Sports stats



CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

May 23, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (19-24) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (15-26)

Monday, May 23, 2011, 6:05 p.m. | Lynchburg City Stadium | Lynchburg, VA

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

Game No. 44 | Road Game No. 19 | 2011 Home Record 11-14 | 2011 Road Record 8-10

RHP Andre Rienzo (1-1, 2.74) vs. RHP Arodys Vizcaino (2-2, 2.97)

Keep Holding On: The Dash nearly let one get away in yesterday's series finale with the Salem Red Sox, but held on for an 8-7 win at BB&T Ballpark. Winston jumped out to an 8-1 lead by the fifth inning, but the Red Sox scored two runs in the sixth, two in the seventh, two in the ninth, and had the tying run at third base before Ryan Kussmaul struck out Michael Almanzar to douse the Salem rally and return the Dash to the win column. The win salvaged the series for Winston-Salem and prevented a Salem sweep.

Hitting the Cycle: Tonight the Dash finish their first cycle through the Carolina League schedule by opening a three-game series at Lynchburg. Winston has now hosted and visited every other team in the eight-squad circuit. The Dash should be looking forward to visiting City Stadium. Lynchburg owns the worst record in the Carolina League at 15-26 and is far and away the least successful team in its own ballpark. The Hillcats are just 5-12 at home and are one of just two teams without double-digit home wins (the other being the Potomac Nationals, who have played only 11 home games this season). The Dash took three of four from the Hillcats at BB&T Ballpark two weeks ago, sparking a five-game winning streak and nine-game stretch that saw the team win eight of nine.

Home Stand Wrap-Up: Winston-Salem finished its seven-game home stand against the Pelicans and Red Sox with a 2-5 record. The Dash hit .211 as a team during the home stand and the pitching staff compiled an ERA of 4.50. Winston returns to BB&T Ballpark for another seven-game home stand on Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day) to start a four-game series with the Nationals.

Dash Smash: The Dash got plenty of production from the meat of the order in yesterday's win over the Red Sox. The 2-6 batters - Jose Martinez, Jared Mitchell, Ian Gac, Andy Wilkins, and Nick Ciolli - combined to go 9 for 20 yesterday with a home run, three doubles, eight RBI, and seven runs scored. Mitchell, playing in his first game since Wednesday, went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. It was his first multi-hit game since April 24 against Wilmington.

Safe at Home: The home team finally won a game in the season series between the Dash and the Red Sox yesterday. Prior to Winston's 8-7 win yesterday, the home team had been 0-5 when Winston-Salem and Salem played in 2011. The Dash won all three games at BB&T Ballpark last weekend before dropping their first two to the Red Sox this past weekend.

Four For Fighting: The Winston-Salem offense busted out of a tough offensive stretch with yesterday's eight run, 11 hit effort against the Red Sox. The Dash had been held scoreless with just five hits in 16 consecutive innings leading into yesterday's game. Despite the offensive woes during much of the home stand, Winston managed to produce four separate four-run innings. The Dash scored four times in the eighth inning of game one of Wednesday's doubleheader, four in the seventh inning of game two, four in the second inning on Friday, and four in the third yesterday.

Filling up at the Gac Station: Ian Gac's two home run game Wednesday was the first multi-homer game for any Dash player this season and the 11th of his career. His second home run gave him 140 career dingers in nine professional seasons. Gac leads the Carolina League in homers and is on pace to hit 42 this season. He appears well on his way to surpassing his previous career-high of 22, a number he reached while playing for Bakersfield in 2009. Gac is second in the CL in RBI (31), tied for first in games (43), tied for third in at bats (159), first in slugging percentage (.591), first in extra-base hits (24), first in runs scored (34), first in total bases (94), and first in best HR/AB ratio (1/12.23).

Quality's In: The Dash have had a terrific stretch of starting pitching as of late. The regular starters have combined to produce a quality start in eight consecutive games (discounting Santos Rodriguez' two spot starts). The Dash have quality starts from their starters in ten of the last 13 games and the rotation has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 19 of the last 23 contests, posting a 3.18 ERA (46 ER, 130 IP) in that stretch.

Alabama-bound: Yesterday LHP Hector Santiago was promoted to AA Birmingham, marking the end of the southpaw's three-season stay in Winston-Salem. Santiago was converted to a starting pitcher this season and was very good in that role for the Dash, going 2-3 with a 3.68 ERA in eight starts. He pitched a career-high eight innings on Monday night against Myrtle Beach and earlier this season struck out a career-high 11 batters against the Kinston Indians. Santiago had spent all of the last three seasons with the Dash, going 10-12 in 83 games (nine starts) with a 3.93 ERA (71 ER, 162.2 IP) and 170 strikeouts. The Newark, NJ native makes his first start for the Barons on Wednesday and he will be missed in Winston-Salem.

Keeping ‚¬Ëœem Close: The Dash have played mostly close games this season. Thirty-five of the team's 43 games have been decided by three runs or fewer and the team has had a lead in 33 games this season. Winston has played 16 one-run games and 13 two-run games. The Dash are 8-8 in one-run games and 6-7 in two run contests. At this rate, the Dash would play 94 one - or two-run games this season.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Arodys Vizcaino (2-2, 2.97) makes his eighth start of the season and his third against the Dash. While recovering from a back injury, Vizcaino made two short starts totaling three innings at Winston-Salem earlier in the month, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out five. He's given up just one run in his last two starts combined, totaling 12 innings and striking out ten. Vizcaino entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the seventh-best prospect in the Atlanta Braves system after a 2010 season that saw him go 9-4 with a 2.39 ERA in low-A Rome (14 starts) and 0-0 with a 4.61 ERA (three starts) in Myrtle Beach. He was acquired from the Yankees in December of 2009 in a trade that sent Vizcaino, Melky Cabrera, and Mike Dunn to Atlanta in exchange for Javier Vazquez and former Winston-Salem Warthog Boone Logan. The Dominican throws his fastball 92-94 mph and was clocked in spring training this season at 101 in a game against the Cardinals. Baseball America states that his best pitch is a "hammer" curveball and he also has a good changeup. Vizcaino's biggest question mark is his ability to stay healthy. He was shut down with a right elbow injury for two months last year with a partially torn elbow ligament that did not require surgery. The 20-year-old was originally signed by the Yankees for $800,000 in 2007 and was viewed as one of the best international prospects available that year.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from May 23, 2011


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.

Other Recent Winston-Salem Dash Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central