CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on May 1, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (8-14) @ WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (14-7)

Sunday, May 1, 2011, 1:35 p.m. | Daniel S. Frawley Stadium | Wilmington, DE

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

Game No. 23 ⌂ Road Game No. 12 | 2011 Home Record 4-7 | 2011 Road Record 4-7

RHP Andre Rienzo (0-0, 2.75) @ RHP Elisaul Pimentel (2-0, 7.53)

The First Noel: Blue Rocks starter Noel Arguelles earned his first win since joining the Royals organization more than 15 months ago as Wilmington beat the Dash 3-1 last night at Frawley Stadium. Winston-Salem got an unearned run against Arguelles in the second inning on Nick Ciolli's RBI triple, but Rey Navarro had a two-run triple in the third and the Rocks added another late run to win the game. Wilmington has won the series by taking the first two contests, sending the Dash to their fourth straight loss and fourth straight series defeat.

April Report: The Dash finished the month of April with a record of 8-14, tied for sixth in the Carolina League. The team's winning percentage of .364 was its lowest in a month since July of 2007 when Winston-Salem went 9-17 (.346). The Dash finished April seventh in batting average (.239) and sixth in ERA (4.40).

Tough-Luck Terry: Terry Doyle turned in his best performance of the season last night, scattering six hits and two runs over seven innings. It was Doyle's second quality start of the year but unfortunately, it ended in his third loss of the season. Despite allowing three earned runs or fewer in four of his five starts this year, the Dash are 0-5 when their opening day starter pitches in 2011.

Cold up North: The temperatures haven't been the only cold things in the first two games of the series in Wilmington - Winston-Salem's bats have yet to heat up against the Blue Rocks' terrific pitching. A night after being shut out for the first time this season, the Dash managed just one run on Saturday. Through the first two games of this series, the Dash have hit .169 (11-65) and struck out 22 times.

Iced Café: Jose Martinez' season-best seven-game hit streak ended last night, but Café is still among the league leaders in several offensive categories. He is third in batting (.382), first in hits (34), fourth in on-base percentage (.427), tied for fifth in doubles (8), tied for second in runs scored (20), fifth in total bases (47), and third in most plate appearances per strikeout (10.78).

Gacamole: Ian Gac successfully ran his streak to 12 games with his 1 for 4 effort last night. Gac is batting .364 (16 for 44) during the streak with five doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, and nine runs scored. He is tied for the CL lead with seven home runs this season. Five of Gac's home runs this season have either tied the game or given Winston-Salem the lead. The Seattle-native is fourth in the CL in RBI (19), fourth in slugging percentage (.634), and third in total bases (52).

Roller Oester: Since getting called up from low-A Kannapolis last Thursday, Jake Oester is batting .444 (8 for 18) with a double, an RBI, and one run scored. Going back to his final two games with the Intimidators, Oester has a seven-game hit streak and is batting .417 (10 for 24). Prior to this hit streak, he had been 0 for 13 on the season.

The Wilky Way: After a slow start to the season, Andy Wilkins has settled into his groove offensively. The former Arkansas Razorback hit just .154 with no extra-base hits or RBI in his first seven games. In his last 15 games, Wilkins is batting .288 (17 for 59) with four homers, ten RBI, and five doubles. He is currently riding a season-best eight-game hitting streak (.267, 8 for 30).

Close-Call Contests Continue: Last night's 3-1 loss featured another close game in a season that has been full of them for Winston-Salem. Eighteen of the team's 22 games have been decided by three runs or fewer and the team has had a lead in 17 games this season. Winston has played 11 one-run games; only two teams have played for one-run games than the Dash (the AA Mississippi Braves and Advanced-A Palm Beach Cardinals have played 12). The Dash are 4-7 in such contests. At this rate, the Dash would play 70 one-run games over the course of the season. Thursday's game was also the fourth in Winston's last ten games that the team has rallied to score late runs only to end up losing by one or two runs.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Elisaul Pimentel (2-0, 7.53) makes his fourth start of the season and his second against Winston-Salem. He got the win last time out against the Dash despite not being at his best, allowing five runs on six hits in six innings in a game Wilmington won 11-10. Pimentel entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the 29th-best prospect in the Royals farm system. He was picked up by Kansas City at the trading deadline last season in a trade that sent Scott Podsednik to the Dodgers in exchange for Pimentel and Triple-A catcher Lucas May. Coincidentally, Royals GM Dayton Moore made a deadline deal in 2009 that brought another Pimentel, Blue Rocks righty Julio Pimentel, to the organization. Elisaul Pimentel spent all of last year in the Midwest League, making 17 appearances (16 starts) for Great Lakes (LAD) and five starts for Burlington (KCR). He went 10-6 (fifth in the MWL in wins) with a 3.89 ERA and 118 strikeouts in 115.1 innings. Over a six-start stretch in 2010, he allowed just one earned run in 35 innings and earned MWL "Pitcher of the Week" honors. Prior to last season, Pimentel had spent his three previous seasons in rookie ball with the DSL/GCL Dodgers and Ogden. He signed with Los Angeles out of the Dominican Republic as an 18-year-old in 2006 . Pimentel will be defying the odds if he reaches the big leagues; of the 31 players with the surname "Pimentel" that have played in the minor leagues, none of them have reached the majors.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 1, 2011


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