CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on August 27, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (34-28, 66-66) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (28-33, 68-62)

Saturday, August 27, 2011, 7:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 133 | Home Game No. 66 | 2011 Home Record 37-29 | 2011 Road Record 29-37

LHP Matt Wickswat (5-5, 4.29) vs. LHP Miguel De Los Santos (5-3, 3.88)

Storm Surge: Hurricane Irene may not have sunk Myrtle Beach, but the Dash were able to last night, sweeping a doubleheader from the Pelicans at BB&T Ballpark. Winston won game one 3-0 behind a combined one-hitter by Ryan Buch and Taylor Thompson. The Dash scored single runs in the first, second, and sixth innings against Chad Bell, who went the distance in a complete game loss. The only hit Myrtle could manage was Zach Zaneski's hot-shot short-hopper that skipped off third baseman Juan Silverio's glove in the fifth. The Pelicans scored the first run of game two in the third inning against Andre Rienzo, but the Winston offense exploded for six runs in the third inning for the second straight night en route to the 6-1 victory. The doubleheader sweep was the second in 16 days for Winston-Salem after going more than two seasons without winning both games of a twin-bill.

Shutouts Shut Down: When Jared Prince brought Andres James home with a base hit to center field in the third inning of game two last night, the Dash experienced something they had not seen in quite some time: an opposing team scoring a run. The Pelicans' only run of the doubleheader was the first Winston-Salem had allowed since Tuesday, snapping a string of 34 consecutive scoreless innings by Dash pitching. The last time the Dash gave up a run was with two outs in the second inning on Tuesday in Salem. Since then, Winston achieved three consecutive shutout victories and have outscored its opposition 28-1 following last night's doubleheader. The bullpen has been terrific lately as well, not allowing an earned run over the last 16 innings.

It's the Final Countdown: Eight games remain in the regular season and lately things have gone the Dash's way. Over the last three nights, Winston has won a four of games and Kinston lost twice to give the Dash a 1.5 game lead for a playoff spot in the Southern Division. The magic number for Winston to clinch a playoff spot is seven, meaning any combination of seven Indians losses or Dash wins will give the Dash a playoff berth. The Indians' remaining schedule shows a home stand with two games against Lynchburg and four against Frederick. The K-Tribe finishes up the season with three games at Potomac. Winston-Salem plays two at home against Myrtle Beach and three more home games against Salem before finishing up the season with a three-game series at Lynchburg. The combined second half winning percentage of Kinston's remaining opponents is .539 (97-83) while the Dash's remaining opponents have a .451 (82-100) winning percentage. When weighted with the number of games left against each opponent, the difficulty of Kinston's schedule is even more daunting, with the Indians' opponents' winning percentage at .555 and Winston's at .449.

The Hit Doctor is on-Coll once again: Kyle Colligan had doubles in both games yesterday to run his hitting streak to four games, tying a season-high for the Houston native. Colligan has recently shown signs of life lately after a mostly difficult 2011 season. Over his last seven games, he is batting .421 (8 for 19) with three doubles, one homer, five RBI, and eight runs scored. He has 13 walks in his last 13 games and has posted an on-base percentage of .489 (23 times reached base in 47 plate appearances). His batting average (.209) is the highest it has been since April 17 when it was .300 after four games this season.

Firing Blankes: Like Colligan, Mike Blanke has been hot offensively as of late. The Dash catcher has hit .354 (17 for 48) in his last 14 games with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, and five runs scored. He has posted an OPS of .964 during this stretch (.360 OBP with 18 for 50 reaching base and .604 SLG) and has raised his average to .241, the highest it has been with the Dash since he went 1 for 3 in his Carolina League debut.

Lefty Overload: The Dash are in the final game of an incredible run facing left-handed starting pitchers. Winston has faced lefties in each of the last four ballgames and will face one more tonight in Miguel De Los Santos. That will make it five straight left-handed starters opposing the Dash and six of the last seven games going back to Monday night's showdown with Drake Britton. The Dash hit nine points better against lefties than righties this season (.257 to .248) and have a better record in games started by a southpaw (29-23 versus 37-43 against right-handers).

Bring Sally Up: On Monday, Dash shortstop Tyler Saladino was named the Carolina League "Player of the Week" for his performance from August 15 - 21. This is first time he has earned an award like this in his professional career. The honor was well-earned, as Saladino led all minor leaguers in batting average at .630 (17 for 27), was first in triples (3), and tied for second in extra-base hits (8). In his last 11 games, Saladino is 20 for 42 (.476) with six doubles, four triples, a home run, seven RBI, and eight runs scored. During this period, the San Diegan has raised his batting average 28 points from .234 to .263.

G-Man: Ian Gac hit his 32nd home run of the season on Sunday to snap a tie game in the third inning. The home run also tied his career-high for a season, which he previously set in 2008 with low-A Clinton and Advanced-A Bakersfield (Texas Rangers). Sixteen of his 32 homers this season have either tied the game or given the Dash the lead. Gac leads the Carolina League in home runs and is second in all of minor league baseball (the Iowa Cubs' Bryan LaHair has 36). Gac has 12 more home runs than any other player in the CL and his 89 RBI are nine more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (132, the only player in the league that has played every game), first in at bats (488), eighth in batting average (.277), second in hits (135), tied for fifth in doubles (29), first in slugging percentage (.533), second in extra-base hits (61), first in runs scored (89), first in total bases (260), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.25). He is on pace to hit 34 home runs this season, which would be the most in any Carolina League season since Tolia Solaita hit 49 for the Hi-Toms in 1968. Gac has 159 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 21-8 in games Gac hits a home run, good for a .724 winning percentage. The Dash are just 45-58 (.437) when Gac does not homer. The Dash are 11-6 (.647) when Andy Wilkins hits a home run, but have won 11 of the last 13 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 pitched two scoreless innings Wednesday night to earn his sixth save in as many chances. He has allowed four runs (two earned) on ten hits in his last 21 appearances, sporting a 0.59 ERA (2 ER, 30.2 IP) with a .118 batting average against (12 for 102) and 55 strikeouts (seven walks) in the process. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.15 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly two more full K's than second-place Eliecer Cardenas (11.89). He is second among all full-season minor league pitchers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (87) despite only ranking seventh among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (55.1). He is also second among CL relievers with a .165 opponents' batting average and is second in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.62).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Miguel De Los Santos (5-3, 3.88) makes his 12th appearance of the season for Myrtle Beach and 11th start. De Los Santos won his last three decisions, but comes off one of his worst starts of the season on August 21 against Kinston. He gave up seven runs (all earned) on nine hits in 3.1 innings and did not get a decision in an eventual 8-7 loss. That start was only two weeks after he threw seven hitless innings in a win on August 6 against Potomac. That performance garnered De Los Santos the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week Award. He is 1-1 against the Dash in two starts, and most recently against Winston got the loss on July 30 after giving up three runs and walking four batters in 1.2 innings. He got the win against the Dash on July 7, throwing five shutout innings at BB&T Ballpark. De Los Santos started the season with AA Frisco where he went 1-3 with an 8.04 ERA in six starts. His lone victory was in a five inning scoreless start on April 22 against Corpus Christi (Astros). He was placed on the disabled in May with biceps tendonitis and on June 23 made one start for the Arizona League Rangers (3 IP, 4 H, ER, 7 K) before coming to Myrtle Beach. De Los Santos came into the season ranked by Baseball America as the tenth-best prospect in the Rangers organization. He was signed as a free agent in 2006 out of the Dominican Republic and split his first three years between the Rangers' Dominican Summer League and Arizona League affiliates before visa issues kept him in the DSL in 2009. Last year he split time between Rookie Spokane and low-A Hickory and averaged 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings, prompting the Rangers to put him on the 40-man roster during the offseason. His changeup is ranked by Baseball America as the best in the organization, and he also throws a low-90s fastball and a curveball.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 27, 2011


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