CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on August 18, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (29-23, 61-61) @ POTOMAC NATIONALS (27-25, 56-65)

Thursday, August 18, 2011, 7:05 p.m. | G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium | Woodbridge, VA

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

Game No. 123 | Road Game No. 59 | 2011 Home Record 35-29 | 2011 Road Record 26-32

RHP Cameron Bayne (11-5, 3.30) @ LHP Sammy Solis (4-2, 3.38)

Cat Nipped: The Dash dropped their second straight series, losing last night 4-3 in the finale with the Lynchburg Hillcats. Winston-Salem scored first on a second inning solo home run by Mike Blanke, but the Hillcats scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth innings to build a three-run lead. Two of the runs were unearned, the result of three Winston-Salem errors. Andrelton Simmons powered Lynchburg, going 3 for 5 with a triple, a run scored on tie-breaking suicide squeeze, and his first home run of the season. The Dash rallied late, scoring twice in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to three, but stranded seven men on base over the last four innings and were defeated. It was the first time since July 3 - 5 that the Dash had lost consecutive games at home. That series, which started on July 2 against the Salem Red Sox, was also the last time Winston-Salem lost a series at BB&T Ballpark.

Standings Update: The Dash have dropped five of their last seven games and the Kinston Indians have made their push to get to within half a game of Winston-Salem for first place in the Southern Division. The Dash are four games ahead of first half champion Myrtle Beach and five games ahead of Salem.

A Hitter's Bayne: Cameron Bayne makes his second attempt at becoming the first Carolina League pitcher to win 12 games tonight against the P-Nats. Bayne is returning to the site of his Carolina League debut, where he dominated the Nationals, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and settling for seven one-hit, shutout innings in a victory. With two Southern League wins part of his season haul, Bayne has 13 total victories this season, tying him for second in all of minor league baseball in the category. He trails only Julio Rodriguez of the Florida State League's Clearwater Threshers (Phillies Advanced-A affiliate), who has 15 wins in 2011.

BB&T: Blowout Baseball Town: Last night's tight game was an exception to a recent trend of blowouts at BB&T Ballpark. It was the first time since August 2 (a span of nine games) that a game there had been decided by fewer than four runs. In the previous 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 Tuesday night 11-5 to keep the blowout run intact.

The Tao of Tyler: Dash shortstop Tyler Saladino is starting to get hot offensively. Last night the San Diegan tied a career-high with four hits, going 4 for 5 with two doubles and a run scored. In his last two games, Saladino is 7 for 10 with three RBI. Prior to the last two games, he had gone 11 straight without a multi-hit contest.

Firing Blankes: After hitting just two home runs in his first 177 Carolina League at bats, Mike Blanke has now gone deep in back-to-back ballgames. He hit a homer to lead off the fourth inning on Tuesday and hit a solo shot in the second inning last night. Between his time Kannapolis and Winston-Salem this season, Blanke has hit six home runs with only one of them coming with a runner on base (his first of the season was a two-run home run on April 10 at Lakewood).

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 86 RBI are ten more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (122), first in at bats (452), eighth in batting average (.277), tied for second in hits (125), tied for third in doubles (28), first in slugging percentage (.544), second in extra-base hits (59), first in runs scored (83), first in total bases (246), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/14.58). 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 41-53 (.436) 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: Since giving up two runs in an outing on June 2 against Potomac, Kussmaul has been nothing short of spectacular. He has allowed four runs (two earned) on nine hits in his last 19 appearances, sporting a 0.64 ERA (2 ER, 28.1 IP) with a .117 batting average against (11 for 94) and 51 strikeouts (seven walks) in the process. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.09 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 (83) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (53.0). He also leads CL relievers with a .167 opponents' batting average and is second in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.83).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Sammy Solis (4-2, 3.38) makes his seventh start of the season for Potomac, and second against Winston-Salem. He got the loss in his first start against the Dash on July 22 after giving up four runs (all earned) in the first two innings of the game. He lasted four total and struck out five in his first loss at the Advanced-A level. He returns to the rotation for the first time since August 2 after he was placed on the disabled list. The start of his first full professional season was delayed at the beginning of this year because of a quadriceps injury he suffered during spring training, and he made his 2011 debut with low-A Hagerstown on May 30. Solis was 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA in seven starts with the Suns before his promotion to Potomac. His first three starts with the P-Nats were quality starts, including a scoreless seven-inning appearance in his second start against Lynchburg. Overall, Solis has thrown five of six quality starts with the P-Nats; the only non-quality start was against the Dash. Ranked by Baseball America as the sixth-best prospect in the Nationals organization, Solis was drafted in the second round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of the University of San Diego. The Litchfield Park, AZ native signed two days before the August 16 deadline for $1 million. He made two starts in Hagerstown last year and didn't allow a run on only two hits in four innings. After the season, Solis played in the Arizona Fall League and had a 3.80 ERA in 24 innings. He went 9-2 with a 3.42 ERA in his last year at USD after missing all of 2009 with the Toreros because of a herniated disc in his back. He was initially drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of high school in the 18th round of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Solis features a fastball that can sit 88-92 and top out at 94 with late movement, a changeup ranked by Baseball America as the best in the Nationals' 2010 draft class, and a knuckle-curve that can range from 74-81.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 18, 2011


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