CarL1 Down East Wood Ducks

May 27 Game Information

Published on May 27, 2019 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Down East Wood Ducks News Release


Today the Wood Ducks (34-17) go for the series win against the Mudcats (29-21), as they send right-hander Reid Anderson (2-1, 3.48) to the mound to face off with fellow righty Dylan File (4-4, 3.73). First pitch is set for 12 p.m., and the pregame show will hit the air at 11:50 a.m. on 960AM The Bull, and online at 960thebull.com as well as on the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Radio Apps.

LAST TIME OUT: The Wood Ducks got another strong start from Jake Latz, who earned his third straight win, in a 3-1 victory over Carolina. Latz recorded a season-high nine strikeouts, allowing just one run. Alex Eubanks followed with three scoreless innings in relief, and Joe Kuzia earned his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth. Yonny Hernadez had two of the Woodies four hits, including an RBI and a run scored. Yanio Perez' double was the lone extra base hit.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Wood Ducks are now a perfect 9-0 on Sundays this season. The Wood Ducks also now have the second most wins in all of Minor League Baseball, trailing only the Delmarva Shorebirds (SAL, 38-11).

THE LATZ EFFECT: After struggling to start with the Wood Ducks, Jake Latz has turned it around, giving up just two earned runs over his last 20 innings of work, and winning his last three starts. He has lowered his ERA from 10.38 to 2.86 over that stretch, and has struck out 27 while walking just 7 in his las four outings. The Woodies are 5-2 overall in his 7 starts.

MASHING MARTINEZ: JP Martinez homered in each of the first two games in the series, giving him three with the Woodies and four overall this season. Last year Martinez homered eight times in 60 games for Short-Season Spokane.

DOROW'S DINGERS: Ryan Dorow enjoyed his first career multi-homer game Monday, to go along with a career-best six RBI. He then hit a home run again on Tuesday, and hit another long ball in Wednesday's ballgame. Dorow is now tied for second in the league in home runs, while leading the Wood Ducks. The Woodies third baseman has now hit eight homers in 46 games this season, after hitting 12 home runs in 122 games in 2018.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Wood Ducks 20 road wins this season are second most in all of minor league baseball. They are 20-4 on the road, but just 14-13 at Grainger Stadium. At home the Woodies are batting .241, with an OPS of .681, and an ERA of 3.12, and scoring an average of 4.4 runs-per-game. On the road the Woodies boast an average of .253 to go along with an OPS of .714, and an ERA of 2.52, while scoring 5.3 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.

KING OF THE HILL: Wood Ducks lefty John King has been excellent through three starts this season. He allowed four earned runs through 18 innings, and has struck out 18, while walking just one. Against Carolina on Friday, King matched a career-high with nine strikeouts. Despite King's two quality starts, the Wood Ducks have scored a combined eight runs in three games, and as a result he has endured three no-decisions.

STRIKEOUT MACHINES: Joe Barlow has racked up the strikeouts this season for the Wood Ducks out of the bullpen. He has recorded 40 strikeouts in 22 innings, and has struck out multiple hitters in 13 of his 15 outings, including a season-high six strikeouts on Sunday. Demarcus Evans has also been on a strikeout frenzy, fanning 38 in 20.2 innings this season. He has multiple strikeouts in 13 of his 16 appearances, including a season-high six against Potomac last Wednesday, followed by five against Carolina Friday.

HOME RUN HAPPY: After starting the year slowly in the power depart-ment, the Wood Ducks have now hit nine home runs in their last seven games, including three games with multiple home runs. Down East now is tied for fourth in the Carolina League in home runs with 32.

MORE LIKE KAROLINA: The Wood Ducks struck out a season-high 18 against the Mudcats Friday, and now have fanned 82 Carolina hitters in seven games this season. The Mudcats lead the league in strikeouts with 558, after setting league records in strikeouts in each of the last two seasons.

HUFF KEEPS HITTING: Sam Huff has picked up right where he left off when he was promoted from Hickory on May 9. The slugger has blasted two home runs for the Wood Ducks to give him 17 long balls overall this season, which places him in the top five in all of minor league baseball. Huff also hit a walk-off single in a 1-0 win over the Dash on Sunday. He has six multi-hit games so far with the Woodies. 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 promotion. The Phoenix native is the 21st ranked prospect in the Rangers organization.

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 27, 2019


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