CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes May 23, 2010

Published on May 23, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


Skinning the Cats Again: For the second straight night, the Dash pounded the Hillcats to pick up an 11-4 win. Winston slammed five home runs to batter Lynchburg pitching. Seth Loman hit a two-run shot in the first, Kyle Shelton and Justin Green had solo homers in the second, and Eduardo Escobar hit his first two home runs of the season in the fourth and fifth innings. That was enough to support Nate Jones, who pitched 5.1 innings and allowed three runs en route to his fourth win of the season. The Dash improved to 5-0 against the Hillcats this season and go for their second sweep of Lynchburg in the last seven days this afternoon.

Escobar En Fuego: Eduardo Escobar had a career game last night, going 4 for 5 with two home runs (his first of the season), a single, a triple, three RBI, and four RBI. He fell a double short of the cycle, becoming the second Dash player to barely miss the cycle in the last three games (Justin Greene was a triple short on Thursday). Escobar had hit just four home runs in 1,282 career at bats before he slugged two in back-to-back ABs against Daryl Harang. His four hits and four RBI tied previous career highs.

Homer Happy: Despite leading the league in home runs, the Dash had not hit more than two homers in any game this season before last night. The five long balls more than doubled the previous season-high, which had been accomplished seven times.

Best. Crowd. Ever.: Last night 7,122 people packed into BB&T Ballpark, the biggest crowd ever in the short history of the new yard. It topped the previous high of 7,111 on opening night (4/13). Winston-Salem leads the Carolina League in both total attendance (95,068) and average attendance (4,527).

Best Record Watch: With last night's win, the Dash remained tied with the low-A Lake County Captains for the best record in all of minor league baseball. Only the Tampa Bay Rays (31-12) have a better record among professional affiliated teams.

Bats Bounce Back: The Dash offense has erupted again after slumbering through the Myrtle Beach series. Winston has scored 24 runs in the first two games against the Hillcats after scoring just seven runs in the four-game set with the Pelicans.

Pitching Picking up: The Dash pitching staff is rounding into form after struggling at times earlier in the month. The starters have pitched into the sixth inning in each of the last eight ballgames and the team has posted a collective 1.94 ERA during the home stand. The team ERA stands at 3.62, second in the Carolina League this season.

Cats Can't Catch: In the five games Winston-Salem and Lynchburg have played this season, shaky Hillcats defense has been a constant. Lynchburg has committed ten errors against Winston, and 16 of the 43 runs the Dash has scored against the Hillcats have been unearned. Three of the Dash's runs last night were unearned against Daryl Harang.

Best Bats East of Roswell: The Dash's season batting average stands at .308, the second best mark in the majors or minors. Only the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes have a better average (.312). Winston's average is still the best in the Carolina League by 30 points (Lynchburg is the closest with a .278 average). Winston has four players in the top ten in the league in batting average: Brandon Short (2nd, .371), Justin Greene (4th, .340), Jon Gilmore (7th, .337), and Drew Garcia (8th, .323). The team's 278 runs are the most of any team, majors or minors.

Iron Man 2: Only three players in the Carolina League have played every game and two of them are on the Dash. Justin Greene and Brandon Short have been Winston-Salem's iron men, playing in all 43 games this season. Wilmington's Eric Hosmer has also played every game in 2010.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Brad Boxberger (3-3, 3.11) makes his ninth start of the season and his first against the Dash. He didn't allow more than one earned run in his first five starts, but has given up three earned runs in each of his last three. Boxberger was a supplemental first round draft pick taken by Cincinnati in last year's draft but signed too late to pitch last season. He entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the ninth-best prospect in the Reds system and the publication noted that his fastball was the best of Reds minor leaguers. Boxberger played collegiately at the University of Southern California, where he was named to the 2009 All-PAC 10 team. At Foothill HS (Tustin, CA), he was named 2006 CIF Division II Player of the Year and the Orange County Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. Boxberger's father Rod was the MVP of the 1978 USC national championship team that went 54-9.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 23, 2010


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