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CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

August 8, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (24-17, 56-55) @ WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (16-26, 52-59)

Monday, August 8, 2011, 7:05 p.m. | Daniel S. Frawley Stadium | Wilmington, DE

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

Game No. 113 | Road Game No. 52 | 2011 Home Record 33-27 | 2011 Road Record 23-28

RHP Jake Petricka (2-5, 4.63) @ LHP Justin Marks (6-8, 4.66)

Eight is Enough: The series of lopsided blowouts held form yesterday, as the Dash put away the league-best Frederick Keys 8-0 at BB&T Ballpark. Ian Gac gave Winston-Salem the lead with a second-inning solo home run off Ryohei Tanaka before a pair of dingers upped the lead in the next innings. After back-to-back walks, Andy Wilkins roped a three-run homer into the construction zone beyond right field to make it 4-0 Dash. Gac followed with his second solo blast of the day into the right field home run porch seating area. Tyler Saladino tripled home a run one inning later and two more scored in the fifth off doubles by Gac and Nick Ciolli. Winston's offense supported Cameron Bayne, who threw seven shutout innings, scattering five hits and no walks for the victory. The win gave the Dash their fifth straight series victory. Winston-Salem has won 12 of its last 15 games over this stretch.

Mamma Said Shut You Out: On its own, an 8-0 shutout victory is nothing abnormal. However, when that win comes on the heels for four very similar games, a strange trend becomes visible. The winning team's margin in the last four games the Dash have played is an absurd 41-0. Fortunately for Winston-Salem, the Dash have won three of these four lopsided games. This string started on Thursday in the series finale with Wilmington when Winston won 11-0. The Dash won 10-0 on Friday against Frederick, lost to the Keys 12-0 on Saturday, and won 8-0 last night. Winston is now 7-4 in shutout games this season. The last time both teams scored in a Dash game was last Wednesday when Jake Petricka started opposite Wilmington lefty Justin Marks, which, interestingly enough, is tonight's starting pitching matchup.

30 for 33: Today Ian Gac was named the Carolina League's Player of the Week and yesterday's game was a big reason why. Gac was 3 for 3 (tying a season-high in hits) with two solo home runs, a double that led to another run scoring, a walk, and three runs scored. Last week, the slugger batted .450 (9 for 20) with a double, three homers, four RBI, eight runs scored, and five walks. Yesterday's two-homer game was Gac's third multi-homer game of the season and the 14th since 2005. For the season, Gac leads the Carolina League with 30 home runs and is tied for the most in all of minor league baseball in the category (Paul Goldschmidt also has 30, but the former Mobile BayBear is currently in the major leagues with Arizona). Gac has 12 more home runs that any other player in the CL and his 82 RBI are 14 more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (111), first in at bats (414), third in hits (115), tied for second in doubles (28), first in slugging percentage (.563), second in extra-base hits (58), first in runs scored (76), first in total bases (233), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/13.80). He is on pace to hit 38 home runs this season which would surpass his previous career-high of 32 in 2008. That total would also be tied for the most in any Carolina League season since Tolia Solaita hit 49 for the Hi-Toms in 1968. Gac has 157 career homers in nine professional seasons.

Winning Formula: The odds are pretty good for Winston-Salem to come away with the victory when Ian Gac homers. The Dash are 19-8 when games Gac hits a home run, good for a .703 winning percentage. The Dash are just 37-47 (.440) when Gac does not homer. The Dash are 10-6 (.625) when Andy Wilkins hits a home run, but have won 10 of the last 12 games during which the Oklahoman has homered.

Turn Smile Shift Repeat: Missing a week with a sore right knee has not seemed to slow down Andy Wilkins offensively. In his return to the lineup on Friday, Wilkins picked up a base hit, doubled in his first at bat Saturday night, and went 2 for 3 with a three-run home run yesterday. The former Razorback is riding an eight-game hit streak, tying his longest of the season. He is batting .419 (13 for 31) during the streak, which is the longest active streak for any Dash batter. The Keys always seem to bring out the best in Wilkins as well. The first baseman is hitting .310 with three doubles, seven home runs, 20 RBI, and 11 runs scored in 16 games against Frederick this season.

Not Cam-era Shy: With another strong outing last night, Cameron Bayne earned his 11th win of the season, tying him with the recently-promoted Bobby Bundy for the Carolina League lead. The Hawaiian allowed just five hits and one walk over seven shutout innings before departing after 89 pitches (57 strikes). He has lasted seven innings in his last three starts. Bayne is 11-4 with an ERA of 3.09 that ranks him seventh in the CL. He leads all CL hurlers with a .213 opponents' batting average. He is tied with Joe Serafin for the team lead with ten quality starts and the Dash are 12-6 when he pitches, their best team record with any starting pitcher.

Who Stopped J.R.': At one point this season, J.R. Ballinger had the Midas Touch when it came to pitching for the Dash. The right-hander from Moss Point, Mississippi earned the win in each of his first four appearances for Winston-Salem, posting a miniscule ERA of 0.90 (1 ER, 10 IP). Since getting the win on June 12 against Wilmington, Ballinger has pitched exclusively in games the Dash would go on to lose. He has appeared in ten consecutive Dash losses, going 0-2 in that stretch with a 7.06 ERA (17 ER, 21.2 IP).

New World Order: Yesterday the Dash stayed atop the Southern Division for the ninth straight day. Winston-Salem leads Kinston by two games, Myrtle Beach by 4.5 games, and Salem by 5.5 for a second half playoff spot.

Making a Good First Impression: Kevin Dubler has needed no learning curve for adjusting to life in the Carolina League. The backup catcher, who was called up from low-A Kannapolis on July 18, is batting .375 with one home run, three doubles, six RBI, and five runs scored in five games with the Dash. Not only has he picked up a hit in every game that he has played for Winston-Salem, but he has gotten a hit in his first at bat of each contest with the Dash.

‚¬ËœMaul of America: Ryan Kussmaul threw a perfect ninth inning in Friday night's game, striking out the first two batters he faced to continue his terrific season. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.25 strikeouts per nine innings, more than three full K's more than second-place Sean Gleason (11.04). He is second among all full-season minor league pitchers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (76) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (48.0).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Justin Marks (6-8, 4.66) makes his 17th start and 23rd appearance of the season tonight and his fourth start against the Dash. He is 3-0 with a 3.78 ERA in three starts against Winston. He got the win on Wednesday against the Dash, allowing two runs in 5.1 innings. Marks has shown flashes of effectiveness this season (three starts of five or more innings with no runs allowed), but has also had his rough moments. He has given up 15 runs in his last three starts combined, totaling 16.1 innings. Marks is in his first year with the Royals organization after he was traded from the Athletics this past offseason along with RHP Vin Mazzaro for OF David DeJesus. He and Mazzaro became expendable when the A's won the bidding for Japanese RHP Hisashi Iwakuma. He hails from Owensboro, Kentucky, the same hometown as former Dash catcher Logan Johnson; the two players, however, attended different high schools. They did play together at the University of Louisville, where Marks was the 2009 Big East Pitcher of the Year and Third Team All-America, spurring Oakland to select him with the team's third round draft pick. He had a stellar career for the Cardinals, earning Big East accolades in all three of his seasons with UofL. After making one start in 2009 for the AZL Athletics, he split 2010 between low-A Kane County (20 GS, 3-12, 4.92 ERA 119 K in 109.2 IP) and Advanced-A Stockton (5 G, 4 GS, 3-1, 4.58 ERA, 17 K in 19.2 IP). In high school, he was named the top prep prospect in the state and was drafted by Boston in the 37th round. The middle of three children, he grew up on a tobacco farm.

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