CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on July 28, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (17-15, 49-53) vs. KINSTON INDIANS (18-13, 56-44)

Thursday, July 28, 2011, 7 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 104 | Home Game No. 55 | 2011 Home Record 28-25 | 2011 Road Record 21-28

LHP Joe Serafin (2-8, 5.97) vs. LHP T.J. House (6-8, 4.30)

Here Comes the Sun: The Dash and Indians played a noon matinee on Wednesday at BB&T Ballpark and under bright, sunny skies Winston-Salem downed Kinston 7-3. The two teams traded runs in the bottom of the first/top of the second, and Winston scored five times in the bottom of the second on the heels of a three-run home run from Tyler Saladino and a solo shot by Andy Wilkins. The homer for Wilkins was his third in the last two games. Jake Petricka hurled his second straight victory, and second overall with Winston-Salem. In six innings, he gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits and struck out three. The Dash have compiled one of their best home stands of the year, winning five of six and averaging over seven runs per game to move within 1.5 games of first place in the Southern Division.

Multi-Run Innings: Last night's game continued an encouraging habit for the Dash offense. Winston scored five times in the second inning, marking the sixth time on this home stand the team has scored three or more runs in one inning (five games). The Dash had a three-run and four-run inning on Friday against Potomac, a five-run first against the Nats on Saturday, a four-run third inning on Monday night, and a four-run second on Tuesday night. Winston-Salem is 5-0 in those games.

The Andy Man Can: Just one day after Andy Wilkins hit a pair of home runs, he blasted another long ball. Shortly after Saladino hit his three-run shot in the second inning, Wilkins hit a solo blast for his 17th of the season. The first baseman moved ahead of Wilmington's John Whittleman for second place in the Carolina League in home runs, and is also climbing the RBI list. Now with 65, Wilkins is tied for second with Potomac's Destin Hood in that category. Wilkins trails teammate Ian Gac for the league lead in both.

Tribal Warfare: Tonight marks the series finale of arguably the Dash's most important series of the second half, as Winston-Salem hosts Kinston for the final time at BB&T Ballpark. The game will be the final ever meeting between the Carolina League's two oldest teams. After yesterday's win, the Dashers trail the K-Tribe by 1.5 games in the Southern Division and the Red Sox are 4.5 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 11 of the 18 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 went 1 for 2 in yesterday's ballgame with a single, stolen base, RBI, and run scored. He moved his home stand average to .417 (10 for 24). He is tied for first in the Carolina League in triples (7) and is tied for third in doubles (25) this season.

They Come in Peace: The Dash have typically had the upper hand on Kinston in Winston-Salem, as the K-Tribe have lost 27 of 30 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 regular season 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 42-21. The Indians had the best record in May and June, and are third best in July at 12-11. Aaron Holbert's team has managed to excel despite owning the worst statistical offense in the CL. The Indians are batting .235 and have scored 376 runs, both the lowest totals in the league. They have been bolstered by strong pitching, as the K-Tribe has allowed the third fewest runs in the league and possess the league's third-best ERA. Kinston has also played terrific defense, tying for first in the CL in errors and fielding percentage.

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 .278 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 14 games, he is batting .353 (18 for 51) with three doubles, eight homers, 19 RBI, and ten 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 12 more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (101), first in at bats (378), tied for third in hits (104), second in doubles (27), first in slugging percentage (.561), first in extra-base hits (54), first in runs scored (67), first in total bases (212), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/14.00). 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 on Saturday, his first in his last 13 appearances. Prior to this streak ending, 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 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 (11.09). 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: LHP T.J. House (2-5, 5.68) makes his 18th start and 19th appearance of the season and his third start against the Dash. He made two consecutive starts against Winston-Salem on May 27 and June 3 and lost both games. In the first start, he gave up six runs (all earned) on seven hits in five innings. He fared much better in the second game, but still lost after allowing three runs (all earned) on six hits in 7.1 innings. He made four starts against Winston-Salem last year, going 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA and allowing the Dash to hit .368 against him. He put up better numbers against the rest of the Carolina League last year, going 6-10 with a 3.91 ERA (8th in the CL) in 27 games (26 starts, 3rd) and a .264 opponent batting average. House is ranked by Baseball America as the 14th-best prospect in the Cleveland organization. Just 21 years old, he spent his first professional season in 2009 with low-A Lake County, going 6-11 with a 3.15 ERA in 26 starts. Because most teams believed he was un-signable (he was reportedly asking for a $1.5 million bonus) and would follow through with his commitment to Tulane after high school, House fell until the 16th round before the Indians drafted him and signed him to a reported $750,000 bonus after Green Wave head coach Kevin Walter became the coach at Wake Forest. As a senior at Picayune (Miss.) HS, House went 7-2 with a 0.99 ERA, 99 strikeouts and 25 walks. Prior to his senior year, he pitched in qualifying action for Team USA, striking out six batters in three innings. In the offseason before his junior year, he participated with the swim team at his high school and helped them win a state championship in 2006. His fastball sits in the 87-91 mph range, occasionally touching 93. He also features a slider and a changeup, which is his best pitch and ranked by Baseball America as the best changeup in the Indians system.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from July 28, 2011


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