CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Noon Game Dash Notes

Published on July 27, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (16-15, 48-53) vs. KINSTON INDIANS (18-12, 56-43)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011, 12:00 noon | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

Webcast available on www.wsdash.com 15 minutes before first pitch

Game No. 103 | Home Game No. 54 | 2011 Home Record 27-25 | 2011 Road Record 21-28

RHP Jake Petricka (1-4, 5.48) vs. RHP Marty Popham (4-0, 3.32)

Speed Pitch: The Dash made quick work of the K-Tribe last night, blowing away the Indians with a 9-2 victory at BB&T Ballpark. Winston-Salem scored in every inning from the second to the sixth en route to a dominating, yet brisk victory. The Dash broke open a scoreless game with four runs in the second inning when Nick Ciolli hit an RBI single and Juan Silverio blasted a three-run home run. Winston added single runs in each of the next three innings before chipping in with two more in the sixth to support Cameron Bayne, who won his ninth decision of the season. The game took just two hours and 15 minutes to complete, making it the shortest nine-inning game the Dash have played since the first game of the second half on June 23.

Multi-Run Innings: Last night's game continued an encouraging habit for the Dash offense. Winston scored four times in the second inning, marking the fifth time on this home stand the team has scored three or more runs in one inning. The Dash had a three-run and four-run inning on Friday against Potomac, a five-run first against the Nats on Saturday, and a four-run third inning on Monday night.

Silver & Gold: The Dash were powered by a trio of home runs last night, including the first Carolina League homer by Juan Silverio. The Dominican's three-run shot in the second inning helped send Winston to a 4-0 lead. In eight games with the Dash, Silverio is hitting .387 with three doubles, two triples, a homer, nine RBI, and eight runs scored. Silverio's performance was nearly forgotten by the end of the night after Andy Wilkins went deep twice for a pair of home runs. He smashed a long solo shot to center field in the fifth inning and snuck a two-run home run around the left field pole in the sixth to finish the Dash's scoring for the night. The two-home run game was Wilkins' second of the season; he also accomplished the feat on June 24 at Frederick. The first baseman is tied for second place in the CL with 16 home runs and 64 RBI.

Tribal Warfare: Tonight marks game three of arguably the Dash's most important series of the second half, as Winston-Salem continues a four-game series with the Kinston Indians at BB&T Ballpark. After last night's win, the Dashers trail the K-Tribe by 2.5 games in the Southern Division and the Red Sox are 5.5 games back of first. Those three teams are competing with one another for the second half playoff berth and the team that finishes on top will play the first half champion Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the Southern Division Championship Series. Making this series even more important is that this series will be the final time that Winston and Kinston will meet this season. So far the Dash have a slight edge in the season series, winning ten of the 18 previous matchups. The teams met for a four-gamer last week at Grainger Stadium - the final visit to the venerable ballpark for Winston-Salem - and Kinston won three games, though the Dash could have won three of four if not for a pair of late Indians comebacks.

The Mitch That They Can't Scratch: Opponents have had a hard time consistently retiring Jared Mitchell on this home stand. He hit the ball hard three times last night and went 1 for 4 at the plate with a double, a walk, and two runs scored, moving his home stand average to .409 (9 for 22). He is tied for first in the Carolina League in triples (7) and is tied for third in doubles (25) this season.

They Come in Peace: The Dash have typically had the upper hand on Kinston in Winston-Salem, as the K-Tribe have lost 26 of 29 in Winston. In 2009, Kinston won the first game it played at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park, but lost its last nine. The Indians lost eight in a row at BB&T Ballpark before picking up their first win at the new yard on July 27 of last year. The 17-game losing streak in Winston-Salem spanned nearly 14 months; 11 of those Dash wins were by just one run. The K-Tribe has not won consecutive games in Winston-Salem since August 25-27 of 2008 and has not won a series in the Twin City since August of 2007, a span of 11 straight regular season series without a series victory.

More Indians Info: Kinston owns the second best record in the Carolina League thanks to a long hot stretch after a slow start to the 2011 season. After starting the season 14-22 through May 16, Kinston is 42-21. The Indians had the best record in May and June, and are third best in July at 12-10. Aaron Holbert's team has managed to excel despite owning the worst statistical offense in the CL. The Indians are batting .235 and have scored 376 runs, both the lowest totals in the league. They have been bolstered by strong pitching, as the K-Tribe has allowed the third fewest runs in the league and possess the league's third-best ERA. Kinston has also played terrific defense, tying for first in the CL in errors and fielding percentage.

Gacplosions In The Sky: Ian Gac is one Dash player happy to see the K-Tribe back in town. Gac hit three home runs in a two-game span against Kinston last week to bolster his outstanding numbers against the Indians this season. He is batting .277 against Kinston, but 13 of his 18 hits have gone for extra bases. He has five doubles and eight home runs against the Indians with 23 RBI and 14 runs scored. Gac has been hot lately for Winston-Salem; in the last 14 games, he is batting .375 (18 for 48) with three doubles, eight homers, 19 RBI, and ten runs scored. His Carolina League-leading 27 home runs are tied for the fourth most in MiLB this season. He has 11 more home runs that any other player in the CL and his 76 RBI are 12 more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (101), first in at bats (378), tied for third in hits (104), second in doubles (27), first in slugging percentage (.561), first in extra-base hits (54), first in runs scored (67), first in total bases (212), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/14.00). He is on pace to hit 37 home runs this season which would surpass his previous career-high of 32 in 2008. He has 154 career homers in nine professional seasons.

Kuss Kracked: A team finally scored an earned run off of Dash reliever Ryan Kussmaul, ending an impressive stretch for the right-hander. Kussmaul allowed an earned run in the eighth inning Saturday night, his first in his last 13 appearances. Prior to this streak ending last night, he had thrown 19 innings, allowed six hits, walked four, struck out 39, and held hitters to a .098 average (6 for 61). He lowered his season ERA more than two full runs since June 7 from 5.11 to 2.89 prior to the streak ending. Kussmaul still leads all Carolina League relievers in strikeouts per nine innings with 13.80, more than two better than Keys closer Sean Gleason (11.09). Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (69) despite only ranking sixth among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (45.0).

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Marty Popham (4-0, 3.32) makes his 16th appearance and tenth start of the season today against the Dash. He beat Winston-Salem on July 17, allowing just three hits over five shutout innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts to earn Carolina League "Pitcher of the Week." He also faced the Dash twice this season out of the bullpen, allowing four runs on six hits in three innings. Popham followed up his outstanding outing on July 17 with a season-worst effort his last time out, allowing six runs on nine hits in 2.2 innings in a no-decision. He started the season pitching out of the bullpen for the Indians before a promotion to AA Akron in May. He did not fare well in four appearances with the Aeros, allowing 11 runs on 23 hits in 13.2 innings. Popham also made one relief appearance with AAA Columbus in late-May, allowing one run on a homer in 1.2 innings. The righty spent most of 2010 with Kinston, going 4-4 with a 3.92 ERA in 17 games, 13 starts. The Dash hit him well in four games (two starts), as Popham posted an 0-2 record with a 7.56 ERA against Winston-Salem last year. Popham started that season with low-A Lake County and went 3-1 with a 3.71 ERA in eight games (four starts). After beginning 2009 in extended spring training, he went to short-season Mahoning Valley, where he went 6-1 with a 2.76 ERA and was named a New York-Penn League All-Star. He struck out 83 batters last year, good for second in the NYPL, and only walked ten in 75 innings. Popham was the Indians' 20th round selection in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Union College (KY). He is a native of Louisville, Kentucky and attended Butler Traditional High School, the alma mater of former Kinston pitcher Travis Foley and former Potomac shortstop Seth Bynum. Popham was a first-team NAIA All-American at Union in 2008, going 17-1 with a 2.27 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 123 innings as a junior. His 17 wins led the NAIA. Popham throws a low-90's fastball, a slider, and a changeup. His fastball is his best pitch, but he has showed tremendous improvement in his secondary pitches as his career progresses.

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Carolina League Stories from July 27, 2011


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