CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on May 27, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (20-27) @ KINSTON INDIANS (23-23)

Friday, May 27, 2011, 6:30 p.m. | "Historic" Grainger Stadium | Kinston, NC

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

Game No. 48 | Road Game No. 23 | 2011 Home Record 11-14 | 2011 Road Record 9-13

RHP Terry Doyle (0-5, 3.86) @ LHP T.J. House (2-4, 5.03)

Falling Behind the Eight Ball: The Indians scored eight times in the first inning yesterday to build a seven-run lead, but the Dash mounted a late charge that fell just short and Winston lost the series opener to the K-Tribe last night 9-8 at Grainger Stadium. After the Dash scored a run in the top of the first inning, Kinston hit Joe Serafin hard for eight runs, chasing the starter before the end of the frame. After notching single runs in the sixth and seventh, Winston scored five times over the final two innings and had the tying run at second and go-ahead run at first against Indians closer Preston Giulmet. But Guilmet, who had surrendered his first two runs of the season in the ninth, bore down to strike out the final two batters to end the game, including a pitch that was called strike three but appeared to be up and away from the final batter, Tyler Saladino. The loss was Winston-Salem's eighth in the last 11 games and moved the Dash to 7.5 games out of first place with 23 to play in the first half of the season.

Mitchell Macho Man: Jared Mitchell kept up his production in the second spot of the batting order last night, going 2 for 3 with a two-run home run, a single, and two walks. It was the second straight game with a home run for Mitchell and the second straight contest that saw him reach base four times. In his last two games, the former first round draft pick is 5 for 7 with two homers, a double, five RBI, three walks, and no strikeouts.

Worst. Inning. Ever: Last night's first inning was the roughest for Dash pitching all season. Joe Serafin retired Tyler Holt twice, but allowed all nine of the other men he faced to reach base. His final pitching line read 0.2 innings, five hits, eight runs, seven earned, four walks, and one strikeout. Nine runs scored between the two teams in the first inning last night. Eighteen hitters came up to bat and 12 reached base. The inning took 35 minutes to play and there were 73 total pitches in the frame.

In No Hurry: The Dash and Indians finished last night's game in three hours and 29 minutes, making it the longest nine-inning game that Winston has played in all year and the second longest overall this season. Drawn-out contests are nothing new for these teams. Of the six three-hour games the Dash have played in 2011, three of them have been against the Indians. That includes the longest game for the Dash this season (three hours, 35 minutes vs. Kinston on April 16) and opening night (three hours, 13 minutes on April 8).

Wilk Stud: A night after ending his 56-at bat homerless drought, Andy Wilkins went deep for the second straight game yesterday. Wilkins' solo shot off Preston Guilmet was the first run allowed by Guilmet this season in 16 appearances. Wilkins ended up going 3 for 4 with a double and a walk to his credit in addition to the home run. The three hits were a new season-high and tied a career-high for the second-year first baseman.

Get Outta Here: With three more home runs last night, the Dash extended their league-leading homer total to 44. Winston-Salem has hit 11 more longballs than its closes competition (Salem with 33) and more than double than last place Kinston (20). The Dash led the Carolina League in dingers last year with 112 and the team is on pace to blast 131 in 2011.

Checkout time at the Quality Inn: The last two nights have seen Winston's stretch of outstanding starting pitching come to an end. Prior to Wednesday's game started by Cameron Bayne (5 IP, 4 H, 4 R), the regular Dash starters had produced ten straight quality starts (excluding Santos Rodriguez' two spot-starts). The Dash had quality starts from their starters in 12 of the last 15 games during this run and the rotation allowed three earned runs or fewer in 21 of the 25 contests, posting a 3.04 ERA (48 ER, 142 IP).

Keeping ‚¬Ëœem Close: The Dash have played mostly close games this season. Thirty-eight of the team's 47 games have been decided by three runs or fewer and the team has had a lead in 35 games this season. Winston has played 19 one-run games and 13 two-run games. The Dash are 8-11 in one-run games and 6-7 in two run contests. At this rate, the Dash would play 95 one - or two-run games this season.

Espresso Shot: Jose Martinez went 2 for 5 last night and upped his league-leading batting average to .320, two points higher than Salem's Reynaldo Rodriguez. He is tied for second in games (46), third in at bats (178), first in hits (57), and fifth in runs scored (30).

Falling Ian-to a Slump: After belting two home runs in a game on May 18, Ian Gac has fallen into a funk at the plate. In his last nine games, Gac is batting just .152 (5 for 33). The dropoff has not cost Gac's spot as the Carolina League's leader in home runs, as his 13 jacks still pace the circuit and he is on pace for 39. 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 (32), first in games (47), fourth in at bats (175), third in slugging percentage (.554), tied for first in extra-base hits (25), first in runs scored (35), first in total bases (97), and first in best HR/AB ratio (1/13.46).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP T.J. House (2-7, 3.96) makes his eighth start and ninth appearance of the season and his first against the Dash. He made four starts against Winston-Salem last year, going 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA and allowing the Dash to hit .368 against him. He put up better numbers against the rest of the Carolina League last year, going 6-10 with a 3.91 ERA (8th in the CL) in 27 games (26 starts, 3rd) and a .264 opponent batting average. House is ranked by Baseball America as the 14th-best prospect in the Cleveland organization. Just 21 years old, he spent his first professional season in 2009 with low-A Lake County, going 6-11 with a 3.15 ERA in 26 starts. Because most teams believed he was un-signable (he was reportedly asking for a $1.5 million bonus) and would follow through with his commitment to Tulane after high school, House fell until the 16th round before the Indians drafted him and signed him to a reported $750,000 bonus after Green Wave head coach Kevin Walter became the coach at Wake Forest. As a senior at Picayune (Miss.) HS, House went 7-2 with a 0.99 ERA, 99 strikeouts and 25 walks. Prior to his senior year, he pitched in qualifying action for Team USA, striking out six batters in three innings. In the offseason before his junior year, he participated with the swim team at his high school and helped them win a state championship in 2006. His fastball sits in the 87-91 mph range, occasionally touching 93. He also features a slider and a changeup, which is his best pitch and ranked by Baseball America as the best changeup in the Indians system.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 27, 2011


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