Wichita Wingnuts Game Notes - July 8th, 2013

Published on July 8, 2013 under American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release


WINGNUTS RALLY PAST SOX IN NINTH: The Wichita Wingnuts beat the Amarillo Sox 6-5 at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium on Sunday afternoon in game two of a four-game series. Wichita scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to come away with the win. After Brent Clevlen and Abel Nieves started the inning with back-to-back singles, Cole Armstrong laid down a sacrifice bunt. David Amberson tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center field. Jared McDonald followed with a single up the middle to score Nieves with the winning run. Amarillo scored three two-out runs in the top of the eighth to go in front 5-4. Both Clevlen and Nieves finished with three hits. Josh Dew worked 1.1 scoreless relief innings to earn the win. Justin Klipp allowed one earned run over 7.1 IP in a no-decision for the Wingnuts.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE SOX: The Wingnuts are 20-11 all-time against the Amarillo Sox, including a 12-4 mark at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. The Sox are in their third season in the American Association. The Pensacola Pelicans moved operations to Amarillo following the 2010 season. The Amarillo Dillas were an independent team from 1994-2010, and won the final three championships in the United League. The Dillas also spent time in the Texas-Louisiana and Central Leagues. Bobby Brown enters his first season as manager of the Sox. Brown managed the North American League's Abilene Prairie Dogs in 2012 and was a .300 hitter during a 10-year playing career. Former Wingnuts' outfielder David Peralta-who hit .332 with 70 RBI as a rookie in 2012-opened the season with Amarillo and was recently signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks' organization. The Sox' pitching staff is led by Jason Johnson, who pitched 11 seasons in the Major Leagues from 1997-2008 and was a teammate of Wingnuts' manager Kevin Hooper with the Detroit Tigers in 2005.

SERIES MATCHUP: The Wingnuts are 31-18 and lead the Gary SouthShore RailCats by 1.5 games in the Central Division. The Wingnuts lost three of four to the Grand Prairie AirHogs on the road. The Sox are 29-19 and lead the Laredo Lemurs by 1.0 game in the South Division. Amarillo just split a four-game series with the Can-Am League's Newark Bears. The Wingnuts are second in the American Association in hitting (.301), second in pitching (3.33), and tied for third in fielding (.978). Amarillo is first in the league in batting (.302), eighth in pitching (4.63), and 12th in defense (.963). The Wingnuts swept a three-game series from the Sox at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in late-May. Entering this series, the Sox had won 25 of their previous 32 games. The Sox have had winning streaks of eight and seven games during that stretch and have dropped back-to-back games just twice since May 31st .

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: The Wingnuts go with right-hander Junior Guerra who is 4-1 with a 3.79 ERA in nine starts. Guerra took a loss last Wednesday at Grand Prairie, allowing three earned runs on eight hits in 5.2 IP. Guerra is 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA at home this season in four starts. Guerra is 9-2 all-time at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium with a 3.03 ERA (37 ER, 110.0 IP) in 16 starts. Guerra has allowed three or fewer earned runs in six of nine starts and has allowed more than four earned runs in just two of them. Guerra has pitched at least 6.0 innings in seven of nine starts and has pitched at least 5.0 innings in all of them. Tonight is Guerra's first appearance against Amarillo this season. In 2011, Guerra was 1-0 with a 5.33 ERA in three starts head-to-head against the Sox.

Guerra was 1-3 in five starts with a 5.46 ERA for the Leones de Yucatan in the Mexican League last year. Guerra allowed three or fewer earned runs in four of his five starts for the Leones. Guerra starred for the Wingnuts in 2011, posting a 9-3 record while finishing tied for ninth in the American Association in ERA (3.57) and seventh in strikeouts (103). Guerra was 8-1 with a 2.30 ERA over his final 12 regular season starts in 2011, and then allowed one earned run in 6.2 innings in Game One of the Division Series at Grand Prairie. On July 13th, 2011, Guerra worked the first 7.1 innings of a combined no-hitter over the Shreveport-Bossier Captains at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

As a pitcher, Guerra is 15-10 with a 3.94 ERA in 70 career games, 34 of them starts. Guerra is in his eighth year of professional baseball, and spent four years in the Atlanta Braves' farm system as a catcher. Guerra was signed by Atlanta as an international free agent in 2001.

The Sox have not announced their starting pitcher for tonight's game.

HINSON SETS FRANCHISE WINS RECORD: Ryan Hinson set a Wingnuts' franchise record with his 27th win on July 6th vs. Amarillo. Hinson threw the first complete game shutout of his career, allowing six hits and no walks with five strikeouts. Derek Blacksher (2009, 2011-12) held the previous record with 26 wins. Hinson surpassed Blacksher for the Wingnuts' career strikeouts record when he fanned five in a win vs. Gary SouthShore on June 19th .

KHOURY BREAKS TEAM STEALS RECORD: Wingnuts' shortstop Ryan Khoury set a franchise record with his 47th stolen base on July 6th vs. Amarillo. Josh Horn (2009-11) held the previous record with 46. Last year, Khoury established a Wingnuts' single-season record with 37 stolen bases, surpassing current manager Kevin Hooper's mark of 34 set in 2008.

'J-ROD' APPROACHING MILESTONES: Wingnuts' DH John Rodriguez is nearing several significant milestones. The former World Series champion (St. Louis, 2006) has 1,499 base hits during his 17-year professional career and is just one shy of 1,500. Rodriguez is also just one RBI shy of 900 for his career. Rodriguez trails Josh Horn (2009-11) by nine RBI for the Wingnuts' franchise record (125).

NIEVES STAYING HOT: Wingnuts' third baseman Abel Nieves leads the American Association in batting average (.387) and is 61 for 135 (.452) in his last 36 games with 31 runs scored, 12 doubles, and 17 walks. Nieves had a 19-game hitting streak from June 8th -26th (38 for 76, .500) which ranks tied for the second-longest in team history (Greg Porter 2009 and Jorge Delgado 2010). The team record is held by Josh Horn, who hit safely in 20 consecutive games from August 29th, 2009 through June 5th, 2010. Nieves finished second in the Frontier League in batting average last year, hitting .320 for the Joliet Slammers. On May 27th vs. Amarillo, Nieves picked up the 500th hit of his eight-year professional career. Nieves reached the Triple-A level three times with the Los Angeles Angels' organization.

KHOURY SETTING THE TABLE: Wingnuts' shortstop Ryan Khoury has reached base in 43 of 48 games this season with a hit, walk, or hit by pitch. Khoury reached base in 87 of 100 games in 2012, and was named the American Association's Defensive Player of the Year. Khoury also ranked in the top-four in the league in runs scored, walks, and stolen bases. On June 26th vs. Laredo, Khoury missed his first game since joining the Wingnuts last year. Including the postseason, Khoury had started 145 consecutive games both at shortstop and in the leadoff spot, and missed just five total innings in the field during that stretch. Prior to June 26th, the last time a Wingnuts' player other than Khoury started at shortstop was September 4th, 2011 when Josh Horn started in Game Four of the Division Series vs. Grand Prairie. Jimmy Mojica was the last Wingnuts' player to bat leadoff, which was also on September 4th, 2011.

ZIEGLER CLEANING THE TABLE: Wichita Wingnuts' first baseman CJ Ziegler ranks first in the American Association in both home runs (16) and RBI (52). Ziegler tied a Wingnuts' single-game record with seven RBI on June 24th vs. Laredo. Last season, Ziegler ranked tied for third in the American Association with 18 home runs in just 58 games played. Ziegler has helped his team reach the playoffs in each of his first five professional seasons.

ZIEGLER NEW HOME RUN LEADER: Wingnuts' first baseman CJ Ziegler hit a solo home run on June 14th vs. St. Paul in the opener of a double header. It was Ziegler's ninth home run of 2013, and his 27th in a Wingnuts' uniform over the last two years, setting a new franchise record. Ryan Patterson (2010-11) held the previous record with 26 home runs.

TOUGH LOSSES: Of the Wingnuts' 18 losses this season, 11 have been by one run, two by two runs, and three by three runs. Wichita has held a lead at some point in 11 of their 18 losses.

BACK-TO-BACK: John Rodriguez and CJ Ziegler hit back-to-back home runs on consecutive pitches in the bottom of the third inning in game one of a double header on Friday, June 14th vs. St. Paul. It was the first time the Wingnuts hit back-to-back home runs since July 26th, 2011 when Josh Horn and Brent Clevlen did it vs. Fargo-Moorhead. Ziegler and Clevlen homered on back-to-back pitches on Monday, June 24th vs. Laredo.

GRAND SLAM TIME: On Tuesday, June 11th at Winnipeg, Abel Nieves hit the Wingnuts' first grand slam home run since August 27th, 2011 when Juan Richardson hit a bases loaded 'big fly' in a 19-2 rout at El Paso. Wichita hit .309 as a team with the bases loaded last year, and was hitting .400 with the sacks full going into June 11th of this season, but had gone 126 consecutive games without a grand slam. CJ Ziegler hit the Wingnuts' second grand slam of the season on June 28th vs. Sioux City.

PITCHING STRONG: The Wingnuts rank second in the American Association with a 3.33 team ERA. The Wingnuts ranked first in ERA in 2009 and 2010 while finishing third in 2011.

SWINGING STRONG: The Wingnuts rank second in the American Association with a .301 team batting average. Over the last two seasons, the Wingnuts have finished first and second respectively in the league batting race.

GLOVE WORK: The Wingnuts are tied for third in the American Association with a .978 fielding percentage. Wichita has led the league in defense in three of their first five years of existence (2008, 2009, 2012), and finished second in 2011. The Wingnuts hold the American Association record for team fielding percentage at .980, which they accomplished in both 2009 and 2012.

HINSON NAMED PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Wingnuts' left-hander Ryan Hinson has been named the American Association's Pitcher of the Month for June. Hinson was 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA in six starts last month. Hinson allowed two or fewer earned runs in all six of his outings, and logged at least 7.0 IP in five of them. One June 19th vs. Gary SouthShore, Hinson struck out five batters to become the Wingnuts' all-time leader in that category. In his following start on June 24th vs. Laredo, Hinson pitched 6.0 shutout innings to tie Derek Blacksher (2009, 2011-12) for the most wins in franchise history (26). Hinson becomes the first pitcher in team history to earn Pitcher of the Month honors. CJ Ziegler (June 2012) and Greg Porter (June 2009) have won Batter of the Month since the Wingnuts started play in 2008.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Wingnuts are 172-100 (.632) all-time at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. It is the highest home winning percentage for any American Association team since the Wingnuts began play in 2008.

FRONT LINERS PROTECTING THE HOME FRONT: Third-year Wingnuts' starter Ryan Hinson has excelled when pitching at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. Including the postseason, Hinson is 18-7 with a 2.84 ERA (62 ER, 196.1 IP) over 29 starts and two relief appearances. Junior Guerra-who is in his second overall season with the Wingnuts-is 9-2 with a 3.03 ERA (37 ER, 110.0 IP) all-time at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in 16 starts.

ALL HE DOES IS WIN: Wingnuts' fifth-year manager Kevin Hooper is 253-188 (.574) since taking over in 2009. Hooper has guided the Wingnuts to four consecutive winning seasons, as well as three playoff berths. Hooper's .574 winning percentage is the highest among American Association managers over the last five years. His 253 wins also rank first during that stretch. Hooper was a member of a team that made the playoffs in eight different seasons over his 10-year playing career. Hooper was also a member of Wichita State University's College World Series team in 1996. The Shockers reached the NCAA tournament in all four of Hooper's collegiate seasons, and posted a composite .815 winning percentage.

ALUMNI REPORT: RHP Matt Nevarez (2011-12) has a 2.31 ERA for the Double-A Southern League's Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay) with 13 strikeouts in 11.2 IP. RHP James Hoyt (2012) was recently promoted to the Double-A Southern League's Mississippi Braves (Atlanta) and has a 2.16 ERA with nine strikeouts in 8.1 IP. Hoyt posted a 4.89 ERA with 72 strikeouts in just 49.2 IP earlier this year for the High-A Carolina League's Lynchburg Hillcats. LHP and Wingnuts' co-owner Nate Robertson (2012) has a 3.06 ERA in 35.1 IP for the Triple-A Pacific Coast League's Round Rock Express (Texas). RHP Jon Link was purchased by the Detroit Tigers in June 19th and is 2-1 with a 1.47 ERA in four starts for the Double-A Eastern League's Erie SeaWolves.

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