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Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

August 14, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


Three's (Bad) Company: Winston-Salem dropped its third straight game last night, losing 6-1 to Frederick at Harry Grove Stadium. Rick Zagone set the tone for the Keys with six innings of two-hit, shutout baseball while Frederick managed to break through against Cameron Bayne. The Dash right-hander had posted a 1.32 ERA in five previous starts against Frederick, but had trouble with his command last night. The Keys scored three times against him in the third with the biggest blow coming from Miguel Abreu's two-run double with the bases loaded. Frederick added single runs in the fifth and sixth to build a 5-0 lead. The Dash could not scratch across a run until the eighth as Frederick picked up the win and the series victory. Today Winston looks to avoid its first four-game series sweep of the season.

Standings Update: With last night's loss and Kinston's win, the Dash and K-Tribe are now tied for first place in the Southern Division at 26-21. First half champion Myrtle Beach is 3.5 games behind and Salem is lingering 5.5 games behind first place in the race for the second half playoff spot.

Unleashing his inner Danimal: With a 2 for 3 night at the plate last night, Daniel Wagner continued his good stretch of offensive play. In his last seven games, Wagner is batting .375 (9 for 24) to raise his season batting average to .244. That is the highest mark his average has reached since May 3, when it stood at .248.

Salad Ballad: Winston shortstop Tyler Saladino has a put together a modest seven-game hitting streak after stroking an eighth inning double last night. Saladino has managed just one hit in each of the seven games and is batting .250 (7 for 28) during the streak, which is tied for his longest of the season.

Horrible Losses: The Dash dropped their third straight ballgame last night for the first time since July 16-18. The series defeat snapped a six-series winning streak for the team that lasted nearly a month. The last time Winston-Salem lost a series was July 17-20 in a four-game series at Kinston.

No "O" in the land of the "O's": Last night's ballgame continued the recent struggles for the Winston-Salem offense. The team scored one run on four hits a night after not collecting their first baserunner until the sixth inning. Over the last four games, the Dash have tallied just eight runs on 26 hits. The opposition, meanwhile, has produced 21 runs on 33 hits in the same span.

Smoking a Dubler: Winston backup catcher Kevin Dubler continued to produce since his call-up to the Carolina League last month. Friday night Dubler went 1 for 3 with a two-run home run, a walk, and two runs scored. Since joining the Dash, Dubler has had a base hit in every game and is batting .364 with three doubles, two homers, eight RBI, and eight runs scored. The Downers Grove, Illinois native has an eight-game hitting streak going back to his final game with Kannapolis and is batting .417 (10 for 24) during the streak. His streak of getting a base hit in his first at bat of every game with the Dash did come to an end last night, however, as he flied out to left field his first time up in the third inning.

30 for 33: On Monday, Ian Gac was named the Carolina League's Player of the Week for the first time this season, although it is the third time in his professional career he has received a similar honor. 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 second-most in all of minor league baseball in the category (current major leaguer Paul Goldschmidt has 30 and the Iowa Cubs' Bryan LaHair has 31). Gac has 12 more home runs that any other player in the CL and his 82 RBI are eight more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (117), tied for second in at bats (433), seventh in batting average (.275), third in hits (119), tied for third in doubles (28), first in slugging percentage (.547), second in extra-base hits (58), first in runs scored (79), first in total bases (237), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/14.43). He is on pace to hit 36 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 39-51 (.433) 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.

‘Maul of America: Ryan Kussmaul threw a perfect seventh inning Tuesday night to pick up his fifth save in as many chances. He struck out the first two batters he faced to continue his terrific season. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.33 strikeouts per nine innings, more than three full K's more than second-place Sean Gleason (10.95). He is second among all full-season minor league pitchers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (78) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (49.0). He also leads CL relievers with a .162 opponents' batting average and is second in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.63).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Nick Haughian (8-5, 3.64) makes his 17th start and 24th appearance of the season. He has appeared in four games against the Dash this season, starting three and relieving in another. He 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA (14 ER in 18.2 IP) against Winston-Salem and the Dash are hitting .359 against the lefty. A Carolina League "Pitcher of the Week" award winner earlier in the season, Haughian has had a very strong second half of the season. After posting a 3-4 record with a 4.77 ERA in the first half, he is 5-1 with a 2.59 ERA since the All-Star break, although he has allowed ten runs over 13.1 innings in his last two starts combined. Haughian spent most of last season as a reliever for low-A Delmarva (30 appearances) before transitioning to a starter late in the year (5 starts). He went 6-4 with a 3.97 ERA for the Shorebirds, striking out 90 batters in 93 innings. He spent most of his 2009 season with short-season Aberdeen (with two apperances for Delmarva) and played for the Iron Birds in 2008, his first professional season. Haughian was drafted by Baltimore in the ninth round in 2008 out of the University of Washington. The Marysville, WA native was 12-13 with the Huskies and spent his last two seasons there as a starting pitcher. As a junior, Haughian went 6-5 with a 3.76 ERA and led UW in complete games (3), shutouts (1), and strikeouts (107, second in the Pac-10). He was first-team All-State as a senior at Marysville-Pilchuck HS, going 10-0 with a 0.68 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. He led his team to the state quarterfinals that season. Overall, he was 20-1 as a pitcher in high school. Haughian throws a low-90s fastball, a slider, and a changeup.

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