Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes
August 28, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
WINSTON-SALEM DASH (34-29, 66-67) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (29-33, 69-62)
Sunday, August 28, 2011, 5:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC
Webcast available on www.wsdash.com 15 minutes before first pitch
Game No. 134 | Home Game No. 67 | 2011 Home Record 37-30 | 2011 Road Record 29-37
RHP Cameron Bayne (11-7, 3.47) vs. RHP Wilfredo Boscan (4-11, 4.34)
De Loss Santos: Winston-Salem's modest four-game winning streak ended last night, mostly because of a superb pitching performance by Myrtle Beach lefty Miguel De Los Santos. The southpaw struck out nine batters in 6.2 innings during the Pelicans' 3-1 victory. Jimmy Swift homered off Matt Wickswat in the third and Myrtle tallied single runs in the fourth and seventh innings. The Dash got a run on Ian Gac's RBI double in the fourth inning, but could manage no more against De Los Santos.
It's the Final Countdown: Seven games remain in the regular season and the Dash lead Kinston by one game for a playoff spot in the Southern Division. The magic number for Winston to clinch a playoff spot is eight, meaning any combination of eight Indians losses or Dash wins will give the Dash a playoff berth. Because of Hurricane Irene, the Indians have shifted their series from Kinston to Lynchburg and will play a doubleheader today followed by the series finale tomorrow. Later this week the K-Tribe play four games at home against Frederick and finish the season with three games at Potomac. Winston-Salem plays its last game against Myrtle Beach today 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 .457 (84-100) 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 .546 and Winston's at .453.
Soft Power: Not that it is ever easy to hit a home run, but Carolina Leaguers will certainly confirm that it is much tougher to hit them out of Salem's LewisGale Field than it is to clear one beyond BB&T Ballpark's fences. That explains why it is so perplexing that the Dash have not hit a home run in their three games since returning home on Friday. In the previous series, Winston-Salem hit seven bombs in four games at the pitchers' haven in Salem. The Dash lead the Carolina League in home runs this season with 124, 24 more than second-place Frederick. Winston also paced the circuit in homers last year with 112, the first time the team had hit the most homers over the CL season since 2005 when the Warthogs hit a whopping 178 dingers.
Home Field Advantage: Last night featured another packed house at BB&T Ballpark as 7,039 fans took in the game. It was the second-biggest home crowd of the season, trailing only the July 3 game against Salem when 7,143 filled the stands. Last night marked the Dash's 20th sellout of the season, surpassing last year's total of 19. Winston-Salem leads the Carolina League and all Advanced-A baseball teams in both total and average attendance for the second straight season. The 2011 total attendance is 295,014 through 64 home openings for an average crowd of 4,610. Last year the Dash set a franchise record with a total attendance of 312,313 and the team is currently on pace to exceed that mark this season.
Get Low: Since last Sunday, the Dash have outscored their opponents 47-16. While the offense has certainly had its moments (29 runs in two of the games), the pitching has been proceeding through perhaps its finest stretch of the season. The Winston staff has a 1.77 ERA (13 ER, 66 IP) over the last eight games, lowering its season ERA to 3.87, the lowest it has been since April 23. The bullpen has been terrific lately as well, not allowing an earned run over the last 18 innings.
The Hit Doctor is on-Coll once again: Kyle Colligan's season-best four-game hit streak ended yesterday with an 0 for 3 night at the plate. Despite the hitless game last night, the Houston native has recently shown signs of life lately after a mostly difficult 2011 season. Over his last seven games, Colligan is batting .364 (8 for 22) with three doubles, one homer, five RBI, and eight runs scored. He has 13 walks in his last 14 games and has posted an on-base percentage of .460 (23 times reached base in 50 plate appearances).
Firing Blankes: Like Colligan, Mike Blanke has been hot offensively as of late. The Dash catcher has hit .333 (17 for 51) in his last 15 games with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, and five runs scored. He has posted an OPS of .909 during this stretch (.340 OBP with 18 for 53 reaching base and .569 SLG).
The Right Stuff: Tonight marks the first time since last Tuesday that a right-handed pitcher will throw against the Dash. Winston just wrapped a stretch of facing lefties in five straight games and six of the last seven. The team fared well in the recent southpaw streak, going 4-1 and only losing last night to Miguel De Los Santos.
G-Man: Ian Gac hit his 32nd home run of the season last 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 90 RBI are ten more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (133, the only player in the league that has played every game), first in at bats (492), seventh in batting average (.278), second in hits (137), tied for fourth in doubles (30), first in slugging percentage (.535), second in extra-base hits (62), first in runs scored (89), first in total bases (263), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.38). 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 45-59 (.433) 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.
¬ËMaul 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: RHP Wilfredo Boscan (4-11, 4.34) makes his 20th start and 22nd appearance of the season for the Pelicans and his third against the Dash. In two previous starts against Winston, he is 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA, allowing seven runs on 13 hits in 13.1 innings. He has picked up a decision in 13 of his last 14 starts, though he's lost three straight decisions (five of six). He didn't get a decision in his last start on August 23 against Lynchburg. He gave up three runs (all earned) on nine hits in 5.1 innings in an eventual 8-4 loss in 11 innings. Boscan joined the Pelicans from AA Frisco, where he struggled to start the season. He went 1-3 with a 6.95 ERA in five starts, surrendering 30 hits in 22 innings. He is a combined 5-14 with a 4.76 ERA in 26 games at two levels in 2011. His 14 losses tie him for second in all of minor league baseball in the category, one behind two players tied for first with 15. Last year for Advanced-A Bakersfield, Boscan went 9-14 with a 4.67 ERA in 27 starts, striking out 130 and walking 40 in 163.2 innings. He was tied for ninth in the California League in wins, second in innings, and fifth in strikeouts. His finest season as a professional came in 2008, his first year stateside. He was a Northwest League All- Star after going 9-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 15 games (12 starts). His nine wins led the league and he struck out 70 while walking only 11 in 69.1 innings. Boscan was signed as a 16-year-old in 2006 out of Maracaibo, Venezuela.
Carolina League Stories from August 28, 2011
- Hillcats Unable to Weather Storm - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Kinston Wins Make-Up in Lynchburg 9-2 - Kinston Indians
- Unlikely Hero Clinches Victorious Road Finale - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Dash Blast Boscan, Pelicans out of Winston - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Wilkins Slams Dash to Series Win - Winston-Salem Dash
- Rocks Squeak Past Sox 5-4 in Home Finale - Salem Red Sox
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Keys Salvage Split - Frederick Keys
- Pelicans Game Notes - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes - Winston-Salem Dash
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