CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on September 5, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (37-29, 80-56) @ SALEM RED SOX (29-36, 71-64)

Sunday, September 5, 2010, 2:05 p.m. ⌂ Salem Memorial Ballpark ⌂ Salem, VA

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

Games No. 137 & 138 ⌂ Road Games No. 68 & 69 ⌂ Home Record 47-22 ⌂ Road Record 33-34

Game One: RHP Nate Jones (11-5, 4.06) @ RHP Mark Holliman (3-0, 3.29)

Game Two : RHP Jake Rasner (1-1, 5.02) @ RHP Seth Garrison (1-1, 4.63)

One Up, One Down, Still More to Go: Yesterday the Dash and Red Sox completed their suspended game from August 18 and played another contest shortly afterward. Salem led 1-0 in the fourth inning when game one resumed and added another run to win 2-0. In the second game, Winston-Salem got out to a three-run lead and held on to win 3-1. The teams play a true doubleheader today (two seven-inning games) before finishing the regular season tomorrow.

Chance to Clinch: Although the team is already in the playoffs, the Dash can clinch the second half Southern Division championship with either a win or a Kinston loss today. The K-Tribe has already clinched a playoff spot an will be Winston-Salem's first round opponent when the postseason begins on Wednesday at BB&T Ballpark. Other than the bragging rights of sweeping both halves, if the Dash wins the second half, it will host game five (if necessary) of the first round series with the Indians.

Looking Fine with Nine: Although the Dash lost the first game yesterday, because the team won game two it technically still is riding a nine-game win streak. The loss was credited to having taken place on August 18, well before this winning streak started. The current streak ties for the longest Dash winning streak this season. Winston also won nine in a row from April 14-22. Winston-Salem is getting some of its best pitching of the season (see sixth 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 61-17. Winston is batting .329 (104 for 316) during the streak. The pitching staff owns a 1.84 ERA (17 ER, 83 IP) during the streak and has held opposing batters to a .197 (57 for 289) batting average.

Sauer Firepower: Stephen Sauer turned in another excellent start in yesterday's Winston-Salem win. The Las Vegas native threw six innings and gave up just one run on six hits while not issuing any walks. He ended a four-start winless streak by picking up his first victory since August 11. In he has had back-to-back quality starts to give him a team-best 14 on the season. In his last two games, Sauer has allowed four runs on 12 hits in 13 innings.

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.

Pitchers Powering Up: Winston-Salem's pitching staff is in the midst of its best stretch of the season. Sauer's quality start last night was the Dash's sixth in the last seven games. In the last ten games the combination of Dylan Axelrod, Hector Santiago, Nate Jones, Joe Serafin, Terry Doyle, and Sauer has given up 16 runs over a combined 70 innings, a 2.06 ERA. Since Sunday, August 22, the team's starters have posted a 2.44 ERA (22 ER, 81 IP) and the team as a whole has an ERA of 1.72 (18 ER, 94 IP) since Wednesday, August 25.

Coming out of his Shelton : Thanks to a pinch-hit triple in game two last night and the stats from the suspended game becoming official, Kyle Shelton's hitting streak jumped to 13 games yesterday. It is the longest current hitting streak in the Carolina League and the fifth longest for any Dash player this season. During the streak, which started on August 4, he is hitting a blistering .465 (20 for 43) with seven doubles, a triple, 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 .306 from .267 at the start of the streak. This is the highest his average has been since May 6.

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 .288 is the sixth-best of any team in full-season minor league baseball. The AAA Albuquerque Isotopes (.302), Advanced-A High Desert Mavericks (.296), AAA Las Vegas 51s (.295), AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (.291), and Advanced-A San Jose Giants (.288) are the only teams with higher averages. Winston's average is the best in the Carolina League by 22 points (Frederick is the closest with a .266 average). The Dash has five players in the top ten in the league in batting average: Brandon Short (2nd, .316), Jon Gilmore (3rd, .313), Ozzie Lewis (5th, .301), Seth Loman (8th, .287), and former shortstop Eduardo Escobar (9th, .285).

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from September 5, 2010


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