August 3: Mudcats vs. Dash Game Notes

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CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at WINSTON-SALEM DASH (CHICAGO WHITE SOX)
Saturday, August 3, 2019 | 4:00 PM | Game 112, Away Game 55 | BB&T Ballpark (5,500) | Winston-Salem, NC
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM The Big Dawg
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv

Overall Record: CAR: 57-54; WS: 57-48
Streaks: CAR: W2; WS: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 2-8, WS: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 33-24; WS: 28-25
Road Record: CAR: 24-30; WS: 29-23
Division Record: CAR: 22-32; WS: 22-22
Current Series: CAR leads 1-0 (of 3)
Season Series: WS leads 5-4 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 2-2 @CAR (7), 2-3 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SAT, 8/3 at WS, 4:00 PM: Carolina RHP Matt Smith (4-8, 3.29) at Winston-Salem LHP Konnor Pilkington (2-8, 5.98)
SUN, 8/4 at WS, 2:00 PM: Carolina LHP Aaron Ashby (2-5, 3.55) at Winston-Salem RHP Jonathan Stiever (4-3, 2.20)
MON, 8/5: Off
TONIGHT: Winners of two straight, the Mudcats continue a six game, seven day, road trip this evening with game two of a three game series at BB&T Ballpark versus the Winston-Salem Dash... Carolina took last night's series opener 2-1 and lead the current series 1-0... The Dash, meanwhile, lead the season series 5-4, having gone 3-2 versus the Mudcats in Winston-Salem and 2-2 versus Carolina in Zebulon... Tonight's game is the second of six second half meetings between the two teams and the 10th of 14 total meetings between the two Southern Division rivals this season.
ICYMI: Pat McInerney hit a game tying home run in the second, Tristen Lutz had a go-ahead RBI single in the third, starter Christian Taugner struck out four over six quality frames and Michael Petersen picked up his first save of the season as Carolina won its second straight 2-1 versus the Dash on Friday night at BB&T Ballpark in Winston-Salem.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Reliever Matt Hardy inherited a bases loaded jam for the third time this season after entering with the bases loaded and with two outs in the seventh last night. Hardy managed to escape the jam with comeback to the mound and left three inherited runners on base in his appearance. Hardy has inherited a bases loaded jam three times this season and has escaped all three without allowing a run (4/4 at DE [2019 debut], 5/27 vs. DE, 8/2 at WS).
OF LATE: The Mudcats have won two straight games, but has also gone just 6-16 since 7/10 and since starting the second half at 12-8 over their first 20 games following the All-Star break (6/20-7/9)... The Mudcats have also combined to hit just .200 with 2.6 runs/game and a run differential of -20 runs since 7/10.
IN JULY: Carolina started July at 6-3 while batting .275 with 5.6 runs/game and a staff ERA of 2.92 between 7/1 & 7/9. They went on to finish July, however, at just 4-16 with a team batting average of .184, 2.4 runs/game and a 3.75 ERA between 7/10 & 7/31.
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is 1st in the CL in home runs (16), 2nd in RBI (70), 2nd in slugging (.464), 7th in OPS (.783), 7th in hits (104), 1st in extra-base hits (40) and tied for 1st in total bases (179)... Payton Henry is tied for 7th in the CL in home runs (10) and 6th in RBI (60)... Tristen Lutz is tied for 7th in the CL in home runs (10), tied for 6th in XBH (33) and 3rd in runs (56)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 7th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 8th in games (32)... Cody Beckman is currently 2nd in the CL in games (34)... J.T. Hintzen and Michael Petersen are tied for 4th in the CL in games (33)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (2.93), 1st in innings pitched (129.0) and tied for 1st in WHIP (1.11). Zavolas is also 1st in the CL in FIP (3.11), 2nd in xFIP (3.33), 1st in BB/9 (1.47) and 2nd in K/BB (4.67).
ROAD WOES: The Mudcats had lost nine straight road games before last night's 2-1 victory in Winston-Salem. Carolina is, however, just 2-13 over the club's last 15 road games. They are also just 5-14 away from home since the All-Star break... Carolina started the season 16-11 over their first eight road series, but have gone 7-18 since. Overall Carolina is 24-30 on the road this season.
SINCE THE BREAK: Matt Smith has pitched to a stellar 1.91 ERA over seven starts since the All-Star break and is currently 6th among qualified CL starters in second half ERA... Noah Zavolas is currently 3-2 with a 2.00 ERA over eight second half starts and is currently 7th among qualified CL starters in ERA in the second half.
HEATING UP: Tristen Lutz has hit safely in four of his last five and is batting .429/.455/.571 with a 1.026 OPS over that same span (9-for-21, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI). Lutz has also totaled seven hits over his last two games after going 4-for-5 on 8/1 and 3-for-5 on 8/2... Mario Feliciano has hit safely in five of his last six games and is batting .375/.423/.583 with a 1.006 OPS over that same span (9-for-24, 7 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 7 SO).
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 35-22 versus Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 17-8 versus Northern Division teams since 6/11 (at FRE)... The Mudcats are, however, just 7-24 vs. Southern Division teams since 5/24 (vs. DE, 3.5 GB of first before 5/24) and had suffered nine straight losses in games versus Southern Division teams (6/16 vs. WS - 7/3 at MB) before defeating the Pelicans 3-2 on 7/19 in Zebulon. They are also just 22-32 overall versus their own division this season.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry starting 56 games behind the plate and Feliciano starting 53 games at catcher... The Carolina pitching staff is 31-25 and has totaled a 3.45 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 8.7 SO/9) in games started by and caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 25-28 with a 4.17 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 1,117 strikeouts this season (6th most in MiLB). The Mudcats are on pace to set a league and franchise record for strikeouts for the third straight season... Carolina batters combined to total a CL and franchise record 1,311 strikeouts last season; breaking the previous CL and franchise record of 1,245 SO set by Carolina in 2017.
TO THE SHOW: 2017 Mudcat OF Trent Grisham was called up to the big leagues by the Brewers on Thursday and went 0-for-3 with a sac fly and a RBI in his MLB debut in Oakland versus the Athletics. Grisham hit .223/.360/.348 with a .708 OPS, 8 HR, 21 2B, 6 3B, 45 RBI and a CL high 98 BB. Grisham also played in a team high 133 games while scoring a team best 78 runs and finishing tied with Luis Aviles Jr. for the team lead stolen bases with 38 over 43 attempts. Grisham joins pitchers Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta and infielder Keston Hiura as the four former Mudcats to debut with the Brewers since Carolina became Milwaukee's High-A affiliate in 2017.
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.