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CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

June 18, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


Espresso Shot: After losing the continuation of Thursday's suspended game 10-5, the Dash were four outs away from losing twice in one day, but Winston rallied to beat Wilmington 3-1 in a seven inning game last night at Frawley Stadium. Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the sixth inning, pinch hitter Café Martinez came through in the clutch with a two-run single against Ryan Dennick to put the Dash on top. The win was Winston-Salem's first in five games at Wilmington this year and improved the team to 3-9 against the Rocks.

First-Time Collop: Martinez' big hit last night helped pave the way for Justin Collop to earn his first win of the season. The right-hander, who is transitioning back into a starting pitcher role, went a season-best five innings and allowed just one unearned run on four hits. Over his last four outings, including three starts, Collop has allowed just one earned run in 13 innings for a 0.69 ERA. He has also struck out seven and allowed just nine hits in that span.

Derby Practice: Ian Gac has only managed one hit in the series, but he managed to make it count last night. Gac hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning of the suspended game to finish the contest's scoring. It was his 17th home run, the most in the Carolina League. Gac, who along with teammate Andy Wilkins will represent the Carolina League in the Home Run Derby at next week's All-Star Game in Modesto, is first in the CL in games played (68), third in at bats (258), second in RBI (47), fifth in hits (66), fourth in doubles (20), first in extra-base hits (37), fourth in slugging percentage (.531), first in runs scored (48), first in total bases (137), and first in best HR/AB ratio (15.18). He is tied for eighth among all minor leaguers in home runs and is tied for sixth in extra-base hits.

Rock Me Amadeus: For the second time in less than a week, Wilmington put the hurt on Winston-Salem's pitching staff. After racking up a season-best 18 hits against the Dash on Saturday night, the Blue Rocks piled up 17 more in their 10-5 win in the series opening win. The Blue Crew picked up nine extra-base hits (five doubles, four home runs) against the combination of Joe Serafin, J.R. Ballinger, and Santos Rodriguez. Wilmington does some of their best bat work against the Dash as their .281 average against Winston-Salem is the team's second-best mark against any other Carolina League team (the Rocks hit .287 versus Potomac). The Blue Rocks are only sixth in the Carolina League with 38 home runs, but have hit 16 against Winston-Salem, good for 42% of all their long balls.

Winston's Biggest Fan: Wilmington right fielder Nick Francis' eyes must light up when he sees the purple and black of Winston-Salem. Despite going 0 for 3 in game two last night, he was 4 for 4 with two singles, a double, a home run, two RBI, and three runs scored in the suspended game. Francis, who has just two three-hit games 36 games for the Blue Rocks this season, now has both a four-hit and five-hit game against the Dash in the last week. In 11 games against Winston this season, Francis is hitting .395 with three home runs, eight RBI, five doubles, a triple, ten runs scored and a stolen base. Francis' domination of the Dash is not limited to just 2011; last year, he hit .321 with two homers, ten RBI, a double, three triples and seven runs against Winston-Salem.

Happy Birthday Taylor Thompson: Today Dash reliever Taylor Thompson celebrates his 24th birthday. The former Auburn Tiger celebrated a little early last night, registering his team-leading sixth save with a perfect inning in game two. Thompson has quietly put together a fine season, going 4-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 20 games. He has not allowed a run in his last eight games, allowing just five hits over eight innings with five strikeouts and one walk.

Ty High: After missing the first month of the season with a broken hand, Tyler Saladino is starting take off offensively. He has a base hit in eight of his last ten games and a multi-hit game in five of the last nine contests he has played in. Since June 5, Saladino is batting .326 (14 for 43) with four doubles, one homer, seven RBI, and five runs scored. He has raised his batting average 44 points to .229 during this period.

Under Water: With their 36th loss of the season on Tuesday, the Dash are guaranteed to finish below .500 in the first half of 2011. Winston-Salem had not finished below .500 in a half since the first half of the 2008 season when the team was still the Warthogs. That year, the 'Hogs were 29-40 in the first half, but rebounded to go 42-28 in the second half and clinch a playoff berth.

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Justin Marks (2-5, 5.12) makes his ninth start and 14th appearance of the season tonight and his second start against the Dash. He earned the win at Winston-Salem on April 21, allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings. Marks has been a bit inconsistent this season, owning three starts where he has pitched seven or more innings and allowed two or fewer runs, but also making three starts during which he allowed five or more runs. In his last two starts, both losses, he has allowed nine total runs on 17 hits in 11 innings. Marks is in his first year with the Royals organization after he was traded from the Athletics this past offseason along with RHP Vin Mazzaro for OF David DeJesus. He and Mazzaro became expendable when the A's won the bidding for Japanese RHP Hisashi Iwakuma. He hails from Owensboro, Kentucky, the same hometown as former Dash catcher Logan Johnson; the two players, however, attended different high schools. They did play together at the University of Louisville, where Marks was the 2009 Big East Pitcher of the Year and Third Team All-America, spurring Oakland to select him with the team's third round draft pick. He had a stellar career for the Cardinals, earning Big East accolades in all three of his seasons with UofL. After making one start in 2009 for the AZL Athletics, he split 2010 between low-A Kane County (20 GS, 3-12, 4.92 ERA 119 K in 109.2 IP) and Advanced-A Stockton (5 G, 4 GS, 3-1, 4.58 ERA, 17 K in 19.2 IP). In high school, he was named the top prep prospect in the state and was drafted by Boston in the 37th round. The middle of three children, he grew up on a tobacco farm.

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