CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

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


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (8-10, 40-48) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (6-12, 36-52)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 7:05 p.m. | Lynchburg City Stadium | Lynchburg, VA

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

Game No. 90 | Road Game No. 42 | 2011 Home Record 23-24 | 2011 Road Record 17-24

LHP Santos Rodriguez (2-2, 3.67) @ LHP Chris Masters (5-4, 3.61)

Summer Reruns: In a game that felt disturbingly similar to the previous two, Salem pounded the Dash 9-4 on Monday night to complete a three-game sweep of Winston-Salem. As they did on Saturday and Sunday, the Red Sox led 5-1 in the fifth inning en route to building a seven-run lead at one point before Winston added a few late runs. Mark Wagner went 3 for 3 with a home run, a double, three runs batted in, and two runs scored to lead Salem's 15-hit assault. The Dash were swept for the third time this season. Both of the series at LewisGale Field between Winston-Salem and Salem this season have been sweeps, as the Dash swept the Red Sox in three games two months ago.

No Soxcess: Winston-Salem would like to put its series with Salem far into the proverbial rearview mirror, as the Dash were swept for the first time since losing all three games in Wilmington April 29-May 1. The Dash were outscored in the series 26-9, out-hit 38-16 and committed five errors to Salem's two. Winston had to play from behind early and often, as Salem outscored the Dash a combined 18-3 during the first five innings of the three games. The Red Sox have hit their stride offensively against the Dash after playing two of their last three series against Winston-Salem. They hit .332 (82 for 247) in seven games against the Dash since July 2, winning six of the seven matchups.

The Elusive Clean Sheet: The Dash committed two errors on Monday night to continue an unfortunate trend defensively. Winston-Salem has not played a nine-inning game without committing and error in 16 consecutive games. The last clean defensive nine-inning game the Dash played was on June 24 at Frederick, the second game of the second half. Winston has committed 99 errors this season, the seventh-most in the Carolina League (ten fewer than Potomac, which leads the league).

Putting the "K" in Kussmaul: Ryan Kussmaul continued his strong stretch of relief Sunday night, striking out two batters in a scoreless sixth inning. Kussmaul has not allowed an earned run over his last nine appearances. In 15 innings over this period, he has six hits, walked four, struck out 27, and held hitters to a .122 average (6 for 49). He has lowered his season ERA nearly two full runs since June 7 from 5.11 to 3.18. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers in strikeouts per nine innings with 13.39, more than one better than Keys closer Sean Gleason. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (59) despite only ranking eighth among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (39.2).

Book of Daniel: Daniel Wagner has quietly warmed up over the last month after a dreary first half of the season offensively. Entering play on June 13, Wagner was hitting .210 for the season; since then, he is batting .296 (24 for 81) to raise his season average to .232.

Staff Infection: In six of the last nine games, the Dash's starter has lasted less than five innings, putting a heavy burden on the bullpen. Since July 2, Winston's relievers have thrown 44.2 of 79 total innings (57%). Three of the Dash's starters are currently on the disabled list (Ryan Buch, Justin Collop, and Andre Rienzo), but the team should get a boost from the return of Cameron Bayne, who returned to the team today after a three-start stint with AA Birmingham. Bayne was 7-4 with a 3.58 ERA in 13 starts for Winston-Salem prior to his promotion.

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Chris Masters (5-4, 3.61) makes his 14th start and 19th appearance of the season tonight against the Dash. In three games (two starts) against Winston-Salem, Masters is 0-0 with 3.31 ERA. He got a no-decision two weeks ago at BB&T Ballpark after giving up two runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. He has allowed ten runs in his last two starts over 12.1 innings. Though he shares the same name as professional wrestler "The Masterpiece" on WWE Raw, the Hillcats' Masters registers his KO's on the field instead of the ring. Drafted in the 11th round in 2009, Masters pitched well in his rookie year with short-season Danville (8-4, 1.42 ERA in 13 G, 11 GS with 85 K and 9 BB in 69.2 IP). He finished the year fifth in all of minor league baseball in ERA as well as second in the Appalachian League and first in the Braves organization. In August of 2009 he went 5-1 with a 0.24 ERA in six starts and was the organization's "Pitcher of the Month." Last year, Master did have the same success as he did in the year priorm going 3-11 with a 4.30 ERA in 27 games (27 starts), though he did strike out 123 batters in 136 innings. A native of Marietta, Georgia, Masters attended Western Carolina University where he ranked sixth on the school's career strikeouts leader list with 241. He was the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week a school-record six times in his three-year stint in Cullowhee. He led the Catamounts with 99 strikeouts in his senior season, but finished the season with a 5.59 ERA. In 2008, Masters pitched in the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League, where he played on the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox with Dash 1B Andy Wilkins. The Braves got an early look at Masters while he was still in high school, as when he was in high school, he was selected to go to Turner Field for the Braves 400 Club, an organization that honors the top 18 metro-Atlanta high school baseball stars. He was recognized as one of the top eight pitchers in the state of Georgia as a senior and made the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's All-Cobb County First Team twice. Masters throws 92-93 mph fastball, a palmball-grip changeup, and a slider.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from July 13, 2011


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