CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on August 2, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (20-15, 52-53) vs. WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (14-22, 50-55)

Monday, August 2, 2011, 7:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 108 | Home Game No. 56 | 2011 Home Record 29-25 | 2011 Road Record 23-28

RHP Cameron Bayne (9-4, 3.33) vs. RHP Tyler Sample (6-8, 5.42)

Beach Bummer: The Dash and Pelicans were rained out in their series finale on Sunday evening in Myrtle Beach, cutting their three-game series to two contests. Because the game marked the last scheduled matchup between the teams this season on the Grand Stand, the game will be made up at BB&T Ballpark on August 26 as part of a doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. Winston-Salem won the first two contests of its series at Myrtle, thus earning a sweep of the abbreviated series. It was the second straight series sweep for the Dash after earning just one sweep victory all season prior to last week.

Marathon Men: Hopefully the Dash got plenty of rest on their off-day yesterday, because today marks the start of a long stretch of continuous baseball for the team. Winston-Salem will play 29 games over the next 27 days until the team's next off-day on Monday, August 29. That includes the doubleheader against Myrtle Beach on August 26 and the resumption of an earlier suspended game against Lynchburg on August 15, when the teams will restart tied at 0-0 in the bottom of the first inning, followed by a seven-inning game immediately afterward.

Tough Rocks to Crack: Tonight Winston-Salem welcomes the Wilmington Blue Rocks to town for the start of a three-game series. The Dash have struggled with the Blue Crew this season, winning just four of 14 matchups between the teams. Wilmington bounced back from a 2-12 stretch to sweep the Kinston Indians this past weekend in three games. Despite the three-game win streak, the Blue Rocks still trail first-place Frederick in the Northern Division by ten games and are seven games back of Potomac, which is currently leading the race for the second half playoff spot. The most competitive race for Wilmington at the moment is for the 2011 attendance crown; the Blue Rocks (4,534) are second to the Dash (4,593) in average attendance and have a slight lead over third-place Frederick (4,459). Wilmington has second-lowest scoring offense (406 runs), the third-lowest batting average (.245), and the second-fewest home runs (59) in the Carolina League, but that has been far from the case against Winston-Salem. The Blue Rocks have hit .287 against the Dash (the best they have hit against any CL team this season) and have battered Winston for 19 home runs (32 percent of their season haul and nine more than they have hit against Kinston, their second-favorite team to hit homers against). Fortunately for Winston-Salem, both Nick Francis (.420 batting average, .800 slugging percentage against the Dash) and Rey Navarro (team-high four home runs against the Dash) have both been promoted to AA Northwest Arkansas and will not be around to hurt the team in this series.

Streak Speak: The Dash's sixth straight win on Saturday gave Winston-Salem its longest win streak of the season. The team has won eight of its last nine games. During the win streak, the Dash have been powered by their pitching. Winston has hit just .249 during the win streak but has posted a collective ERA of 2.17. The Dash have outscored their opponents during the streak 36-14. The wins have not come against the Carolina League's sisters of the poor; Kinston and Myrtle Beach are in third and second place in overall record, respectively, and are a combined 20 games over .500.

New World Order: The Dash enters this long stretch of baseball with a two game lead in the Southern Division standings. Winston-Salem is 2.5 games in front of the Pelicans and 5.5 games ahead of the Salem Red Sox. The two-game lead is the biggest lead the Dash have had in the division all season. Overall, the Dash are 52-53, marking the first time the team has been within one game of .500 since splitting a doubleheader with Wilmington on April 25. A win tonight would get Winston to .500 for the first time since April 20.

Walk this Way: The offense was assisted by nine walks handed out by Myrtle Beach pitching Saturday night, the most walks by any 2011 Dash opponent. Four of the walks given to Winston batters came around to score, and three walks came with the bases loaded to score a trio of runs. The Dash won despite being out-hit 6-5 by the Pelicans. Winston-Salem improved to 9-41 when its opponent collects more hits over the course of the game.

The Mitch That They Can't Scratch: Jared Mitchell continued his hot hitting from the recent home stand Saturday night in Myrtle Beach. He went 1 for 4 with an RBI walk, a single, and a run scored. Over the last nine games, he is batting .382 (13 for 34) and has a six-game hit streak, his second-longest of the season. He is tied for first in the Carolina League in triples (7) and is tied for second in doubles (27) this season.

Air Wick: While the Dash have a collective six-game win streak going, Matt Wickswat has picked up a win in each of his last five starts. Wickswat was terrific again Saturday night, limiting Myrtle Beach to one run on four hits and a walk in seven innings, striking out seven Pelicans batters. During his personal win streak, the Bellevue, Washington native has posted a 2.45 ERA (9 ER, 33 IP) and a .186 batting average against (22 H, 118 AB) with 26 strikeouts and five walks.

‚¬ËœMaul of America: Ryan Kussmaul earned his fourth save of the season Friday night with a perfect ninth inning. He struck out the last two batters he faced to continue his terrific season. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.17 strikeouts per nine innings, more than three full K's more than second-place Sean Gleason (10.84). He is third among all full-season minor leaguers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (74) despite only ranking sixth among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (47.0).

Gacplosions In The Sky: Ian Gac leads the Carolina League with 27 home runs and is tied for fourth in all of minor league baseball in the category. He has ten more home runs that any other player in the CL and his 78 RBI are 11 more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (105), first in at bats (394), fourth in hits (106), tied for second in doubles (27), first in slugging percentage (.543), second in extra-base hits (54), first in runs scored (68), first in total bases (214), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/14.59). He is on pace to hit 36 home runs this season which would surpass his previous career-high of 32 in 2008. He has 154 career homers in nine professional seasons.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Tyler Sample (6-8, 5.42) makes his 21st appearance and 16th start of the season tonight for the Blue Rocks. This is his second start and third appearance against the Dash; he 2-0 with an ERA of 6.55 against Winston-Salem, allowing eight runs on 12 hits in 11 innings with ten strikeouts and three walks. He has had an inconsistent season, alternating several good outings with eight outings during which he has allowed five or more runs. After throwing seven shutout innings against Myrtle Beach on July 10, he has given up 19 runs on 28 hits in his last three starts combined. Sample spent all of 2010 with low-A Burlington, his first season with a full-season team. He represented the Bees in the Midwest League All-Star Game and made 26 starts on the year, compiling a 6-10 record with a 4.69 ERA. He had 115 strikeouts in 121 innings, but he walked 95 to lead the 16-team circuit. Sample entered the year ranked as the Royals' 14th-best minor league prospect by Baseball America, but dropped off the top-30 list after his uneven performance last year. He split 2009 between two rookie levels (Surprise in the AZL and Burlington in the Appalachian League) and went 4-2 in 14 games with a 3.13 ERA. Sample signed a $500,000 bonus as a 2008 third round draft pick by the Royals out of J.K. Mullen Prep School, where he was an all-state player after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2006. He features a fastball that sits 92-94 mph and can reach the upper-90s at times, a 12-6 knuckle-curveball, and a changeup. His 6'6", 215 lb. frame leads to an inconsistent delivery, the primary reason behind his occasional control problems.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 2, 2011


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