CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

August 9, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (24-18, 56-56) @ WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (17-26, 53-59)

Tuesday, August 9, 2011, 7:05 p.m. | Daniel S. Frawley Stadium | Wilmington, DE

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

Game No. 114 | Road Game No. 53 | 2011 Home Record 33-27 | 2011 Road Record 23-29

RHP Andre Rienzo (3-4, 3.72) @ RHP Tim Melville (8-7, 4.33)

Close, but no cigar: The Dash played a close game for the first time in five days, but unfortunately the decision went in the wrong direction last night as the Blue Rocks won 3-1 in the series opener at Frawley Stadium. Carlo Testa hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Wilmington added another run in the fifth to build a 3-0 lead. Winston-Salem got its only run in the seventh, but had chances for more as the Dash left ten men on base and went just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. The two-run loss came on the heels of four consecutive lopsided shutouts that the Dash were involved in. Going back to last Thursday's series finale against the Rocks at BB&T Ballpark, the winning margin in the next four games were 41-0, with Winston-Salem winning three of those four games. Despite, the loss, the Dash stayed two games in front of Kinston, which also lost last night, for first place in the Southern Division.

Blue Bombers: Entering today's action, the Blue Rocks were tied for last in the Carolina League in home runs, but you would not know it if you only saw them play the Dash. Wilmington has hit a remarkable 21 of its 61 home runs, 34 percent, this season against Winston-Salem. The Rocks have hit 11 more home runs against the Dash than any other Carolina League opponent and are batting .269 as a team against Winston, second only to their .273 average against Potomac.

A True Marksman: Last night Wilmington starter Justin Marks continued to confound Winston-Salem's batters. The lefty tossed 5.2 scoreless innings, scattering three hits and three walks. He struck out eight men, his second-biggest strikeout game of the season. His most K's also came against the Dash, when he struck out 12 Winston players on June 18. In four starts against Winston-Salem, Marks is 4-0 with a 2.82 ERA and a .235 opponent batting average. He has struck out 33 Dash batters in 22.1 innings.

30 for 33: On Monday, Ian Gac was named the Carolina League's Player of the Week and Sunday'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. Sunday'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 (current major leaguer Paul Goldschmidt and the Iowa Cubs' Bryan LaHair also have 30). 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 (112), first in at bats (417), third in hits (115), tied for second in doubles (28), first in slugging percentage (.559), second in extra-base hits (58), first in runs scored (76), first in total bases (233), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/13.90). 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 37-48 (.435) 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 four games since returning to the lineup, he is 6 for 14 (.429) with a double and a home run. The former Razorback is riding a nine-game hit streak, his longest of the season. He is batting .441 (15 for 34) during the streak, which is the longest active streak for any Dash batter.

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).

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: RHP Tim Melville (8-7, 4.33) makes his 24th appearance of the season, and 20th start for Wilmington. This is the third time he has faced the Dash, losing last week at Winston-Salem (2.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R). In his first start against the Dash, Melville picked up the win in six shutout innings at BB&T Ballpark on June 10. Because of pitch count limitations, Melville was moved to the bullpen for four appearances from July 9 until the 19th. He made his first start since entering the bullpen on July 24 and threw 3.1 innings against Kinston, allowing four runs (earned). In his last start, also against Kinston (July 29), he picked up his first win in seven outings after throwing seven scoreless innings. He gave up only two hits, and earned Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors. Melville won three straight starts in mid-May where he gave up only five runs (four earned) in 15.2 innings combined. Coming into the season, he was ranked by Baseball America as the 14th-best prospect in the Royals system. He split 2010 between the Arizona League Royals and Wilmington. With the Blue Rocks, Melville was 2-12 with a 4.97 ERA in 22 starts. He faced Winston-Salem four times last year, and was 0-3 with a 10.38 ERA and the Dash hit .378 against him. In three out of the four starts, Winston scored six or more runs against Melville. He was drafted by Kansas City out of high school in the fourth round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft and was committed to the University of North Carolina before signing. His repertoire includes a fastball, curveball, and changeup.

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Carolina League Stories from August 9, 2011


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