CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on June 13, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (29-34) vs. FREDERICK KEYS (39-24)

Monday, June 13, 2011, 7:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 64 | Home Game No. 36 | 2011 Home Record 17-18 | 2011 Road Record 12-16

RHP Andre Rienzo (1-1, 3.11) vs. RHP Ryohei Tanaka (4-0, 1.82)

Therapeutic Thrashing: After losing six straight games and eight of nine on the season to the Blue Rocks, Winston-Salem took out its pent-up frustrations yesterday against Wilmington ace Jake Odorizzi. The Dash blasted the All-Star hurler for seven runs in three innings and never looked back en route to a 10-1 beatdown of the Rocks in the series finale. With three regular relievers throwing all nine innings, the Dash did not allow a run until the seventh inning when the game was no longer in doubt and avoided a sweep. The ten runs scored tied a season-high that Winston initially set in an 11-10 loss to the Blue Rocks on Easter Sunday. The win snapped the Dash's four-game losing streak.

Still Kicking: The Dash's win, in conjunction with the Pelicans' epic 23-inning loss at Kinston last night, kept Winston-Salem from being eliminated for playoff contention in the Southern Division. Myrtle's magic number to eliminate the Dash is one, meaning that a Pelicans win or a Winston loss would end the Dash's faint hopes of a playoff berth in the first half of the season. Winston-Salem has not been eliminated from the playoff race since the first half of the 2008 season. The Dash finished with at least a share of first place in the Southern Division in the last four halves and earned a wild card entry into the postseason in the second half of 2008.

Tossed Salad: Tyler Saladino led the offensive charge last night for the Dash, going 2 for 5 with a three-run home run and a two-run double. His five RBI set a new career-high for the shortstop, who is the youngest player on the Dash roster. After missing the first month of the season with a broken hand, Saladino is starting take off offensively. He has a base hit in six of his last seven games and a multi-hit game in four of the last six contests he has played in. Since June 5, Saladino is batting .357 (10 for 28) with four doubles, one homer, and three runs scored. He has raised his batting average 39 points to .224 during this period.

Tour de Bour: Dash catcher Jason Bour cleared the goose egg from the home run column on his stat line last night, blasting a parabolic homer on a hanging Jake Odorizzi curveball in the third inning to make it a 7-0 Winston lead. With Bour's homer, every current Dash position player except Mike Blanke has now gone deep in 2011. It was the first home run for Bour since August 25, 2010 at Lynchburg, a span of 124 homerless at bats.

A sweet-smelling Odor: Winston-Salem seems to have the magic touch against Jake Odorizzi. The Wilmington ace has allowed only three home runs all season and all of them have come against the Dash at BB&T Ballpark. Ian Gac hit a game-tying two-run shot on April 23 for the only homer allowed by Odorizzi this season entering last night's game; Tyler Saladino and Jason Bour went deep for the Dash in Sunday's game. After giving up seven runs on four hits and four walks in three innings yesterday, Odorizzi's season ERA jumped from 2.03 to 2.97.

Austin City Limits: Austin Yount continued his strong stretch of offensive play last night, going 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored in the Dash's win. He has now picked up a hit in five of his last six games, with three of those games being multi-hit efforts. He is batting .421 (8 for 19) since May 31 to raise his season batting average from .176 to .215, a jump of 39 points. Yesterday, Yount picked up his second and third hits against left-handed pitching this season. He had entered the game 1 for 27 against lefties and had not received an at bat against a southpaw in over two weeks. Yount's only other hit against a left came on April 21 against Wilmington's Justin Marks.

Midas Touch: Mark down a "W" for the Dash when J.R. Ballinger comes into a game for Winston-Salem. The Mississippian got the win yesterday for the Dash to improve to 4-0 in the Carolina League. In all four of Ballinger's appearances for Winston, he has picked up the victory.

Sierra Mist: Luis Sierra made a triumphant return to Carolina League this weekend, going 4 for 7 with a double, one RBI, and two runs scored in addition to playing a fine second base. Sierra returned to the Dash on Thursday after a three-game stint with AA Birmingham, during which he did not see any playing time. His two two-hit games were the Colombian's first since May 15.

Gone, but not forgotten: The Dash suffered two significant losses to their pitching staff on Saturday, as starter Terry Doyle and reliever Addison Reed were both promoted to AA Birmingham. Doyle owned just a 1-5 record, but had a 2.84 ERA that ranked tenth in the Carolina League. He was also fourth in innings pitched (73.0) and seventh in WHIP (1.12) at the time of his promotion. Reed, the 13th-best prospect in the White Sox organization, was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and one save in 15 relief appearances. He struck out 39 and walked only four in 28.1 innings, holding the Carolina League to a .196 batting average. Doyle and Reed combined to post a 2.50 ERA; without their contributions, the Winston-Salem pitching staff's collective ERA would be 4.40, a 35-point jump from it's current level.

Fill in the Blanke: C Mike Blanke went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored on Saturday and now has a hit in four of his six games at Advanced-A. Overall, Blank has struggled since joining the Dash, hitting .217 (5 for 23) but has reached base in five of his eight plate appearances since Friday. Baseball America's 14th-best prospect in the White Sox organization, Blanke was promoted to Winston-Salem on June 3 after an All-Star first half in the South Atlantic League. He was named an All-Star for low-A Kannapolis, but can't participate because of his promotion. Blanke hit .259 with two home runs and 18 RBI with the Intimidators. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Tampa.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Ryohei Tanaka (4-0, 1.82) makes his fifth start of the season and second against the Dash. He started the year coming out of the bullpen for AA Bowie before being sent down to Frederick, where he has made nine total appearances. With Bowie, he had no record but registered a 3.09 ERA in six appearances (11.2 IP). Tanaka made his first appearance for the Keys on May 2 against Winston-Salem and threw three innings and gave up one run on three hits and struck out seven. Originally from Ishikawa, Japan, Tanaka signed with the Baltimore Orioles organization in 2009 and has spent most of his time with Bowie. In 2009 he went 4-4 with a 3.00 ERA in 21 appearances (12 starts). As a reliever, Tanaka did not allow a run in 13 innings. Last year with the BaySox he also split time between the bullpen and starting rotation, going 8-12 with a 5.64 ERA. Tanaka previously played for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League under then-manager and current ESPN Analyst Bobby Valentine.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from June 13, 2011


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