CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on July 26, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (15-15, 47-53) vs. KINSTON INDIANS (18-11, 56-42)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011, 7:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 102 | Home Game No. 53 | 2011 Home Record 26-25 | 2011 Road Record 21-28

RHP Cameron Bayne (8-4, 3.39) vs. RHP Brett Brach (6-6, 2.95)

Don't Call it a Comeback: Though Kinston has showed a propensity for making up deficits recently, Winston-Salem prevented a fourth straight comeback win for the K-Tribe on Monday. On the heels of a four-run third inning, Winston-Salem won the series opener 5-3. The game marked the third time on this home stand that the Dash have scored three or more runs in a single inning. Winston-Salem has won each of those three games. In his fifth start of the season, Matt Wickswat registered his fourth straight win and third quality start. In seven innings, he allowed two runs (both on a home run from Chase Burnette) on five hits and struck out a season-high eight batters. Wickswat's strikeout total was the highest for a Winston-Salem starting pitcher since June 9 when Ryan Buch also struck out eight. A Dash starter has struck out more than eight only twice this season, when Andre Rienzo K'd nine on May 1 and when Hector Santiago retired 11 men on strikes in his second start on April 16 against Kinston. Rienzo made his first appearance in nearly three weeks last night, walking two batters over a third of an inning. Rienzo had been on the disabled list since July 8 with right biceps tendonitis.

Tribal Warfare: Tonight marks game two of arguably the Dash's most important series of the second half, as Winston-Salem continues a four-game series with the Kinston Indians at BB&T Ballpark. After last night's win, the Dashers trail the K-Tribe by 3.5 games in the Southern Division and the Red Sox are 5.5 games back of first. Those three teams are competing with one another for the second half playoff berth and the team that finishes on top will play the first half champion Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the Southern Division Championship Series. Making this series even more important is that this series will be the final time that Winston and Kinston will meet this season. So far the Dash have a slight edge in the season series, winning nine of the 16 previous matchups. The teams met for a four-gamer last week at Grainger Stadium - the final visit to the venerable ballpark for Winston-Salem - and Kinston won three games, though the Dash could have won three of four if not for a pair of late Indians comebacks.

The Mitch That They Can't Scratch: Opponents have had a hard time consistently retiring Jared Mitchell on this home stand. He had a three-hit night yesterday, moving his home stand average to .444 (8 for 18). He tripled in the first Dash run of the four-run fourth inning and then drove in the fifth run with a single in the sixth. Though Mitchell still leads the league in strikeouts (136), the LSU product has two doubles, a triple, three RBI, and three runs scored on the current home stand. That came after a 1 for 24 slump to end the last road trip. Last night's triple was his seventh, tying him for the Carolina League lead.

Comeback Kids: The K-Tribe have made a habit of overturning deficits lately. Aaron Holbert's team snapped a four-game winning streak last night and has won six of the last nine. In each of their last five wins, the Indians have trailed late, only to overcome the deficit to win. Kinston trailed 5-4 in the eighth inning on Sunday, but beat Wilmington 7-5. The Indians scored six times with two outs in the eighth inning on Saturday to win 11-8 and scored eight times in the sixth and seventh innings to overturn the Blue Rocks on Friday 11-10. The K-Tribe won a pair of 5-4 games against the Dash on Monday and Wednesday of last week with three late runs in both of those games.

They Come in Peace: The Dash have typically had the upper hand on Kinston in Winston-Salem, as the K-Tribe have lost 25 of 28 in Winston. In 2009, Kinston won the first game it played at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park, but lost its last nine. The Indians lost eight in a row at BB&T Ballpark before picking up their first win at the new yard on July 27 of last year. The 17-game losing streak in Winston-Salem spanned nearly 14 months; 11 of those Dash wins were by just one run. The K-Tribe has not won consecutive games in Winston-Salem since August 25-27 of 2008 and has not won a series in the Twin City since August of 2007, a span of 11 straight series without a series victory.

More Indians Info: Kinston owns the second best record in the Carolina League thanks to a long hot stretch after a slow start to the 2011 season. After starting the season 14-22 through May 16, Kinston is 42-20. The Indians had the best record in May and June, and are third best in July at 12-9. Aaron Holbert's team has managed to excel despite owning the worst statistical offense in the CL. The Indians are batting .236 and have scored 374 runs, both the lowest totals in the league. They have been bolstered by strong pitching, as the K-Tribe has allowed the second fewest runs in the league and possess the league's third-best ERA. Kinston has also played terrific defense, ranking second in the CL in errors and fielding percentage.

Duble Play: Kevin Dubler has made quite the impression since joining the Dash one week ago. The former eighth rounder suited up for the second time in a Winston-Salem uniform on Sunday since his promotion from low-A Kannapolis. Dubler doubled in his first at bat, walked twice, and scored a run yesterday. Behind the dish, he picked off Potomac runners at first base to end both the third and fourth innings, marking the first two times a Dash catcher has collected a true pickoff this season. In two starts with Winston, Dubler is 2 for 5 offensively with a double, one home run, two RBI, and two runs scored.

Gacplosions In The Sky: Ian Gac is one Dash player happy to see the K-Tribe back in town. Gac hit three home runs in a two-game span against Kinston last week to bolster his outstanding numbers against the Indians this season. He is batting .277 against Kinston, but 13 of his 18 hits have gone for extra bases. He has five doubles and eight home runs against the Indians with 23 RBI and 14 runs scored. Gac has been hot lately for Winston-Salem; in the last 13 games, he is batting .364 (16 for 44) with three doubles, eight homers, 19 RBI, and nine runs scored. His Carolina League-leading 27 home runs are tied for the fourth most in MiLB this season. He has 11 more home runs that any other player in the CL and his 76 RBI are 15 more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (100), second in at bats (374), fourth in hits (102), second in doubles (27), first in slugging percentage (.561), first in extra-base hits (54), first in runs scored (66), first in total bases (210), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/13.85). He is on pace to hit 37 home runs this season which would surpass his previous career-high of 32 in 2008. He has 154 career homers in nine professional seasons.

Kuss Kracked: A team finally scored an earned run off of Dash reliever Ryan Kussmaul, ending an impressive stretch for the right-hander. Kussmaul allowed an earned run in the eighth inning Saturday night, his first in his last 13 appearances. Prior to this streak ending last night, he had thrown 19 innings, allowed six hits, walked four, struck out 39, and held hitters to a .098 average (6 for 61). He lowered his season ERA more than two full runs since June 7 from 5.11 to 2.89 prior to the streak ending. Kussmaul still leads all Carolina League relievers in strikeouts per nine innings with 13.80, more than two better than Keys closer Sean Gleason (11.63). Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (69) despite only ranking sixth among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (45.0).

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Brett Brach (6-6, 2.95) makes his 17th start and 19th appearance of the season against Winston-Salem. He got no-decision against the Dash last Wednesday, allowing three runs on four hits in five innings. In three games (two starts vs. Winston this season, he is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA and a .195 opposing batting average. Brach has had only one subpar outing this season, in which he has allowed more than three runs; nine of his last 14 starts have been quality. He made a spot start for AA Akron on April 19 and threw six shutout innings, allowing just two hits with four strikeouts in a win over Bowie. The Indians drafted Brach in the tenth round in 2009 and sent him to short-season Mahoning Valley, where he went 5-2 wit ha 2.19 ERA in 15 starts. He spent most of last year with low-A Lake County, going 5-8 with a 3.46 ERA in 22 starts. He briefly pitched for Kinston in 2010, throwing 2.2 innings over two appearances. Brach played collegiately at Monmouth University alongside Dash starter Ryan Buch. The two were co-aces at Monmouth, leading the Hawks to the NCAA Regionals twice in three years. Brach went 7-3 with a 4.78 ERA in his final season, striking out 77 batters in 75 innings. His older brother, Brad, also a former Monmouth pitcher, is currently in AA with the Padres organization and has saved 78 of 84 opportunities over the last two years. Brad set a California League record last season with 41 saves, good for third in all of minor league baseball. Brett hails from Freehold, New Jersey, the same town where Kal Penn of "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" fame was born.

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Carolina League Stories from July 26, 2011


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