CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash: Game Notes (May 22 at Salem)

May 22, 2016 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


The Dash earned their first shutout victory of 2016 on Saturday night against first-place Salem. Winston-Salem eyes its fifth win in seven tries at LewisGale Field at 4:05 p.m.

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WINSTON-SALEM DASH (16-27) at SALEM RED SOX (29-13)

RHP Matt Cooper (2-3, 4.20 ERA) vs. LHP Trey Ball (2-0, 1.96 ERA)

4:05 p.m. - LewisGale Field (Salem, Va.)

Game #44 (Road Game #23)

DASH BLANK FIRST-PLACE RED SOX

Three Winston-Salem pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout in the Dash's 6-0 win at Salem on Saturday night. Starter Brandon Brennan surrendered those two hits over four innings. He exited after just 45 pitches because of a 69-minute rain delay in the fifth frame. From there, Manny Martinez logged four perfect innings and whiffed four before Danny Dopico blanked the Red Sox in the ninth to complete the win. Ryan Leonards provided the biggest offensive jolt with a two-run homer in the sixth. Overall, eight Dash hitters logged a knock and five collected an RBI.

PITCHING PROWESS

For the first time in 2016, Winston-Salem earned a shutout victory on Saturday night. It was the club's first such triumph since edging Frederick 1-0 on September 6, 2015, the penultimate game of the regular season. The triumvirate of Brennan, Martinez and Dopico limited the Red Sox to the lowest single-game hit total for a Dash foe since James Dykstra's seven-inning no-hitter on April 15, 2015, at Potomac. Also, Martinez recorded the longest relief outing by a Dash pitcher this season.

SUCCESS IN SALEM

With Saturday's victory, Winston improved to 4-2 in Salem this season. The Dash's four wins at LewisGale Field have come by a combined 19 runs. In fact, three of the four most lopsided Winston-Salem wins have come in Salem:

1. 14-6 (F/13) at Lynchburg on April 7

2. 6-0 at Salem on May 21

T-3. 7-2 at Salem on April 21

T-3. 13-8 at Salem on April 22

EIGHT BALL SAYS NO

Keon Barnum was the only Dash hitter who did not register a base hit in the six-run win. As a result, his eight-game hitting streak came to an end. The Florida native went 10-for-30 (.333) over his previous eight games, including back-to-back two-hit showings. The club's longest hit streak remains nine (Nick Basto, April 21-30).

MASHING MONTILLA

Infielder Gerson Montilla logged his Carolina League-leading fifth sacrifice fly in Saturday's fifth inning to push his 2016 RBI total to 33. This places him third on the circuit in RBIs, trailing Lynchburg's Bobby Bradley (40) and Myrtle Beach's Yasiel Balaguert (34). Since last Friday (May 13), Montilla has amassed 15 RBIs, which are second-most in the Minor Leagues during that span. He trails only T.J. Rivera (16) of Triple-A Las Vegas (New York Mets).

MR. STRIKEOUT

Sunday starter Matt Cooper has been one of the most prolific strikeout pitchers in the Minors thus far this season. Cooper is tied for sixth among Minor League hurlers with 55 strikeouts. When his most recent start ended on Monday, the former Hawaii star was tied for first in this category. Within the Carolina League, Cooper enjoys an eight-strikeout advantage on second-place Josh Staumont of Wilmington (47). Only three CL hurlers have more than 41 punchouts on the year. Cooper has posted at least five strikeouts in all eight starts this year, and he is averaging 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

LONG BALL FOR LEONARDS

Playing in just his 12th game of the 2016 season (10 in Winston-Salem and two in Double-A Birmingham), Leonards clubbed his first home run of the season in Saturday's sixth inning. This marked Leonards' fifth professional homer and his first since August 9, 2015, while with Low-A Kannapolis. The Dash improved to 9-9 in games during which they hit a home run.

DASH DOTS

Both Adam Engel and Hunter Jones registered multi-hit efforts on Saturday, with one hit for each being a triple...It marked the Dash's first game with two triples since June 21, 2015, also against Salem...Cleuluis Rondon also posted a two-hit game for a second straight contest, the first time he accomplished this feat at the High-A level since August 12 and 13 of 2014.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics



Carolina League Stories from May 22, 2016


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