CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Stephens Shines in 4-3 Road Victory over Wilmington

Published on June 15, 2016 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WILMINGTON, Del. - Behind a stellar pitching performance from Dash starter Jordan Stephens, Winston-Salem edged Wilmington 4-3 on Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium.

Stephens (2-7) struck out a career-high nine hitters in six shutout innings, while allowing three hits and four walks. The right-hander's previous high was seven strikeouts, which he accomplished on April 20 against Myrtle Beach and May 24 against Frederick (both starts came at BB&T Ballpark). The former Rice Owl has now thrown a quality start in each of his last three outings.

With the win, the Dash (26-40) snap a five-game losing streak and finish 2-5 on their seven-game road trip. The Dash also improve to 4-3 against the Blue Rocks this season.

Winston-Salem struck quickly in the first inning off Wilmington starter Zach Lovvorn (0-7). After a Hunter Jones leadoff single, Mason Robbins smacked a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Gerson Montilla followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in Jones and give Winston-Salem a 1-0 edge. The Dash third baseman leads the Carolina League this season with nine sacrifice flies.

Winston-Salem scored an unearned run off Lovvorn in the fifth. Chris O'Dowd led off the frame by reaching on an error by Wilmington first baseman Robert Pehl. After advancing to second on a Louie Lechich groundout, O'Dowd moved to third on a single by Cleuluis Rondon. With runners on first and third and one out, Jones grounded into an RBI fielder's choice to put the Dash up 2-0.

Lovvorn went seven innings, allowing eight hits and two runs (one earned).

The Dash added to their lead with two big insurance runs in the ninth off Kyle Kubat. With bases loaded and one out, Lechich bounced into an RBI fielder's choice. On the play, Blue Rocks second baseman Austin Bailey made a bad throw to first that allowed another run to score to put the Dash up four.

Up 4-0 in the ninth, Winston-Salem made things interesting. Wilmington (23-40) quickly loaded the bases with no outs against Dash righty Colin Kleven. The right-hander then issued an RBI walk to Cody Jones to make it 4-1. After an RBI groundout by Humberto Arteaga made it a 4-2 game, Kleven would depart after hitting Alfredo Escalera to re-load the bases.

Danny Dopico came in and immediately yielded a wild pitch to make it 4-3. With runners on second and third and one out, the right-hander buckled down though and induced a Wander Franco pop-out and an Elier Hernandez ground out to seal the 4-3 win. Dopico is now 2-for-2 in save opportunities and has now thrown five straight scoreless appearances.

Manny Martinez relieved Stephens and threw two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The Dash righty now has a 1.08 ERA on the road this season.

Winston-Salem closes out their first-half slate with a four-game set against the Salem Red Sox at BB&T Ballpark, starting on Thursday, June 16, at 7 p.m. The Dash send right-hander Spencer Adams (6-4, 3.95 ERA) to the rubber against Salem left-hander Jalen Beeks (4-3, 3.02 ERA). Thursday's game will be broadcast live on 600AM-WSJS as is the case with every Thursday game throughout the season. The game is also available on wsjs.com, as well as wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn App. The Pregame Dash will begin at 6:45 p.m., with the first pitch at 7:00 p.m.

The Dash's series opener is another Throwback Thursday, presented by Parr Investments, that will feature commemorative Warthogs jerseys. For tickets, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from June 15, 2016


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