CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on August 17, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (29-22, 61-60) vs. LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (21-30, 51-70)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011, 7:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 122 | Home Game No. 64 | 2011 Home Record 35-28 | 2011 Road Record 26-32

LHP Matt Wickswat (5-3, 4.48) vs. LHP Dimasther Delgado (8-6, 3.87)

Cat Fancy: A night after outscoring the Hillcats 18-3, the Dash were humbled by a persistent offensive assault by their visitors from the Hill City, dropping an 11-5 decision last night at BB&T Ballpark. Lynchburg scored six times in the first two innings and tagged Joe Serafin for eight runs in 3.2 frames to build a formidable lead. Andrelton Simmons and Phil Gosselin had three hits each while Joey Terdoslavich and Joe Leonard both had three RBI to power the Hillcats to victory. Lynchburg snapped a seven-game losing streak at BB&T Ballpark, marking their first win here since May 5, the teams' first matchup of the season. Winston-Salem left scoring opportunities on the field, stranding eight men on base over the first five innings.

BB&T: Blowout Baseball Town: BB&T Ballpark has become a house of blowouts lately. In the last seven games contested at the home of the Dash, the winning margin has been a combined 70-8. This string started on Thursday, August 4 when Winston beat Wilmington 11-0. The next night the Dash beat Frederick 10-0 and lost to the Keys on Saturday, August 6 12-0. On Sunday, Winston won the series finale with the Keys 8-0. The Dash won both games Monday night by a combined score of 18-3 and lost last night 11-5 to keep the blowout run intact.

Standings Update: Even with last night's loss, Winston-Salem remained 1.5 games in front of the Kinston Indians, who lost 6-3 in 11 innings last night. The Dash are four games ahead of first half champion Myrtle Beach and six games ahead of Salem.

The Tao of Tyler: Dash shortstop Tyler Saladino provided one of the few highlights from last night's loss, going 3 for 5 with three runs batted in. He got Winston-Salem on the scoreboard with a two-run single in the second inning and drove in another run with a base hit in the fourth. The multi-hit game was his first in the last 12 games for the former Oral Roberts star and the multi-RBI game was his first in 18 games.

Need a Wick-ed Good Staht: Tonight Matt Wickswat looks to bounce back from back-to-back rough outings against the Frederick Keys. On Friday, he yielded seven runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings. In his last two starts, Wickswat has posted an ERA of 14.54, allowing 15 runs (14 earned) on 18 hits (four homers) and five walks in 8.2 innings. Prior to these two outings, Wickswat had won five straight starts and an ERA of 2.91 that has since risen to 4.48. The southpaw has had a hard time closing out innings against Frederick, as 13 of the 15 runs he has allowed against the Keys have come with two outs in the inning.

Unleashing his inner Danimal:, Daniel Wagner continued his good stretch of offensive play yesterday, going 1-4 at the plate. In his last ten games, Wagner is batting .364 (12 for 33) to raise his season batting average to .246. That is the highest mark his average has reached since May 3, when it stood at .248.

Duble Your Pleasure: Winston backup catcher Kevin Dubler continued to produce since his call-up to the Carolina League last month. On Monday night Dubler went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run. Since joining the Dash, Dubler has had a base hit in every game and is batting .385 with three doubles, three homers, ten RBI, and nine runs scored. The Downers Grove, Illinois native has a nine-game hitting streak going back to his final game with Kannapolis and is batting .462 (12 for 26) during the streak.

31 Jump Street: Ian Gac blasted his 31st home run of the season in the first game on Monday night, extending his Carolina League lead and keeping him second in all of minor league baseball (the Iowa Cubs' Bryan LaHair has 33). Gac has 12 more home runs that any other player in the CL and his 85 RBI are nine more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (121), first in at bats (448), seventh in batting average (.277), second in hits (124), tied for third in doubles (28), first in slugging percentage (.547), second in extra-base hits (59), first in runs scored (83), first in total bases (245), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/14.45). 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 set a new Winston-Salem record (Ed Olivares set the current record of 35 home runs in 1960 for the Winston-Salem RedBirds) and also would be the most in any Carolina League season since Tolia Solaita hit 49 for the Hi-Toms in 1968. Gac has 158 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 20-8 in games Gac hits a home run, good for a .714 winning percentage. The Dash are just 41-52 (.441) 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.

‚¬ËœMaul Rat: On Sunday, Ryan Kussmaul suffered a bit of a hiccup during an otherwise otherworldly second half of the season. Kussmaul allowed a home run and a walk in two innings Sunday against the Keys. The home run was the second the right-hander has allowed all season and the first since May 7. Since giving up two runs in an outing on June 2 against Potomac, Kussmaul has been nothing short of spectacular. He has allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits in his last 18 appearances, sporting a 0.68 ERA (2 ER, 26.1 IP) with a .105 batting average against (9 for 86) and 49 strikeouts (six walks) in the process. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.29 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly two more full K's than second-place Eliecer Cardenas (12.42). He is second among all full-season minor league pitchers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (81) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (51.0). He also leads CL relievers with a .163 opponents' batting average and is second in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.65).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Dimasther Delgado (8-6, 3.87) makes his 22nd appearance and 16th start of the season for Lynchburg and third appearance against the Dash. Delgado has made two relief appearances and one start against Winston-Salem, registering a 1-2 record and 3.00 ERA in 15 innings. He lost two straight appearances against Winston on June 24 and July 17 after getting the win in his first outing against the Dash on May 5. He has won three consecutive decisions dating back to July 20. Delgado entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the 18th-best prospect in the Atlanta Braves organization even after not playing all of last year. He broke his left hand (just above the wrist), the femur in his right leg, and tore a ligament in his right knee after a car accident in his native Panama in February 2010, causing him to miss the whole season. In 2009 with low-A Rome, Delgado was 5-7 with a 3.61 ERA in 17 starts. He was signed as a minor league free agent by the Braves organization in 2007. His repertoire includes a fastball in the low-90s, a changeup heralded as one of the best in the organization, and a curveball.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 17, 2011


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