8/18: Mudcats at Hillcats Game Notes

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CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (CLEVELAND INDIANS)
Sunday, August 18, 2019 | 3:00 PM | Game 125, Away Game 62 | Calvin Falwell Field (4,281) | Lynchburg, VA
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: N/A
Overall Record: CAR: 61-63; LYN: 57-63
Streaks: CAR: W1; LYN: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 4-6, LYN: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 34-29; LYN: 24-29
Road Record: CAR: 27-34; LYN: 33-34
Division Record: CAR: 24-38; LYN: 21-25
Current Series: Tied 1-1 (of 3)
Season Series: CAR leads 8-5 (of 17)
CAR v. OPP: 5-2 @CAR (10), 3-3 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SUN, 8/18 at LYN, 3:00 PM: Carolina LHP Aaron Ashby (2-6, 3.65) at Lynchburg LHP Kirk McCarty (3-4, 4.74)
MON, 8/19: Off
TUE, 8/20 at MB, 7:05 PM: Carolina TBA at Myrtle Beach TBA
TODAY: Following last night's losing streak snapping comeback victory, the Mudcats continue a six-game, seven day, road trip tonight with the final game of a three game series in Lynchburg, VA versus the Hillcats... Carolina leveled the current series at 1-1 after rallying for five runs in the ninth last night while stunning the Hillcats with a six-game losing streak snapping 8-7 victory... The Mudcats now own a 8-5 overall season series lead between the two teams, having gone 5-2 against them at home and 3-3 in game versus the HIllcats in Lynchburg. Tonight's game is the third of three in the series and the sixth of nine second half meetings between the two teams. It is also the 14th of 17 overall games between Lynchburg and Carolina this year.
ICYMI: Carolina scored five straight two-out runs in the ninth to come back and defeat the Hillcats 8-7 on Saturday night in Lynchburg. Wes Rogers, Payton Henry, Pat McInerney and Eddie Silva each had two-out run scoring hits in the ninth as Carolina snapped a six-game losing streak. The Mudcats trailed 7-3 going into the ninth before coming back with five runs in the final frame while taking the middle game of the series 8-7.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Last night's come back was Carolina's largest of the 2019 season... Carolina won for just the second time this season when trailing after the eighth after rallying for five runs in the ninth to defeat the Hillcats 8-7 last night... Carolina matched a season high for runs scored in the ninth last night; matching their previous high of five runs scored in the ninth on 5/22 in a 7-6 loss to the Hillcats in Zebulon... Payton Henry homered in the first inning last night while putting Carolina up 2-0 early in the game. The home run was his 14th of the season and his first hit to left this year.
OF LATE: The Mudcats have gone just 10-25 since 7/10 and since starting the second half at 12-8 over their first 20 games (6/20-7/9) following the All-Star break... The Mudcats have also combined to hit just .207 with 3.1 R/G and a run differential of -33 runs since 7/10. 
CAROLINA'S STARTING PITCHER(S)...
Aaron Ashby: 2-6, 3.65 ERA, 10 GS, 56.2 IP, 27 BB, 46 SO, 1.31 WHIP
Last start, 8/4 at WS: L, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 94 pitches
Making first start since 8/4; was placed on the injured list on 8/5.
Currently rated as the No. 8 prospect in the Brewers system per MLBpipeline.com.
STREAKS OF NOTE:Phil Bickford has pitched through 19.0 consecutive scoreless innings (5 BB, 27 SO, 12.8 SO/9) and 10 straight scoreless appearances... Rob Henry started the season with six home runs over his first 16 games, but has not homered since 4/19 in Salem while going 68 straight games without a home run.
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is 1st in the CL in home runs (19), 1st in RBI (78), 1st in slugging (.477), 5th in OPS (.802), 7th in hits (113), 6th in runs (59), 1st in extra-base hits (44) and 1st in total bases (198)... Payton Henry is tied for 4th in the CL in home runs (14) and 4th in RBI (70)... Tristen Lutz is tied for 5th in the CL in home runs (13), 10th in RBI (54), tied for 3rd in XBH (40) and tied for 3rd in runs (62)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 8th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 8th in games (35)... J.T. Hintzen, Cody Beckman and Michael Petersen are all currently tied for 4th in the CL in games (37)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (2.98), 1st in innings pitched (133.0) and 1st in WHIP (1.14). Zavolas is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (3.21), 1st in xFIP (3.36), 1st in BB/9 (1.56) and 1st in K/BB (4.43).
ALL THE Ks: The Carolina offense has combined to total a Carolina League high 1,251 strikeouts this season (6th most in MiLB). The Mudcats are on pace to set both a CL and franchise record for most strikeouts for the third straight season. 
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense has combined to total a Carolina League high 94 hit by pitches this season. The Mudcats are also 3rd in MiLB and 3rd in professional baseball in most hit by pitches (94) this season.
EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: Mario Feliciano currently leads the Carolina League in both home runs and RBI so far this season. The last CL player to lead the league in homers and RBI was Salem's Bobby Dalbec who hit 26 home runs and totaled 85 RBI in 2018. Dalbec went on to be named the league's MVP last season. Lynchburg's Bobby Bradley (29 HR, 102 RBI) and Nellie Rodríguez (17 HR, 84 RBI) also led the CL in homers and RBI in 2016 and 2015 respectively and both went on to be named the CL MVP as well. Winston-Salem's Chris Curley (24 HR, 92 RBI) and Ian Gac (33 HR, 96 RBI) also led the CL at year's end in homers in 2013 and 2011 while earning CL MVP honors... The last Mudcats player to finish a season as the league leader (tied with Mobile's Paul Goldschmidt) in homers was Neftali Soto who homered 30 times for the then-Southern League affiliated Mudcats in 2011... Carolina has never had a player finish the season as the league leader in both homers and RBI. However, George Canale led the Southern League in RBI (102) and was second in the home runs (21) in 1995; Mark Johnson led the SL in homers (23) and was third in RBI (85) in 1994.
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 37-25 versus Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 18-12 versus Northern Division teams since 6/11 (at FRE)... The Mudcats are, however, just 9-30 vs. Southern Division teams since 5/25 (vs. DE, 2.5 G back of first before 5/25) and had suffered nine straight losses in games versus Southern Division teams before defeating the Pelicans 3-2 on 7/19. 
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry starting 62 games behind the plate and Feliciano starting 57 games at catcher... The Carolina pitching staff is 34-28 and has totaled a 3.57 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 8.7 SO/9, 38.4 CS%) in games started by and caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 26-31 with a 4.22 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9, 30.0 CS%) in games caught by Feliciano.
THE TOP 30: The Carolina roster currently features five of Milwaukee's Top 30 prospects (as rated by MLBPipeline.com) including No. 1 INF Brice Turang, No. 2 OF Tristen Lutz, No. 8 LHP Aaron Ashby, No. 9 C Mario Feliciano and No. 16 C Payton Henry.
THE MUDCATS HAVE…
... played in Zebulon, NC since 1991 (29th season).
... played in the Carolina League since 2012 (8th season).
... been an affiliate of the Brewers since 2017 (3rd season).
... not made the playoffs since the 2008 season.
... not made the playoffs during their Carolina League era.
... operated under the ownership of the Brewers since Oct. 2017.