April 26 - Mudcats Game Notes

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POTOMAC NATIONALS (WASHINGTON NATIONALS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Friday, April 26, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 22, Home Game 8 | Five County Stadium| Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO: www.carolinamudcats.com, TuneIn Radio, First Pitch App
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 12-9; POT: 8-13
Streaks: CAR: W1; POT: L3
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, POT: 3-7
Home Record: CAR: 3-4; POT: 5-9
Road Record: CAR: 9-5; POT: 3-4
Division Record: CAR: 8-6; POT: 1-5
Current Series: First game (of 3)
Season Series: CAR leads 3-0 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 0-0 @CAR (7), 3-0 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTERS:
TONIGHT, 4/26 vs. POT, 7:00 PM: Potomac RHP Malvin Pena (1-1, 7.50) at Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (1-2, 5.87)
SAT, 4/27 vs. POT, 5:00 PM: Potomac RHP Kyle Johnston (1-3, 6.88) at Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (2-0, 3.86)
SUN, 4/28 vs. POT, 2:00 PM: Potomac RHP Jackson Tetreault (2-1, 1.23) at Carolina RHP Bowden Francis (1-1, 3.86)
TONIGHT: The Mudcats begin a short, three-game, home stand tonight with game one of a three game series versus the Potomac Nationals at Five County Stadium. Carolina is 3-0 against the Nationals this season having swept the P-Nats in Potomac earlier this month between April 8 and April 10. The Mudcats return to home tonight after recently finishing their last road trip with a 4-3 record after going 2-2 in Fayetteville to start the trip and 2-1 in Myrtle Beach to finish it.
ICYMI: Dylan File pitched through six scoreless innings with five strikeouts, Mario Feliciano went 3-for-3 with a home run and Rodrigo Benoit earned his league leading sixth save as the Mudcats defeated the Pelicans 3-1 on Thursday night in Myrtle Beach. The win was File's first of the season and clinched a series win for Carolina. The Mudcats (12-9) took two of three from the Pelicans (7-14) in the series and won four of seven in what was their second road trip of the season. File (1-3, 4.09) scattered five hits and left six men on base, including three in the third when he escaped a bases loaded jam. He also left a runner at third in the first, fifth and sixth innings while holding the Pelicans scoreless over six complete. File also struck out five and did not walk a batter in his six-inning gem.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Mario Feliciano's solo home run in last night's 3-2 win in Myrtle Beach gave Carolina its 14th homer over the club's last 10 games. It was also Feliciano's second home run of the series and fourth this season... The Mudcats had homered in eight straight games before snapping that streak in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Pelicans in Myrtle Beach... The Mudcats began the season without a home run over their first three games, and with just five homers over their first 11, but have totaled 14 home runs over last 10 games... Carolina enters tonight's game second in the CL in homers with 19this season, two shy of Fayetteville's league leading 24 homers.
WHO'S HOT: Mario Feliciano has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games, and has totaled seven hits over his last three after going 3-for-3 last night and 4-for-5 on Tuesday in Myrtle Beach. Feliciano has also totaled four home runs over his last 10 games and is slashing .412/.487/.824 with a 1.311 OPS since April 15 (14-for-34, 7 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI)... Ryan Aguilar is batting .400/.591/.467 with a 1.058 OPS over his last five games (6-for-15, 4 R, 5 BB, 4 SO, 2 SB).
ON THE EIGHTS: The Carolina offense is currently 8th in the Carolina League in batting (.213), 8th in on-base (.306), 8th in slugging (.347), 8th in OPS (.653), 8th in runs (82), 8th in hits (136) and 8th in doubles (29) this season.
HOW THEY'RE BUILT: The Mudcats opened the 2019 season with 11 returning players from last season... The 2019 squad also features three of the Brewers' Top 30 prospects (as rated by MLBPipeline.com) including OF Tristen Lutz (No. 5), C Payton Henry (No. 10) and C Mario Feliciano (No. 22).
CLUTCH GENE: Payton Henry has totaled 11 2-out RBI this season and 15 RBI overall. Henry is batting .278/.278/.444 (10-for-36) with a .722 OPS and 11 RBI when batting with two outs this season.
WHERE THEY RANK: Ryan Aguilar is currently tied for second in the Carolina League in doubles (7). Aguilar is also tied 4th in OBP (.447), 1st in walks (16) and tied for 7th in runs (14)... Joantgel Segovia is currently tied for 3rd in the CL in walks (11)...Mario Feliciano is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in home runs (4) and sixth in slugging (.521)... Rob Henry is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in homers (4)... Payton Henry is currently tied for 5th in the CL in RBI (15) and has totaled the most strikeouts in the CL this season (35)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in wins (4) and is tied for the CL lead in games (9)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for the CL lead in saves (6) and is tied for CL lead in games (9).
'CATS vs. P-NATS: The Mudcats enter tonight's game with a record of 3-0 versus Potomac this season, having swept and outscored Potomac 15-2 in the first series between the two teams earlier this month (4/8 - 4/10). That sweep came in Potomac and marked the first time in Mudcats team history that Carolina was able to complete a series sweep in Potomac... The Mudcats are just 16-41 all-time in Potomac. Carolina is also 27-23 at home and 43-64 overall against the P-Nats in club history.
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault is back for his third season as Manager of the Mudcats and his eighth season overall as Manager of Milwaukee's High-A affiliate. Ayrault is currently second on Carolina's all-time managerial wins list and second all-time in games managed in Carolina...
MANAGER W L PCT G SEASONS
David Bell 176 239 .424 415 2009-11 (3)
Joe Ayrault 150 147 .505 297 2017-Present (3)
Ron Gideon 126 151 .455 277 2000-01 (2)
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).
... operated under the ownership of the Brewers since Oct. 2017.
... not made the playoffs since the 2008 season.
... not made the playoffs during their Carolina League era.