Pelicans Make Way To Wichita

Published on July 27, 2009 under American Association (AA)
Pensacola Pelicans News Release


SITE: Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita, KS (July 27-29, 2009)

TIME: 7:05 p.m. Central Time on Monday and Tuesday, 12:05 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday.

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The Wingnuts are the best hitting team in the league, with a collective .292 average. The Pelicans are second-best by two percentage points (.290). Wichita will be a formidable opponent for Pensacola, as the Wingnuts also lead the league in team pitching, posting a 3.62 ERA. With numbers like those, it's no wonder that Wichita won the first half of the season in the North Division.

The Pelicans are currently on a seven-game winning streak after sweeping the St. Paul Saints and Sioux City Explorers. The hot streak has raised the team record to 11-5, well enough for second place, a game and a half behind the Captains in first. In the most recent series against Sioux City, Francisco Leandro went 7-13 with an on-base percentage of .700 after walking seven times. Lou Palmisano hit his first home run of the season against his former team and finished the series with five RBI. Chase Burch drove in eight and batted .474 against the X's with a double. Hunter Davis was 2-2 in save opportunities and Dane DeValk pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, his first since 2006.

Wichita is coming off a series win against Sioux Falls at home. After dropping the first game in extras, the Wingnuts rallied back to take the next two, posting scores of 7-0 and 10-9 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Despite the wins, Wichita is below .500 in the second half, showing a record of 7-10. Yet the Wingnuts are buoyed by a weak North Division and are only a game out of first place.

WHO TO WATCH:

Pensacola: Chase Burch -DH- The All-Star slugger finished second in the Home Run Derby on June 21. Currently third in the league with a .357 average, Burch has eight home runs and 44 RBI.

Francisco Leandro -CF- Francisco hit .538 in the four-game Sioux City series and has been hitting .459 in the last ten games. The centerfielder also has been using his speed to make some nice catches.

Wichita: Adam Cowart -RHP- With the departure of Pensacola's Kyle Middleton to Midland (double-A, Athletics), Adam Cowart now holds the best ERA in the league at 2.66. The righty has thrown as many complete games (3) as anyone in the league and boasts a 5-3 record with one shutout.

Greg Porter -OF- Porter leads the league in batting average (.368) and slugging (.576). The slugger is also fourth in the American Association with 11 home runs, and has driven in 45.

DAY PENSACOLA PELICANS WICHITA WINGNUTS

Monday, July 27 Aaron Jackson RHP (1-3, 5.09 ERA) Adam Cowart RHP (5-3, 2.66 ERA)

Tuesday, July 28 Randy Beam LHP (6-5, 4.79 ERA) Will Savage RHP (4-5, 3.14 ERA)

Wednesday, July 29 Jason Navarro LHP (1-0, 4.26 ERA) Derek Blacksher RHP (6-2, 3.66 ERA)

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American Association Stories from July 27, 2009


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