Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes
Published on April 7, 2013 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
EIGHTH-INNING ERROR DOOMS DASH Winston-Salem spoiled an eighth-inning lead in Saturday's 4-3 loss at Carolina thanks to a pair of unearned runs. With two down and the bases empty, the Mudcats mustered two base runners. Joey Wendle then sent a fly ball to fairly deep left field that bounced off Billy Rice's glove and chased home both runners. The error spoiled a solid pitching effort from Winston-Salem. Starter Chris Bassitt twirled five innings and allowed only one run on three hits. The bullpen trio of Daniel Webb, Max Peterson and Cody Winiarski did not allow an earned run in three combined frames of work.
THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM? Winston-Salem is 0-2 to begin the season for the first time since 2008. This is the first time that the club has lost its first two contests since the nickname change to Dash in 2009. Winston has not kicked off a campaign with three straight defeats since 2005 when former Cleveland CL affiliate Kinston swept Winston-Salem from April 8-10 by only a combined seven runs.
NO SWEEPING During last season's 87-51-1 season, the Dash did not suffer a sweep all season. In fact, dating back to 2011, the Dash have won their last seven games when facing a sweep. Winston-Salem's last sweep came against Salem from July 9-11 of 2011, when the Red Sox outscored the Dash 26-9 in a three-game set at LewisGale Field in the Roanoke Valley.
BAD TOPSPIN The Dash's top four hitters have struggled in the early going in 2013. In the opener, Billy Rice, Joey DeMichele, Courtney Hawkins and Kevan Smith combined to go 1-for-16 with five strikeouts. In Saturday's defeat, the group mustered just a 1-for-15 showing with six whiffs. Hawkins has struck out three times in each of the first two games. The Corpus Christi, Texas, native only struck out three times in a game once in 59 games in his debut season of 2012.
BUCK-ING THE TREND Despite Winston-Salem's struggles offensively in the first two games of 2013, first baseman Grant Buckner has turned in a pair of solid efforts. The former West Virginia Mountaineer is 3-for-6 (.500) with two doubles and a run scored thus far this season. He has reached in four of his seven plate appearances. Last season, Buckner hit .254 in 109 games with Low-A Kannapolis.
THIS ISN'T 2012 ANYMORE One year after Winston-Salem led the Carolina League in most offensive categories, the club is off to its slowest offensive start since 2005 when the Warthogs only mustered three runs in their first two games. The Dash also dropped to 0-1 when leading after seven innings. Last year, Winston was 75-5 in those situations.
HIGH-A BECK-ONS FOR CHRIS This afternoon marks the beginning of righty Chris Beck's High-A career. The White Sox pegged Beck with their second-round (76th overall) pick in 2012. He was the first college prospect Chicago selected a year ago. The Jefferson, Ga., native is the White Sox 10th-best prospect, according to Baseball America. He is fourth among pitchers, trailing only Winston-Salem alums Erik Johnson (4th), Scott Snodgress (6th) and Andre Rienzo (7th). Beck went 4-3 with a 4.69 ERA in 40.1 innings with rookie-level Great Falls in his first pro season.
ROTATION RELIES ON FORMER RELIEVERS The Dash's Opening Day rotation features five righties who have spent plenty of time in the bullpen during their minor league career. Bryan Blough (64 appearances, 6 starts), Chris Bassitt (61, 10), Chris Beck (15, 6), Terance Marin (77, 0) and Justin Collop (93, 55) have combined for only 77 minor league starts in their 310 outings (25%) entering 2013. If you throw out Collop's numbers, the other four rotation members have combined for just 22 minor league starts in 217 efforts (10%). Marin is the only one without a start in his career.
Carolina League Stories from April 7, 2013
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- Late Rally Leads Hillcats to 11-6 Win - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Mudcats Deal Dash First Sweep Since 2011 - Winston-Salem Dash
- Mudcats Complete Sweep of Dash - Carolina Mudcats
- Davis Launches Frederick to Series Sweep - Salem RidgeYaks
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
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- Offense Sputters as Rocks Drop Second Straight - Wilmington Blue Rocks
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