CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on August 27, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (29-28, 72-55) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (29-31, 55-75)

Friday, August 27, 2010, 7:00 p.m. ⌂ BB&T Ballpark ⌂ Winston-Salem, NC

Webcast available on www.wsdash.com 15 minutes before first pitch

Game No. 129 ⌂ Road Game No. 67 ⌂ Home Record 40-21 ⌂ Road Record 32-34

LHP Joe Serafin (1-4, 7.19) vs. LHP Matt Crim (7-9, 4.96)

Finishing Strong: Winston-Salem closed its penultimate road trip of the regular season with a 7-1 win over the Hillcats last night in Virginia. Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the sixth inning, Luis Sierra tied the game with a solo home run that seemed to spark the Dash offense. Winston took the lead with another run later in the inning, scored three more on Seth Loman's home run in the seventh, and added single runs in each of the last two innings to run away from Lynchburg. The Dash pounded out 14 hits while holding the Hillcats to three, tying Winston's season best for fewest hits allowed. The two teams split their four-game series and the Dash finished the road trip with a 4-3 record. It was the first time Winston had a winning record on a multi-series road trip since mid-May, when the Dash went 6-1 against Potomac and Lynchburg.

Birds of Prey: Tonight the Dash starts its final home stand of the regular season with a three-game series against Myrtle Beach. The Pelicans are only one-half game out of a playoff spot in a very crowded Southern Division pennant race. Despite owning the worst overall record in the Carolina League, Myrtle has played Winston very tough this season. The Pelicans are one of only two teams (Salem being the other) that owns a winning record against the Dash this season. Myrtle Beach is 9-8 against Winston and has won nine of the last 12 meetings between the teams.

Nathan's Famous: Nate Jones arguably had the best performance of his professional career last night against the Hillcats. The hard-throwing right-hander went a career-long 7.1 innings and gave up one run on a season-low three hits. At one point he retired 13 consecutive batters en route to collecting his team-best tenth win of the season. He dropped his season ERA to 4.26 last night, the lowest it has been since May 22.

Pitcher's Series: The Dash pitching staff is coming off one of its finest series of the season. Winston's hurlers posted a 2.17 ERA (7 ER, 29 IP) against the Hillcats, a number that would be even lower without Lynchburg's five-run third inning on Monday. Excluding that frame, Winston's ERA was 0.64 during the series. Between the Hillcats' big offensive inning on Monday and their run in the second inning last night, Dash starters threw 16 consecutive scoreless innings.

Loman the Showman: Seth Loman finished off a terrific road trip with a three-run home run last night. The All-Star first baseman hit .375 (9 for 24) during the road trip with a double, four home runs, nine RBI, seven runs scored, three walks, and he was hit by a pitch three timed. He has hit in ten of his last 11 games, batting .385 (15 for 39). Other than a .259 month of May, Loman has hit .295 or better in every month this season. He ranks 7th in the Carolina League batting average (.290), second in homers (23), second in RBI (83), fourth in hits (137), third in slugging percentage (.513), third in extra-base hits (56), first in runs (81), and third in total bases (242).

Kyle by Fire : Utility man Kyle Shelton continued his superb offensive stretch last night, going 3 for 4 with two doubles and a run scored. Shelton extended his hitting streak to a season-high seven games. During the streak, which started on August 4, he is hitting a blistering .519 (14 for 27) with six doubles, a home run, five RBI, and four runs scored. He raised his batting average to .300 from .267 at the start of the streak. Shelton's average had not been at .300 since May 14.

Heating Back Up?: While Jon Gilmore is not racking up multi-hit games the way he was earlier in the season (none in his last 11 games), there are signs he is beginning to shake off his month-long slump. Gilmore has collected one hit in each of his last three games. While modest, it is welcome for a player who is 5 for 35 since August 13. He is batting .175 (10 for 57) since August 7, but still leads the Carolina League with 162 hits and is second with a .316 batting average.

Hurts So Good: Seth Loman extended his own Carolina League record when he was hit by a pitch for the 29th time this season on Thursday. He was hit by three pitches on the road trip. On August 4, Loman was drilled for the 25th time, ending the 21-year "reign" of former Winston-Salem Spirit Rusty Crockett, who was hit 24 times in 1989. Loman leads all of minor league baseball in the category. Last year he was tied for third in the minors when he was hit 23 times between Winston-Salem and Kannapolis.

Slick Sticks: The Dash's season batting average of .287 is the sixth-best of any team in full-season minor league baseball. The AAA Albuquerque Isotopes (.299), Advanced-A High Desert Mavericks (.297), AAA Las Vegas 51s (.294), AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (.291), and Advanced-A San Jose Giants (.289) are the only teams with higher averages. Winston's average is the best in the Carolina League by 21 points (Frederick is the closest with a .266 average). The Dash has five players in the top ten in the league in batting average: Jon Gilmore (2nd, .316), Brandon Short (3rd, .316), Ozzie Lewis (5th, .301), Seth Loman (7th, .290), and former shortstop Eduardo Escobar (10th, .285).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Matt Crim (7-9, 4.96) makes his 22nd start of the season and his third against the Dash. He is 1-1 with a 6.55 ERA in two previous starts against Winston-Salem. Crim started the season pitching out of the bullpen before moving to the rotation at the start of May. After nearly throwing a complete game at Kinston on August 4 (8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R), he has posted a 6.28 ERA in his last three starts, all no-decisions. Crim's last loss came against the Dash on July 9, a span of eight straight outings without a defeat. A 21st round draft pick in 2009, Crim's professional career got off to a fantastic start. He went 10-2 with a 3.18 ERA for short-season Danville and was named the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year and AL All-Star. He threw a four-hit shutout (the first complete game in the AL all season) against Elizabethton to win the Appy League title for the D-Braves. His ten victories tied for the most in the Atlanta organization and his ERA was third among Braves minor league starters. He was the first AL pitcher to win ten games in a season since 1997 and had a chance to win 11 for the first time since 1976, but lost his last two starts. Crim played collegiately at The Citadel for four years. He had his best season as a senior, going 8-4 with a 4.10 ERA and two complete games. He finished his career with the Bulldogs second in career starts, second in innings pitched, and tied for third in wins. Prior to attending The Citadel, Crim attended Stratford HS in Goose Creek, SC, where he played on the same team as former Dash outfielder Justin Greene. They played with major leaguers Matt Wieters and Justin Smoak, winning the 2005 4-A State Championship. Crim went 17-1 on the mound in his high school career, posting a 2.35 ERA. He was named All-State and All-Region in 2005.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from August 27, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central