June 30: Mudcats vs. P-Nats Game Notes

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POTOMAC NATIONALS (WASHINGTON NATIONALS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Sunday, June 30, 2019 | 2:00 PM | Game 80, Home Game 42 | 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: 45-34; POT: 33-44
Streaks: CAR: W3; POT: L3
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, POT: 3-7
Home Record: CAR: 23-18; POT: 16-24
Road Record: CAR: 22-16; POT: 17-20
Division Record: CAR: 19-19; POT: 13-15
Current Series: CAR leads 3-0 (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 11-2 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 5-1 @CAR (7), 6-1 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SUN, 6/30 vs. POT, 2:00 PM: Potomac RHP Malvin Pena (4-4, 6.29) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (2-7, 4.17)
MON, 7/1 at MB, 7:05 PM: Carolina LHP Aaron Ashby (1-1, 1.80) at Myrtle Beach RHP Paul Richan (7-3, 4.48)
TUE, 7/2 at MB, 7:05 PM: Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (8-5, 4.72) at Myrtle Beach TBA
TONIGHT: Winners of three straight, the Mudcats conclude a seven game home stand today with the finale of a four game home series versus the Northern Division's Potomac Nationals at Five County Stadium. Today's game is the last of four in the series and the final of eight second half meetings between the two teams. It is also the final meeting of 14 total between the two teams this season. The Mudcats lead the current series 3-0 and lead the overall season series 11-2 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 in Potomac to begin the second half 6/20-6/23.
ICYMI: Clayton Andrews went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI, Ryan Aguilar drove in two while going 3-for-4 with a double, Pat McInerney went 2-for-3 with a home run and Rodrigo Benoit earned his 12th save as the Mudcats won their third straight game 7-5 versus Potomac on Saturday night in Zebulon. The Nationals scored three runs in the top of the first, but Carolina came back with a run in the first and second before scoring three times in the third while taking a 5-3 lead. Potomac came back with a run in the fourth, the Mudcats then answered with one more in the fourth and the two teams later traded runs in the seventh as Carolina went up by the eventual final score of 7-5.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Carolina locked up its second series victory of the second half after taking game three of a four game series 7-5 last night versus the visiting Nationals at Five County Stadium. The Mudcats have now won two four game series (both versus Potomac) in the second half and three four game series overall this season. They had gone 1-4-5 in four game sets through the first half, but are now 3-4-5.
JUNE BATS: Through 26 games in June, the Carolina offense is 1st in the CL in runs scored (123), 2nd in team average (.261), 2nd in home runs (18), 1st in OBP (.349), 3rd in SLG (.393) and 1st in OPS (.742). Carolina's offense has also averaged 9.27 SO per game in June; down from 10.81 SO/G in April and 11.37 SO/G in May.
GIDP GROWTH: Payton Henry hit into his CL leading 13th double play in last night's game against the Nationals. With last night's GIDP, the Mudcats have now hit into 11 double plays over their last six games, 15 in their last 10 games and a CL high 32 GIDPs this month... The Mudcats lead the CL in most GIDPs this season having hit into 65 double plays in 2019... Payton Henry leads the CL 13 GIDPs overall, including eight so far in June. Devin Hairston has hit into seven double plays this month.
WHERE THEY RANK:Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (14), 2nd in RBI (53), 2nd in slugging (.464), 8th in OPS (.778), 4th in extra-base hits (27) and 2nd in total bases (128)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 9th in the CL in batting (.275), 5th in OBP (.402), 6th in OPS (.795), 2nd in walks (49) and 1st in runs (52)... Payton Henry is tied for 4th in the CL in home runs (9), tied for 5th in the CL in RBI (45), 9th in SLG (.416) and tied for 5th in XBH (26)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 3rd in the CL in games (24)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 3rd in the CL in wins (6), tied for 1st in games (26) and 2nd in the CL in saves (12)... Clayton Andrews is currently 3rd in the CL in saves (11)... Noah Zavolas is currently 3rd in the CL in ERA (3.07), 1st in the CL in innings pitched (91.0) and 3rd in WHIP (1.18). Zavolas is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (3.11), 2nd in xFIP (3.30), 2nd in BB/9 (1.29) and 2nd in K/BB (5.15) per Fangraphs.com.
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 25 6 .258 .844
Corredor, A POT 22 3 .231 .640
Feliciano, M CAR 21 6 .270 .929
Henry, R CAR 20 3 .258 .871
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense has combined to total a professional baseball high (MLB & MiLB) 70 hit-by-pitches this season. The Mudcats have also totaled a Carolina League high 24 HBP in June.
BY SWEEPS: The Mudcats are 3-2 in sweeps this season. Carolina's three victorious series sweeps have occurred versus the Nationals in Potomac (4/8-4/10) and at home versus Myrtle Beach (5/10-5/12) and Frederick (6/2-6/4). Carolina ended up on the bad end of a sweep in Wilmington (5/3-5/5) in May and recently in the current home stand after Down East swept the Mudcats in three straight from 6/24-6/26.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 829 (4th 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 1,459 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: Ryan Aguilar is batting .417/.462/.708 with a 1.170 OPS over his last six games (10-for-24, 5 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB)... Payton Henry has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games while batting .341/.404/.585 with a .990 OPS (14-for-41, 4 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 5 RBI) since 6/16... Rob Henry is batting .318/.438/.379 with a .816 OPS over 19 games in June (21-for-66, 14 R, 4 2B, 9 RBI, 12 BB)... Julio Garcia has totaled three two-hit games over his last seven and is batting .320/.370/.360 (8-for-25, 4 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI) since 6/21.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 41 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 37 games. Henry, meanwhile, has caught back-to-back games three times this season (4/14 & 4/15, 6/3 & 6/4, 6/26 & 6/27); Feliciano has caught back-to-back games once 6/14 & 6/15.... The Carolina pitching staff is 26-15 and has totaled a 3.49 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 9.0 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 18-19 with a 4.43 ERA (3.3 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano. 
DUAL THREAT: Clayton Andrews has recently begun playing as a two-way player having appeared in 21 games (27.1 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 2.63 ERA (9 BB, 43 SO) and 11 saves (2nd most in CL). As a position player, Andrews is batting .387/.424/.387 (12-for-31) and has hit safely in six straight games; including three straight multi-hit games on 6/16, 6/25 and 6/29. 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 3rd season as Manager of the Mudcats and his 8th season overall as Manager of Milwaukee's High-A affiliate...
MANAGER W L PCT G SEASONS
Joe Ayrault 183 172 .515 355 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.