Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes
Published on July 14, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
WINSTON-SALEM DASH (9-10, 41-48) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (6-13, 36-53)
Thursday, July 14, 2011, 7:05 p.m. | Lynchburg City Stadium | Lynchburg, VA
Webcast available on www.wsdash.com 15 minutes before first pitch
Game No. 91 | Road Game No. 43 | 2011 Home Record 23-24 | 2011 Road Record 18-24
LHP Matt Wickswat (1-1, 2.73) @ RHP David Hale (1-3, 4.60)
Summer Reruns: Ian Gac broke a tie game open in the seventh inning with a three-run home run off Jeremy Haynes to power the Dash to a 4-2 win on Wednesday night at City Stadium. After the teams traded single runs in the early innings, Gac's homer proved to be the difference-maker, as Winston-Salem got terrific pitching performances in what was essentially a bullpen game for the team. The win snapped the Dash's three-game losing streak and moved Winston to within 3.5 games of first-place Kinston, which was rained out last night.
Mach 3: Three was the magic number last night for Winston-Salem. The team ended its three-game losing streak on the back of a three-run home run from Ian Gac, a player who has three letters in both his first and last names and wears number 33 on his jersey. Santos Rodriguez made his third start of the season last night and pitched well, while Stephen Sauer made his third appearance and had a pair of 1-2-3 innings. Ryan Kussmaul finished the game by nailing down his third save in three chances.
3, 2, 1 ¬Â¦ GAC-OFF: Ian Gac went 2 for 5 last night with a mammoth home run hit well beyond the left field wall at City Stadium. The home run, which has presumably by now is orbiting a star in some distant galaxy, snapped a 1-1 game and delivered the Dash a victory. Gac has now hit a league-leading 22 home runs, 12 of which have either tied the game or given Winston-Salem the lead. The homer also propelled Gac into sole possession of the league lead in runs batted in with 61, three more than Salem's Dan Butler. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (89), second in at bats (338), tied for third in doubles (24), third in slugging percentage (.530), first in extra-base hits (46), first in runs scored (60), first in total bases (179), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.36).
Getting a feel for Las Terrenas: Pressed into a role in the starting rotation because of injuries, Santos Rodriguez pitched well last night for the Dash to set the tone in what was a well-pitched ballgame for the Hyphen Hurlers. Rodriguez, who was starting a game for the third time this year and the fifth time in 109 career appearance, threw a career-best four innings and allowed one run on five hits and no walks. The Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic native owns a 2.16 ERA in his last seven appearances (4 ER, 16.2 IP) to lower his season ERA 0.79 runs to 3.55.
Putting the "K" in Kussmaul: Ryan Kussmaul was dominant in 1.2 innings of relief last night. The right-hander entered the game with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Dash leading by two runs with two Hillcats in scoring position. After striking out Joe Leonard, he got Geraldo Rodriguez to pop out to shortstop to end the threat and the inning. In the ninth, Kussmaul struck out all three batters to finish off his third save in as many chances this season. The Wisconsin native and Iowa resident has been lights out lately, not allowing an earned run in his last ten appearances. In 15 innings over this period, he has allowed six hits, walked four, struck out 31, and held hitters to a .111 average (6 for 54). He has lowered his season ERA more than two full runs since June 7 from 5.11 to 3.05. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers in strikeouts per nine innings with 13.72, more than 1.5 better than Keys closer Sean Gleason (12.11). Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (63) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (41.1).
The Elusive Clean Sheet: The Dash committed three errors in the first four innings last night to continue an unfortunate trend defensively. Winston-Salem has not played a nine-inning game without committing and error in 17 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 102 errors this season, the second-most in the Carolina League (seven fewer than Potomac, which leads the league).
Staff Infection: In seven of the last ten 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 49.2 of 88 total innings (56%). 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 yesterday 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: RHP David Hale (1-3, 4.60) makes his 18th appearance and third start of the season for Lynchburg. He has faced Winston-Salem in two of his previous relief appearances, allowing one hit in 1.1 innings and striking out two. He began the season in the bullpen for the Hillcats and registered a 1-2 record and 5.64 ERA in his 15 relief appearances. On July 3 he made his first start of the season and gave up one run on three hits in four innings against Myrtle Beach. In his second start on July 8 he allowed one run on four hits in five innings, but got the loss in the first game of a doubleheader. A third round draft pick in 2009 out of Princeton, Hale is ranked by Baseball America as the 17th-best prospect in the Braves organization. He made his debut in 2009 in Rookie Danville and went 2-1 with a 1.13 ERA in seven appearances (one start). Last year he moved up to low-A Rome and struggled as a starter, registering an ERA of 7.99 in four starts (0-4). After he moved to the bullpen, Hale went 5-3 with a 2.16 ERA and five saves. The Marietta, GA native throws a 93-94 mph fastball that can top out at 96, a slider that can reach 84-86, and a changeup.
Carolina League Stories from July 14, 2011
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