CarL1 Salem RidgeYaks

Salem Red Sox Game Notes

Published on May 15, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Salem RidgeYaks News Release


After a slim 2-1 win on Tuesday, the Red Sox look to make it two straight in Zebulon against the Mudcats.

First pitch at 7:15.

Squashing the Skid: Salem tasted victory for the first time in a week on Tuesday night, snapping their six-game losing streak with a 2-1 win. With Myrtle Beach's loss, the Sox inched back to within seven games of first place. One week ago, the Sox were only two games back (and just one in the loss column), but the Pelicans six-game winning streak combined with Salem's skid created some significant separation at the midway point of the first half pennant race. The Red Sox also handed Carolina their fifth straight setback overall, and the Mudcats have dropped their last eight home games heading into Wednesday's action.

An Old School Pitcher's Duel: For the second time in less than a week, Salem's Mike Augliera and Carolina's Cody Anderson went head-to-head and both pitched brilliantly. Last Thursday, the Mudcats garnered a 2-1 victory in the opener of a doubleheader at LewisGale Field, while the Red Sox retaliated with a 2-1 win of their own behind Augliera on Tuesday evening at Five County Stadium. Augliera improved to 4-0 and has now allowed just seven earned runs over 29.1 innings in his last five starts, an ERA of 2.15 in this time with 22 strikeouts and six walks. Among all minor league pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched, Augliera is just one of seven who has not allowed a single home run. At the Advanced-A level, there's only one other pitcher (Fort Myers' Matthew Summers) who has pitched 40 innings without surrendering a long-ball.

Blake's Boost: Since starting the year 2-for-18 in his first five games, Salem catcher Blake Swihart has been one of the most consistent hitters in the entire league. In his last 23 games, Swihart has gone 24-for-77 (.312) with four doubles and four triples. In fact, since April 13, his .312 clip is fourth-best in the league behind Garin Cecchini, Jorge Bonifacio, and Zane Chavez. Defensively, Swihart has also been one of the best backstops in the circuit. On the season, he's thrown out 11-of-30 baserunners, a 36.7% caught-stealing clip which is second in the league only to Potomac's Adrian Nieto.

Williams' Woes: William Cuevas has been two different pitchers this year. In his four starts in which he has not given up any long-balls, he's 1-2 with 2.25 ERA, surrendering just five earned runs in 20 innings. In his two other starts, however, he has surrendered four home runs, all multi-run shots that produced 12 total runs! Overall, he is 0-2 with a 22.2 ERA in those starts, yielding 14 earned runs in just 5.2 innings. While Cuevas has struggled at times, he has received basically zero run support all season (two runs/game).

Checking Cecchini: The league's leading hitter endured a rare hitless night on Tuesday, finishing 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch last night. He left the game in the sixth inning after rolling his ankle on the lip of the grass in pursuit of a foul pop up. Despite the quiet night, he still leads the league in numerous offensive categories, including hitting (.366), on-base percentage (.462), slugging percentage (.659), doubles (13), and extra-base hits (22). He has reached base in 22 of his last 23 games with a .400 average and a .520 on-base percentage since April 18.

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Carolina League Stories from May 15, 2013


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