June 27: Mudcats vs. PNats Game Notes

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POTOMAC NATIONALS (WASHINGTON NATIONALS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Thursday, June 27, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 77, Home Game 39 | Five County Stadium | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG 98.5 FM, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 42-34; POT: 33-41
Streaks: CAR: L3; POT: W1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 4-6, POT: 4-6
Home Record: CAR: 20-18; POT: 16-24
Road Record: CAR: 22-16; POT: 17-17
Division Record: CAR: 19-19; POT: 13-15
Current Series: First game (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 8-2 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 2-1 @CAR (7), 6-1 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
THU, 6/27 vs. POT, 7:00 PM: Potomac LHP Nick Raquet (5-7, 4.81) at Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (7-5, 5.09)
FRI, 6/28 vs. POT, 7:00 PM: Potomac LHP Tim Cate (0-1, 11.25) at Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (4-3, 3.21)
SAT, 6/29 vs. POT, 5:00 PM: Potomac RHP Andrew Lee (2-5, 3.28) at Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (2-5, 5.82)
TONIGHT: After losing their third straight game yesterday and after being swept in a home series for the first time this season, the Mudcats continue a seven game home stand tonight with the first game of a four game home series versus the Northern Division's Potomac Nationals at Five County Stadium. Tonight's game is the first game of four in the current series and the fifth of eight second half meetings between the two teams. It is also the 11th game of 14 total between the two teams this season. The Mudcats lead the overall season series 8-2 having swept Potomac from 4/8-4/10 in Woodbridge, winning two of three versus the P-Nats at home from 4/26-4/28 and recently taking three of four versus the Nationals in Potomac to begin the second half 6/20-6/23.
ICYMI: Pat McInerney went 2-for-3 with a run scoring single and two walks and Payton Henry had a run scoring double in the ninth, but the Wood Ducks held off another late Carolina rally while defeating the Mudcats 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Five County Stadium. The loss was Carolina's third straight and clinched a sweep for the visiting Wood Ducks in Zebulon. The Mudcats originally led 2-0 after getting two unearned runs across in the third, but the Wood Ducks answered back with one in the fifth before taking the lead with four runs in the sixth. Down East went up 5-2 after their four run sixth and went on to hold for a 5-3 victory after Carolina loaded the bases while rallying for one more run in the ninth.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Mudcats were swept at home for the first time this season after falling in 5-3 in yesterday's series finale against the visiting Wood Ducks. Carolina also fell to 3-2 overall in sweeps this season and just 7-10 in day game following yesterday's loss.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTING PITCHER...
Nelson Hernandez: 7-5, 5.09 ERA, 15 GS, 81.1 IP, 9 HR, 30 BB, 59 SO
Last start - 6/22 at POT: W, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO
Carolina is 10-4 in starts made by Hernandez this season (6.0 R/S).
Is 2-0 with a 5.40 ERA over two starts versus Potomac (10.0 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO) this season.
GIDP GROWTH: Both Payton Henry and Pat McInerney hit into inning double plays in yesterday's loss to the visiting Wood Ducks at Five County Stadium. Henry's double play grounded into left a runner at third in the first and McInerney's ended the game and left two men on as it came occurred with the bases loaded... The Mudcats have grounded into seven double plays over their last four games and have additionally hit into a CL high 61 double plays this season. Devin Hairston and Payton Henry have both grounded into a CL high six double plays this month.
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (14), tied for 1st in RBI (53), 2nd in slugging (.477), 8th in OPS (.794), 4th in extra-base hits (27) and 2nd in total bases (126)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 5th in the CL in OBP (.403), 10th in OPS (.789), 2nd in walks (49) and 1st in runs (51)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in wins (7) and is tied for 2nd in the CL in games (24)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 3rd in the CL in wins (6), tied for 3rd in games (23) and tied for 3rd in the CL in saves (10)... Clayton Andrews is currently tied for 3rd in the CL in saves (10)... Noah Zavolas is currently 3rd in the CL in ERA (3.21), 1st in the CL in innings pitched (84.0) and tied for 4th in WHIP (1.18). Zavolas is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (3.12), 2nd in xFIP (3.24), 2nd in BB/9 (1.29) and 2nd in K/BB (5.33) per Fangraphs.com.
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
PLAYER TEAM RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 24 5 .253 .798
Corredor, A POT 22 3 .235 .650
Feliciano, M CAR 21 6 .279 .954
Adams, J FAY 19 5 .253 .746
Henry, R CAR 18 3 .250 .858
Gonzalez, O LYN 18 3 .357 .915
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense has combined to total a professional baseball high (MLB & MiLB) 68 hit-by-pitches this season. The Mudcats have also totaled a Carolina League high 22 HBP in June.
POWER OUTAGE: The Mudcats had gone eight straight games without hitting a home run (6/12-6/22) before Ryan Aguilar's solo blast in Potomac on 6/23. They have, meanwhile, totaled just one home run over their last 11 games. Despite the recent power outage, the Mudcats are currently tied for second in the Carolina League in home runs with 57 (2nd behind Fayetteville's 74 HR)... Mario Feliciano has totaled a CL best 14 homers this season, but has not homered since 6/7 vs. SAL. Tristen Lutz is 2nd on the Mudcats in home runs with eight, but has not homered since 6/11 at FRE. Payton Henry (7 HR) last homered on 6/4 vs. FRE and Rob Henry (6 HR) last homered on 4/29 at SAL.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 797 (3rd most in MiLB) strikeouts this season. The Mudcats are on pace to set a league and franchise record for strikeouts for the third straight season as they are on pace for 1,458 strikeouts this 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.
TRENDING: Eddie Silva has hit safely in six straight games and 7-for-22 with a double and 5 RBI during the streak (.318/.407/.364, .771 OPS)... Rob Henry is batting .313/.436/.375 with a .811 OPS over 18 games in June (20-for-64, 14 R, 4 2B, 7 RBI, 12 BB)... Payton Henry has hit safely in seven of his last eight and is batting .313/.371/.438 with a .809 OPS over his last 8 games (10-for-32, 2 R, 4 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI)... Ryan Aguilar is batting .302/.458/.509 with a .968 OPS over his last 17 games (16-for-53, 16 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 14 BB).
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 39 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 36 games. Henry, meanwhile, has caught back-to-back games twice this season on 4/14 & 4/15 and 6/3 & 6/4; Feliciano has caught back-to-back games once 6/14 & 6/15.... The Carolina pitching staff is 24-15 and has totaled a 3.54 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.9 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 17-19 with a 4.50 ERA (3.4 BB/9, 8.2 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano. 
NOAH NO-RUNS: Noah Zavolas was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending on June 23. He earned the weekly honor after pitching through a complete-game, two-hit shutout with a career best 11 strikeouts on 6/3 in Potomac. Zavolas was the first CL pitcher to turn in a nine-inning complete-game shutout and the seventh in MiLB this season. He is also the first Mudcat to spin a nine-inning complete-game shutout since 2010 when LHP Matt Fairel (9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO), of the then-Southern League Mudcats, went the distance in a 5-0 Carolina victory in Montgomery on 7/23/10.
DUAL THREAT: Clayton Andrews has recently begun playing as a two-way player having appeared in 20 games (25.1 IP) as a reliever and eight games as Carolina's starting center fielder this season. As a pitcher, Andrews is currently 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA, eight walks, 41 strikeouts and 10 saves (3rd most in the CL). As a position player, Andrews is batting .333/.357/.333 (9-for-27) and has hit safely in five straight games; including back-to-back multi-hit games on 6/16 and 6/25. His first start in center this season came on 5/20 vs Lynchburg. Andrews hit .302/.382/.377 over 57 games (6 2B, 5 3B, 25 BB, 6 SO) at Long Beach St. in 2018 before going to the Brewers in the 17th round of the 2018 Draft.
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault became the winningest manager in Carolina Mudcats team history after collecting his 177th victory as skipper in Carolina on 6/15/19 vs. Winston-Salem. Ayrault is in his third season as Manager of the Mudcats and his eighth season overall as Manager of Milwaukee's High-A affiliate...
MANAGER W L PCT G SEASONS
Joe Ayrault 180 172 .511 352 2017-Present (3)
David Bell 176 239 .424 415 2009-11 (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.