May 10 - Mudcats vs. Pelicans - Game Notes

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MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (CHICAGO CUBS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Friday, May 10, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 34, Home Game 14 | Five County Stadium | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 19-14; MB: 12-22
Streaks: CAR: L1; MB: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, MB: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 7-6; MB: 7-14
Road Record: CAR: 12-8; MB: 5-8
Division Record: CAR: 10-7; MB: 4-13
Current Series: First game (of 3)
Season Series: CAR leads 2-1 (of 15)
CAR v. OPP: 0-0 @CAR (6), 2-1 @OPP (9)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTERS:
FRI, 5/10 vs. MB, 7:00 PM: Myrtle Beach RHP Alex Lange (1-4, 13.50) at Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (1-2, 2.65)
SAT, 5/11 vs. MB, 5:00 PM: Myrtle Beach LHP Luis Lugo (1-1, 3.38) at Carolina RHP Braden Webb (0-0, -.--)
SUN, 5/12 vs. MB, 2:00 PM: Myrtle Beach TBA at Carolina RHP Dylan File (2-3, 3,48)
TONIGHT: The Mudcats continue a six game home stand tonight with game one of a three game series versus the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, NC. Tonight's game is the fourth between the two teams this season, but the first meeting at Five County Stadium between the Mudcats and Pelicans this season. Carolina currently owns a 2-1 lead in the overall 15 game season series having recently taken two of three in Myrtle Beach between 4/23 and 4/25... Carolina enters tonight's series opener versus Myrtle Beach at 2-1 in the current home stand after opening the home stand by winning two of three versus Fayetteville. The Mudcats are currently 6-2-2 in series played so far this season.
ICYMI: The Mudcats, playing as the Carolina Micro Brews for the second time this season, fell a game shy of a series sweep as Fayetteville escaped with a 4-2 series finale victory versus Carolina on Thursday night at Five County Stadium. Fayetteville's starter Enoli Paredes and reliever Cristian Javier combined to total 17 strikeouts in the series finale defeat of the Mudcats. Carolina scored first while bringing across an unearned run in the first to take an early 1-0 lead in the game. Fayetteville eventually answered with three runs in the third and one more in the fourth while going up 4-1. The Micro Brews later scraped across one more run in the eighth, but saw their final five batters, beginning in the eighth, all go down via strikeout as the Woodpeckers left Zebulon with a 4-2 victory.
STREAKING: Ryan Aguilar has reached base safely in a team best 22 straight games (4/14-Present) and is batting .280/.426/.360 with a .786 OPS during the streak (21-for-75, 15 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 16 BB, 3 HBP, 25 SO). Frederick's Mason McCoy owns the Carolina League's longest consecutive games on base streak after he reached safely in 24 straight between 4/4/19 and 5/1/19.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTER...
Noah Zavolas: 1-2, 2.65 ERA, 6 GS, 34.0 IP, .264 AVG, 6 BB, 31 SO
Last outing - 5/4 at WIL: L, 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 87 pitches
CL Rankings: 5th in ERA (2.65), 6th in WHIP (1.18), 8th in AVG (.264)
Acquired via trade from Seattle Mariners with OF Ben Gamel for OF Domingo Santana on 12/21/18
POWER OUTAGE: The Mudcats have gone eight straight games without hitting a home run. They had previously homered in 13 of their previous 14 games, with streaks of eight (4/15-4/23) and five (4/25-4/29) games with a home run during that span.
LIGHTS OUT: The Carolina bullpen has gone 3-1-5 with a 1.58 ERA and 37 SO against 11 BB since 4/28 (40.0 IP, 25 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 0.90 WHIP, .180 AVG).
WHERE THEY RANK: Ryan Aguilar is currently 4th in the CL in OBP (.421), tied for 4th in runs (22) and 2nd in walks (23)... Rob Henry is currently 4th in the CL in homers (6)... Payton Henry is currently tied for 5th in the CL in homers (5), 10th in slugging (.434) and tied for 5th in RBI (24)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in both wins (5) and games (13)... Rodrigo Benoit is 2nd in the CL in both saves (7) and games (12)... Noah Zavolas is currently 5th in the CL in ERA (2.65), tied for 5th in innings (34.0), 8th in average against (.264) and 6th in WHIP (1.18)... Dylan File is 8th in the CL in ERA (3.48), 3rd in WHIP (1.07) and 8th in strikeouts (37). File is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (2.62) and 1st in xFIP (2.68) per fangraphs.com.
MEN OF STEAL: The Mudcats totaled a season high three stolen bases on May 7 vs. Fayetteville and have additionally totaled 12 steals over their last 14 games. Carolina had totaled just six steals over the first 19 games of the 2019.
ON THE EIGHTS: The Carolina offense is currently 8th in the Carolina League in batting (.223), 8th in slugging (.342), 8th in OPS (.651), 8th in hits (234) and 8th in walks (107) this season.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 17 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 16 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 9-8 and has totaled a 3.61 ERA (148 SO, 52 BB) in games caught by Henry and 10-6 with a 4.23 ERA (134 SO, 46 BB) in games caught by Feliciano.
AN APRIL TO REMEMBER: Carolina's 16-10 record in April was the club's best since 2008 when the then-Southern League and Florida Marlins affiliated Mudcats opened the year with a record of 17-10. Just three years earlier, the 2005 Marlins affiliated Mudcats opened the season going 18-4 in April. The 2005 and 2008 Mudcats both went on to reach the Southern League playoffs in their respective seasons... Carolina's 25 home runs hit in April were a new franchise high for most home runs hit by a Mudcats team in April since the 2004 squad hit 24 homers in the first month of their season. *Some historical data unavailable for the '91-'03 seasons.
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 157 152 .508 309 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.