 15.1 innings...
TONIGHT'S OPPOSING PITCHER: RHP Simon Mercedes was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an undrafted free agent in 2012 when he was 20 years old...Received a reported $800,000 signing bonus...Had originally agreed to sign with the San Francisco Giants in 2011 for $400,000, but MLB voided the contract...He used the same name and birthdate on the Red Sox contract and received a US visa in August 2012...Made his professional debut with the DSL Red Sox on August 23, 2012 and threw four scoreless innings allowing four hits, walking two and striking out four...Made 13 appearances, three starts, for shot-season Lowell in 2013 (2-2, 3.13)...Struck out 57, walked 17 in 63 innings...Rated the 24th best Red Sox prospect entering this season...Tonight is his 13th appearance, eighth start, with Salem...
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