CarL1 Down East Wood Ducks

May 19 Game Information

Published on May 19, 2019 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Down East Wood Ducks News Release


Today Down East (29-14) will look to salvage the finale against Winston-Salem (21-20) at 1 p.m. when they send lefty Sal Mendez (1-0, 3.00) to the hill to face off with Dash lefty Konnor Pilkington (0-1, 13.50). It's Sunday Funday presented by Cricket Wireless, featuring pregame autographs and postgame kids run the bases at Grainger Stadium. The broadcast will begin at 12:50 p.m. on 960AM The Bull, and online at 960thebull.com and on the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Radio Apps. For tickets and more information visit woodducksbaseball.com or call (252) 686-5172. Complete game notes are attached.

LAST TIME OUT: The Wood Ducks committed a pair of costly errors, leading to two unearned runs, while stranding nine men on base despite out-hitting the Dash 10-4. John King struck out eight in seven innings, allowing just an unearned run, but JJ Muno came through with a two-run double in the eighth off of Alex Eubanks to push the Dash to victory. Yonny Hernandez drove in the lone run for the Woodies as part of a three-hit game, while Yohel Pozo also added three hits, in the 3-1 loss.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: Saturday was the first time this season that the Woodies lost a game when a starter went seven innings. The Wood Ducks have now matched a season-low 3-game losing streak. Down East has faced the minimum through three innings in three consecutive games but has lost all three.

DUCKS SLIDING: The Wood Ducks have lost three consecutive games, and have scored just three combined runs over that stretch. They average 4.5 runs a game, and have scored the second most runs in the Carolina League this season. In the last two games against the Dash, the Woodies have stranded 16 of their 20 runners on base.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Wood Ducks 18 road wins this season are the most in all of minor league baseball. They are 18-3 on the road, but just 11-11 at Grainger Stadium. At home the Woodies are batting .234, with an OPS of .640, and an ERA of 3.23, and scoring an average of 3.9 runs-per-game. On the road the Woodies boast an average of .261 to go along with an OPS of .726, and an ERA of 2.40, while scoring 5.2 runs-per-game. By comparison, the Woodies won 12 road games in the entire first half last season, and just 11 in the second half. The Woodies now have more road wins than Salem (16), Potomac (16), and Myrtle Beach (15) have total wins.

KING OF THE HILL: Wood Ducks lefty John King has been sensational through two starts this season. He allowed one earned run in six innings his first time out against the Dash on May 12, and then on May 18, fired seven innings on 71 pitches, allowing just one unearned run on two hits, while striking out eight, one shy of his career-high. Despite King's two quality starts, the Wood Ducks have scored a combined three runs in those games, and as a result he has endured a pair of no-decisions.

POZO PROVIDES THE PUNCH: Woodies catcher Yohel Pozo has heated up at the plate as of late. He is riding a 10-game on-base streak on which he has gone 16-36 (.444) with two home runs and 7 RBI. Over that stretch he has raised his average from .222 to .298, with hits in nine of the ten games.

HUFF IS HERE!: Sam Huff was promoted to Down East from Hickory May 9, and hit his first Carolina League home run Friday against the Dash. Huff also doubled four times in his first seven games played at the Adv.-A level. The 21-year-old catcher posted an OPS of 1.165 in Single-A, and led all of minor league baseball with 15 home runs at the time of his pro-motion. The Phoenix native is the 21st ranked prospect in the Rangers organization.

STRIKEOUT MACHINES: Joe Barlow has racked up the strikeouts this season for the Wood Ducks out of the bullpen. He has recorded 33 strikeouts in 18 innings, and has struck out multiple hitters in 11 of his 13 outings. Demarcus Evans has also been on a strikeout frenzy, fanning 30 in 17.2 innings this season. He has multiple strikeouts in 11 of his 14 ap-pearances, including a season-high six against Potomac on Wednesday.

DOUBLE THE FUN: Emmanuel Clase, Peter Fairbanks, and Tyler Phillips have all gotten the promotion to Double-A Frisco so far this season. Phillips allowed three runs in five innings, picking up two strikeouts in his first start on Tuesday. Fairbanks, in three games, has struck out eight in four innings, and has yet to allow a base runner. Clase has consistently hit 101 on the radar gun, but has allowed 10 ER in 9.2 IP so far with the Riders.

AMAZING APRIL: The Woodies 18-8 record in April is their best winning percentage (.692) of any month in team history, while the 18 victories equals the best month all-time (May 2018), when the Woodies went 18-11 (.621). The 10 games above .500 is also most in team history (previous high, +8, May 27, 2018).

RAGS AT THE HELM: Corey Ragsdale takes over as skipper for the Wood Ducks in 2019. Ragsdale will remain the Rangers Minor League Field Coordinator, while assuming a managerial seat for the first time since 2015, when he led the Hickory Crawdads to a South Atlantic League Championship, the second of his career.

SHOWTIME: Former Wood Duck Brett Martin made his MLB debut for the Rangers April 19, firing a scoreless ninth inning in a 7-2 loss to the Astros. Martin needed just nine pitches to get through the inning, recording three ground ball outs. The left-handed reliever becomes the fourth Wood Duck in franchise history to make their Major League de-but, joining Ricardo Rodriguez, Jeffrey Springs, and C.D. Pelham. Martin pitched for the Woodies in their inaugural season in 2017, helping Down East to a share of the Carolina League Championship.

TOP-30 in Kinston: The Woodies now have eight Top-30 prospects as ranked by MLB Pipeline: 2. J.P. Martinez, 4. Anderson Tejeda, 5. Bubba Thompson, 6. Leody Taveras, 19. Diosbel Arias, 20. A.J. Alexy, 21. Sam Huff and 24. Demarcus Evans.

Check out the Down East Wood Ducks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 19, 2019


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