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CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

May 16, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (17-19) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (22-14)

Monday, May 16, 2011, 7:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 37 ⌂ Home Game No. 19 | 2011 Home Record 9-9 | 2011 Road Record 8-10

RHP Terry Doyle (0-4, 4.17) vs. RHP Joe Wieland (3-2, 1.66)

Extra Special: Yesterday's ballgame nearly got away from the Dash, but Winston-Salem persevered in the series finale with the Red Sox to win 6-5 in ten innings and sweep the three-game series. The Dash had a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Salem scored four times against Ryan Kussmaul and Taylor Thompson to level the contest and send it to extra innings for the second straight day. In the tenth, pinch-hitter Jake Oester drove in the go-ahead run with a single to center field to put the Dash on top for good. Thompson pitched a perfect bottom of the tenth to send Winston-Salem to its eighth victory in the team's last nine games.

Historic Salem Success: The Dash's sweep in Salem was a rarity for the team. It was Winston's first sweep of the season and it marked the first time this year the Red Sox had been swept. Winston-Salem's last series win at Salem was August 18 - 20, 2008 and the team's last sweep there was June 29 - July 1, 2006. During both of those series, Winston-Salem still went by the Warthogs; Salem's nickname was the Avalanche and the team was affiliated with the Houston Astros.

Colombian Exchange: Luis Sierra's tough start to the season is now a fading memory, as the Colombian catcher has been red-hot over the last two weeks. He went 4 for 8 with a home run, a double, and four runs scored in the Salem series. Sierra started the season just 2 for 27 (.074) at the plate, but appears to have rediscovered the form that led him to post a career-best year in 2010. Since the slow start, Sierra is hitting .364 (12 for 33) with two doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBI, and eight runs scored. For the month of May, he leads the Dash in batting average, on-base percentage (.417), and OPS (.992).

This is SeraFUN: Joe Serafin had his second straight quality start yesterday and in the process had his best outing of the season. The soft-tossing lefty allowed just three hits over six shutout innings against the second-best offense in the Carolina League. Serafin has pitched well this season, allowing three runs or fewer in all but one of his seven starts. His start against the Red Sox yesterday continued a strong stretch for Winston-Salem's starting pitchers. The Dash have quality starts from their starters in five of the last six games and the rotation has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 13 of the last 16 games, posting a 3.13 ERA (32 ER, 92 IP) in that stretch.

Gac Attack: Ian Gac hit a laser-beam of a home run Friday night in the fifth inning to extend the Dash's lead to 5-0. Gac leads the Carolina League with 11 home runs on pace to hit 43 dingers this season. He is second in the CL with 25 RBI, is first in games played (36), tied for fourth in at bats (134), first in slugging percentage (.612), tied for first in extra-base hits (21), first in runs (30), first in total bases (82), and second in best home runs per at bats ratio (1/12.18).

Ciolli No Evil: Nick Ciolli has been heating up as the month of May progresses. He was 1 for 5 yesterday with a run scored and in his last six games, Ciolli is 8 for 20 (.400) with a home run, a double, two triples, and seven RBI, raising his batting average from .204 to .257 in the process. Eight of his 19 hits this season have gone for extra bases, and his .459 slugging percentage is second on the Dash (behind only Ian Gac). In ten games with Winston-Salem near the end of last season, Ciolli hit .375 with seven of his 15 hits going for extra bases.

Keeping ‚¬Ëœem Close: The Dash have played mostly close games this season. Twenty-nine of the team's 36 games have been decided by three runs or fewer and the team has had a lead in 29 games this season. Winston has played 14 one-run games and 11 two-run games. The Dash are 7-7 in one-run games and 6-5 in two run contests. At this rate, the Dash would play 97 one - or two-run games over the course of the season.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Joe Wieland (3-2, 1.66) makes his eighth appearance and seventh start of the season tonight against the Dash. He got a no-decision against Winston-Salem on April 18, allowing one run on seven hits in six innings while striking out seven. After allowing a season-high five runs on April 29 against Frederick, he has not allowed a run in consecutive starts; he has thrown 15 straight scoreless innings. Wieland, the 22nd-best prospect in the Texas system according to Baseball America, split 2010 between the Rangers' Single-A teams, making 15 starts at low-A Hickory and 11 with Advanced-A Bakersfield. After compiling a 7-4 record and 3.34 ERA with the Crawdads, he was promoted to the Blaze, where he went 4-3 with a 5.19 ERA and stuck out 62 in 59 innings while walking just ten. He spent all of 2009 in Hickory, going 4-6 with a 5.31 ERA in 19 games (18 starts). Wieland was drafted in the fourth round out of high school in 2008 and impressed in his rookie debut, going 5-1 with a 1.44 ERA with the Arizona Rangers. The Reno, Nevada native attended Bishop Manogue High School, the same school current Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen attended. He throws his fastball 88-92 with good sinking movement, a hard curveball, and a changeup. Baseball America says, although he does not possess overpowering stuff, he should make it to the big leagues as a middle- or back-of-the-rotation starter.

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