CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on July 18, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (11-12, 43-50) @ KINSTON INDIANS (13-9, 51-40)

Monday, July 18, 2011, 6:30 p.m. | "Historic" Grainger Stadium | Kinston, NC

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

Game No. 95 | Road Game No. 47 | 2011 Home Record 23-24 | 2011 Road Record 20-26

LHP Santos Rodriguez (2-2, 3.55) @ RHP Clayton Cook (6-6, 3.98)

I like it when you call me Big Popham: Marty Popham and four relievers combined on a five-hit shutout of the Dash yesterday, as the Indians earned the series-opening 2-0 win. All of the offense in the contest was provided by Kinston first baseman Jeremie Tice, who blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth against Joe Serafin to snap a scoreless tie. That was all Popham and the K-Tribe bullpen would need, as the five hurlers scattered four singles and a double over the course of the day. Winston struck out a season-high-tying 17 times, a mark earlier set in a game at Wilmington last month. Popham had a career-high 11 strikeouts while Jared Mitchell endured the toughest day at the plate, going 0 for 4 with four strikeouts. The Indians did not walk a batter and only 15 of the 32 Dash batters hit the ball into play during the contest. It was the third time the Dash had been shut out this season and the first time since May 21. The loss dropped Winston-Salem to 2.5 games behind the Indians for first place.

The Best Offense is a Good Offense: Winston-Salem has struggled offensively on this road trip, hitting just .180 as a team over the last eight games. The offense has especially struggled lately, as noted by yesterday's shutout loss. The Dash have been held scoreless in 21 of the last 22 innings, with the only runs scoring on Tyler Saladino's fifth inning home run on Saturday night. In that 22-inning span, the team has just ten hits and is batting just .135 (10 for 74).

Four Big Games: The Dash continue their final series of this season-long 11-game road trip with the second of four games against the Kinston Indians. First place in the Southern Division is on the line in this week's series, as the K-Tribe currently lead Winston-Salem by 2.5 games for a second half playoff berth. The Indians have been the hottest team in the Carolina League over the last two months. After starting the season 14-22 through May 16, Kinston is 37-18. The Indians had the best record in May and the June, but have stumbled a bit this month, going 7-7. Aaron Holbert's team has managed to excel despite owning the worst statistical offense in the CL. The Indians are batting .231 and have scored 324 runs, both the lowest totals in the league. They have been bolstered by strong pitching, as the K-Tribe has allowed the fewest runs in the league and possess the league's second-best ERA. Kinston has also played terrific defense, ranking first in the CL in fewest errors and highest fielding percentage.

Back on Gac: After going 3 for 23 offensively over a six-game stretch, Ian Gac has bounced back over the last five games, going 8 for 19 with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, four runs scored, three walks, and two hit-by-pitches. Gac has hit 23 home runs this season, 13 of which have either tied the game or given Winston-Salem the lead. The slugger strengthened his hold on the CL lead in RBI with 65 on the season, six better than Salem's Dan Butler. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (93), second in at bats (349), fourth in hits (94), second in doubles (26), third in slugging percentage (.542), first in extra-base hits (49), first in runs scored (61), first in total bases (189), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.17).

Milestone Moonshot: With his tiebreaking home run in the third inning Thursday night, Ian Gac not only gave the Dash a 3-1 lead, but he also blasted the 150th home run of his professional career (all of them coming below the AA level). Gac entered the season with 127 career dingers and has hit a Carolina League-leading 23 in 2011 to reach the milestone number. The nine-year pro hit his first three home runs in his first professional season back in 2003 on the AZL Rangers. His first double-digit home run season came in 2006 when he hit 16 with low-A Clinton and Advanced-A Bakersfield. Gac is on pace to hit 35 homers this season, which would eclipse his career-high of 32 that he hit in 2008. Among all active players, the Seattle native is 23rd in career minor league home runs. Of the top 50, all but Gac have played at a level higher than Advanced-A.

Putting the "K" in Kussmaul: Ryan Kussmaul kept racking up strikeouts Saturday night, picking up three more in 1.1 scoreless innings. The Wisconsin native and Iowa resident has been lights out lately, not allowing an earned run in his last 11 appearances. In 16.1 innings over this period, he has allowed six hits, walked four, struck out 34, and held hitters to a .103 average (6 for 58). He has lowered his season ERA more than two full runs since June 7 from 5.11 to 2.95. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers in strikeouts per nine innings with 13.92, more than two better than Keys closer Sean Gleason (11.74). Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (66) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (42.2).

Orlando-ho-ho-ho Santos Claus: Friday night Dash reliever Orlando Santos continued his strong performance since returning to the Carolina League from low-A Kannapolis. Santos earned his first save of the season with three scoreless innings of relief. The former catcher started this season with the Dash and struggled, posting an 8.82 ERA in his first ten appearances. After going 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 25 innings with the Intimidators, Santos was returned to Winston-Salem. After giving up two runs in 2.2 innings in his first game back, the righty has allowed just one run in his last six appearances, totaling 9.1 innings for an ERA of 0.96. His season ERA with the Dash has dropped to 6.04, his lowest mark since his second appearance of the season.

The Elusive Clean Sheet: Winston-Salem committed another error last night to continue an unfortunate defensive trend. The Dash have not played a nine-inning game without committing and error in 21 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 12 errors in the last six games and 108 errors this season, the second-most in the Carolina League (four fewer than Potomac, which leads the league).

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Clayton Cook (6-6, 3.98) makes his 17th start off the season, and fourth against the Dash. In three starts against Winston, Cook is 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA, striking out 18 batters with nine walks in 17 innings. He is coming off his worst outing of the season at Frederick, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on ten hits in four innings, inflating his ERA by 0.60. He is the youngest player on the Indians and will not turn 21 until July 23rd. Cook is coming off a good 2010 season with low-A Lake County, his first year with a full-season team. He went 6-7 in 23 starts, but posted a solid 3.35 ERA (9th in the MWL) and held Midwest League batters to a .244 average. The Indians shut him down with a relatively minor shoulder injury in mid-August. Cook was 5-3 with a 2.79 ERA in 2009 with short-season Mahoning Valley, where he was a NYPL All-Star. He was selected in the ninth round of the 2008 draft out of Amarillo High School in Texas and reportedly signed for about $100,000 after he committed to the University of Oklahoma. He dominated in his final year of high school ball, striking out 170 batters in 98 innings while going 12-3 with a 1.98 ERA. He throws a four-seam fastball (91-93 mph), a two-seam fastball, a curveball, and a changeup.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from July 18, 2011


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