CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on September 4, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (36-28, 79-55) @ SALEM RED SOX (28-35, 70-63)

Saturday, September 4, 2010, 5:05 p.m. ⌂ Salem Memorial Ballpark ⌂ Salem, VA

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

Game No. 136 ⌂ Road Game No. 67 ⌂ Home Record 47-21 ⌂ Road Record 32-34

Suspended Game: TBA vs. RHP Zach Hammes (2-3, 5.09)

Game Two: RHP Stephen Sauer (7-10, 5.03) @ RHP Caleb Clay (4-12, 4.54)

Feeling Perfect at Home: The Dash closed out their final regular season home stand in style last night, topping the Hillcats 6-4. Winston went a perfect 7-0 on its home stand, sweeping both Myrtle Beach and Lynchburg. It was the first time this season the team has won all of its games in a multiple-series home stand. The Dash took the lead for good on a fourth-inning home run from Drew Garcia, part of a four-run inning that led to the win. The bullpen did not allow a man to reach scoring position over the final three innings to help cement the victory. Winston outscored the Hillcats 33-6 in the four-game series and won the season series 16-4.

Finishing what we've started: The Dash begins a unique series tonight in Salem. Because of inclement weather last month during a four-game series at BB&T Ballpark, the two teams will play four-and-a-half games in three days. The first game tonight is a continuation of a suspended game on August 18. The Red Sox will lead 1-0 with two outs in the top of the fourth inning when play resumes. When that game is completed, the teams will play a seven-inning game later in the evening. The Dash and Red Sox will play a doubleheader on Sunday before finishing the season with a lone noon game on Monday.

The Great Eight: Winston's winning streak hit eight games with last night's win, the second longest of the season for the Dash. The only streak that was longer was the team's nine-gamer that took place from April 14-22. Winston-Salem is getting some of its best pitching of the season (see seventh game note) while the offense has returned to its early season form. During the streak, which started on Thursday, August 26 in Lynchburg, the Dash has outscored its opponents 58-14. Winston is batting .333 (97 for 291) during the streak. The pitching staff owns a 1.89 ERA (16 ER, 76 IP) during the streak and has held opposing batters to a .193 (51 for 264) batting average.

Playoff Opponent Determined: The Dash learned the identity of its first round playoff opponent when Salem lost to Potomac last night. Winston-Salem will play the Kinston Indians for the Southern Division title beginning Wednesday at 7 p.m. at BB&T Ballpark. The Dash will host the first two games, with the K-Tribe hosting the next two. If a game five is necessary, it will go to the team that finishes in first place at the end of the regular season. Winston currently owns a two-game advantage over Kinston in the Southern Division. The Dash's magic number to clinch the second half title and a Southern Division sweep is three. Any combination of three Winston wins and Indians losses will ensure the potential game five will be played in the Twin City.

Honorable Mentions: The Carolina League's award winners and Year-End All-Star Team were announced Thursday and the Dash was well represented. Joe McEwing won "Manager of the Year" for the second straight season. He becomes the second manager to win the award in consecutive years. Burlington's Buddy Bates won the award in 1947 & 1948. He joins Bill Slack as the only Winston-Salem managers to win the award multiple times. The Dash also placed a league-best four players on the All-Star Team: shortstop Eduardo Escobar, outfielders Justin Greene and Brandon Short, and utility infielder Jon Gilmore.

Streaking Swingers: Three Dash players currently have hit streaks of seven games or longer. Kyle Shelton (11) leads the bunch (see seventh note), while Jose Martinez' season-best ten-game streak ended last night. Jason Bour owns an eight-game hit streak (.300, 9 for 30) and Nick Ciolli has hit in his last seven games (.467, 14 for 30) going back to his final game with Kannapolis. Ciolli has been a monster offensively since joining the Dash last weekend. He is batting .462 with a home run, five RBI, five doubles, and eight runs scored in just six games. He has also been superb defensively, making two terrific catches and recording an outfield assist.

Pitchers Powering Up: Winston-Salem's pitching staff is in the midst of its best stretch of the season. Terry Doyle wasn't at his sharpest last night, but he did pick up the win, allowing four runs in five innings. Doyle's start snapped a string of five consecutive quality starts by Dash hurlers. In the last nine games, the combination of Dylan Axelrod, Hector Santiago, Nate Jones, Joe Serafin, Doyle, and Stephen Sauer has given up 15 runs over a combined 64 innings, a 2.11 ERA. Since Sunday, August 22, the team's starters have posted a 2.52 ERA (21 ER, 75 IP) and the team as a whole has an ERA of 1.76 (17 ER, 87 IP) since Wednesday, August 25.

Steady Sethy: Seth Loman has been a key cog in the Dash's late-season surge. He has hit in 16 of his last 18 games, batting .338 (23-68). He ranks 7th in the Carolina League batting average (.290), second in homers (24), second in RBI (85), fourth in hits (145), fourth in doubles (33), third in slugging percentage (.512), third in extra-base hits (60), first in runs (86), and second in total bases (256).

Coming out of his Shelton: Kyle Shelton continued his superb offensive stretch Thursday with a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Shelton extended his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games. During the streak, which started on August 4, he is hitting a blistering .450 (18 for 40) with seven doubles, two home runs, ten RBI, and six runs scored. He has more doubles during this streak than he had in his first 52 games this season. He raised his batting average to .301 from .267 at the start of the streak.

Hurts So Good: Seth Loman extended his own Carolina League record when he was hit by a pitch for the 30th time this season on Thursday. 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 .289 is the fifth best of any team in full-season minor league baseball. The AAA Albuquerque Isotopes (.303), Advanced-A High Desert Mavericks (.296), AAA Las Vegas 51s (.294), and AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (.291) are the only teams with higher averages. Winston's average is the best in the Carolina League by 23 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 (4th, .302), Seth Loman (7th, .290), and former shortstop Eduardo Escobar (10th, .285).

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Caleb Clay (4-12, 4.54) makes his 25th start of the year and his sixth against the Dash. He is 0-3 against Winston-Salem with a 6.75 ERA. The Dash has scored 21 runs (17 earned) on 29 hits in 22.2 innings against Clay this season, hitting .319 against him. He has lost his last three decisions and is winless since July 26. Clay was a first round sandwich pick (44th) in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Cullman (AL) HS, where he converted to a pitcher from the outfield. He was the 2006 5-A Alabama Player of the Year and committed to play at Auburn University before signing with the Red Sox for $775,000. Clay underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2007 and missed all but two starts in 2008. In 2009, he went 6-7 with a 4.01 ERA in 25 G (16 GS). He throws a fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup. His fastball sits in the low 90s with sinking action while the latter two pitches have been described as raw.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from September 4, 2010


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