Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes
August 5, 2014 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Lynchburg Hillcats News Release
LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (21-22, 55-58) vs. SALEM RED SOX (19-23, 52-58)
Tuesday, August 5, 2014 -- 7:05 PM
LewisGale Field
RHP Jarett Miller (7-7, 3.79) vs. RHP Simon Mercedes (2-8, 5.34)
LAST TIME OUT: Prior to the off-day yesterday, the Hillcats lost to the Winston-Salem Dash 5-1...LHP Daniel Watts (2-4) surrendered five runs, four earned, on nine hits over five innings for the Hillcats, and suffered the loss...CF Keenyn Walker put the Dash on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the third inning...He then scored on and RBI single for LF Courtney Hawkins...An error at second base led to a sac fly in the fourth inning...Watts then allowed three straight hits to open up the fifth including an RBI triple to SS Cleuluis Rondon and an RBI double to Hawkins...That made it 5-0 Dash...RHP Tyler Danish (5-2) dealt six scoreless innings for the Dash, allowing just two hits, walking two, striking out eight...He earned the win...LHP Carlos Rodon, the 2014 third overall pick, then pitched the seventh and eighth scoreless...The Hillcats finally got on the board in the ninth when RF Will Skinner hit a solo home run of LHP Jose Bautista...The Hillcats fell to 21-22 in the second half and are currently tied for second place in the Northern Division with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, three games behind the Potomac Nationals...
VS. SALEM: The Hillcats are 7-10 against the Red Sox this season and just 1-6 at Salem Memorial Ballpark...They are batting .272 against the Red Sox, but also hold a 5.13 ERA...This is the final series of the season between these two clubs, which are closer in vicinity than any other two teams in the league...OF Daniel Carroll has been especially good against the Red Sox batting .333 (12-for-36) with eight doubles, two home runs, 10 RBIs, eight runs scored, and five stolen bases in 13 games...For Salem, OF Anuery Tavarez has favored facing the Hillcats to the tune of a .365 (19-for-52) batting average with foru doubles, two triples, three home runs, 13 RBIs, 12 runs scored, and two steals in 14 games...
GETTING SWEPT: Lynchburg was swept for the sixth time this season on Sunday as they lost three straight in Winston-Salem...All six sweeps have been in three-game series...All but one of the sweeps have been at the hands of a Southern Division team...Only the Potomac Nationals in the North swept the Hillcats in a rain-shortened three-game series April 26-28...The Dash just became the last Southern Division team to sweep the Hillcats this season, with Carolina sweeping Lynchburg twice (home and road)...The Hillcats are 23-37 against the Southern Division this season and 20 of their last 27 games are against the South...They are 3-2 in the first game of a series following getting swept...
ONE BASE AT A TIME: The Hillcats racked up 27 hits over the weekend in Winston-Salem and batted .260, but only managed seven runs...They collected just three extra-base hits...OF Blake Brown doubled on Friday, C Joe Odom doubled on Saturday, and OF Will Skinner homered on Sunday...Lynchburg had eight hits with runners in scoring position, but only four of those hits drove in runs...
STREAKING SKINNER: OF Will Skinner went 1-for-4 with a solo home run on Sunday extending his current hitting streak to six games...He's batting .286 (6-for-21) during the streak with two home runs, two RBIs, and four runs scored...He's also hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games going back to July 2...Batting .294 (25-for-85) in that stretch with seven doubles, six home runs, 14 RBIs, and 20 runs scored...His homer on Sunday was his team-best 11th of the season, and just his second on the road or against a lefty...Leads the Carolina League in home runs since the beginning of July (6)...
CONSISTENCY: INF Emerson Landoni went 2-for-3 Sunday and is now 9-for-22 (.409) over his last seven games with just one RBI and two runs scored...He's batting .317 for the Hillcats since getting called back from Double-A at the All-Star break...Has seen his average dip below .300 just twice in 35 games...It happened initially 28 games in following a four-game, 0-for-13 slump...Other than that slide, he hasn't gone multiple games in a row without a hit...
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 birth date 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...Made five of his first six appearances in relief, but keeping a starting rotation, throwing every fifth day...Joined the rotation May 12...Hit the disabled list June 11 and returned July 19...He is 0-3 with a 10.32 ERA over three starts since coming off the DL...He is 0-2 with a 7.27 ERA in two appearances, one start, against the Hillcats, allowing eight runs, seven earned, over 8.2 innings...Has allowed 13 hits, walked three and struck out 12 Hillcats...
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- Salem Red Sox Game Notes - Salem Red Sox
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- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
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