May 21 - Mudcats Game Notes

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LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (CLEVELAND INDIANS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 45, Home Game 18 | 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: 27-17; LYN: 21-21
Streaks: CAR: L1; LYN: L2
Last 10 Games: CAR: 7-3, LYN: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 11-6; LYN: 10-13
Road Record: CAR: 16-11; LYN: 11-8
Division Record: CAR: 15-8; LYN: 5-7
Current Series: CAR leads 1-0 (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 3-2 (of 17)
CAR v. OPP: 1-0 @CAR (10), 2-2 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
TUE, 5/21 vs. LYN, 7:00 PM: Lynchburg LHP Adam Scott (2-4, 3.23) at Carolina RHP Braden Webb (0-0, 1.86)
WED, 5/22 vs. LYN, 11:00 AM: Lynchburg LHP Juan Hillman (1-4, 3.02) at Carolina RHP Dylan File (4-3, 2.96)
THU, 5/23 vs. LYN, 7:00 PM: Lynchburg RHP Matt Solter (2-0, 1.50) at Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (5-1, 5.21)
TONIGHT: Following last night's extra innings walk-off win versus Lynchburg, the Mudcats take on the visiting Hillcats again tonight in game two of a four game series and game two of an eight game home stand at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, NC. The Mudcats won last night's game 8-7 with help of a walk-off home run from Mario Feliciano and now lead the current series at 1-0. Carolina additionally enter tonight's series at 3-2 versus the Hillcats this season having won last night's series opener and previously splitting a four game set in Lynchburg last week (5/13-5/16). Tonight's game is the 6th of eight first half games between the two teams and the 6th of 17 overall this season.
ICYMI: Mario Feliciano used the first pitch in the tenth to hit his second walk-off home run of the season as the Mudcats outlasted the visiting Hillcats 8-7 on Monday night at Five County Stadium. Feliciano went 2-for-3 in the game with three runs, three RBI and game-winning homer in Carolina's series opener with Lynchburg. Carolina trailed 7-6 entering their half of the tenth, but Feliciano, with Payton Henry inserted at second, connected on a two-run home run off Lynchburg reliever Jared Robinson to win the game. The walk-off blast was Feliciano's second of the year and his eighth overall on the season.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Mario Feliciano's walk-off home run to defeat Lynchburg last night was his second walk-off of the season and third overall walk-off homer of the year for the Mudcats. Feliciano also hit a walk-off, three-run blast on 5/11 to defeat the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Dallas Carroll, meanwhile, hit the first walk-off homer of this season (one month earlier) on 4/11 versus Wilmington. Carroll's walk-off earlier this year was Carolina's first since Keston Hiura hit a walk-off homer on 5/25/18 versus Myrtle Beach. Before Hiura's walk-off big fly last year, the last walk-off home run in Mudcats history came in 2013 when Bryson Myles delivered a game-winning blast to beat the Winston-Salem Dash in the 14th inning at Five County Stadium on 7/18/13... Mario Feliciano is also the only player in recorded Mudcats history to total multiple walk-off home runs in the same season.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTING PITCHER...
Braden Webb: 0-0, 1.86 ERA, 2 GS, 9.2 IP, 8 BB, 8 SO, 1.34 WHIP
Last outing: 5/16 at LYN, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 75 pitches
Making third 2019 start with Carolina after originally beginning the 2019 season in Double-A with Biloxi.
WHERE THEY RANK:Joantgel Segovia is currently 10th in the CL in AVG (.299), 9th in SLG (.448), 6th in OPS (.824), tied for 6th in hits (46) and tied for 6th in runs (27)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 6th in the CL in OBP (.413), tied for 2nd in walks (28) and tied for 2nd in runs (30)... Mario Feliciano is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in home runs (8) and tied for 2nd in RBI (32), 5th in SLG (.467), 5th in total bases (70)... Payton Henry is currently tied for 6th in the CL in RBI (29)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in wins (6) and is tied for 1st in games (16)... Rodrigo Benoit is tied for 4th in the CL in wins (4), tied for 1st in the CL in games (16) and second in the CL in saves (8)... Noah Zavolas currently 4th in the CL in ERA (3.33), 1st in innings pitched (54.0), 5th in average against (.275) and 2nd in WHIP (1.20)... Dylan File is currently 2nd in the CL in earned run average (2.96), 1st in WHIP (1.07), 2nd in average against (.263), tied for 4th in strikeouts (46) and 4th in innings pitched (45.2). 
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUTS - RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 18 4 .227 .731
Henry, R CAR 14 3 .258 .988
Gonzalez, O LYN 14 2 .458 1.157
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a CL high 491 strikeouts this season and are on pace for 1,551 strikeouts this season. Carolina batters combined to total a Carolina League and franchise record 1,311 strikeouts during the 2018 season; breaking the previous Carolina League and franchise record of 1,245 SO set by the Mudcats during the 2017 season.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 23 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 21 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 15-8 and has totaled a 3.17 ERA (2.8 BB/9, 8.8 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 12-9 with a 4.65 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.1 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
PEAKING: At 27-17, the Mudcats are back at a season best 10 games above .500 for the second time this season. They were also 10 games up on 5/19 when they had a record of 26-16. Before the 19th, the last time a Mudcats team sat 10 games above .500 overall was on 7/27/2008 when the then-Southern League Mudcats were 58-48 in the overall standings. Carolina is also 10 games above .500 in a half for the first time since the 2008 team was 27-17 in the second half on 8/4/08. That 2008 team finished the year at 80-60 overall and went on to lose in the Southern League championship series to Mississippi... The last Mudcats team to reach 11 games above .500 was that same 2008 squad on 7/28/08.
TRENDING: The Mudcats have won seven straight games with Payton Henry as their starting catcher... Devin Hairston matched a career high with three hits in last night's game and is batting .294/.368/.353 with a .721 OPS over his last five games (5-for-17, 3 R, 2B, 2 RBI)... Eddie Silva has hit safely in six straight games and is batting .261/.346/.391 with a .737 OPS over his last six (6-for-23, 5 R, 3 2B, 2 RBI).
GOT HEEM: Payton Henry is currently tied for the Carolina League in most caught steals (20). Henry has caught 20 of 45 (44.4%) would-be base stealers over 23 games and 201 innings behind the plate this season. Henry is also tied for second in all of MiLB in most caught steals (20) this season.
WHAT IF: Having totaled just 109 plate appearances, Rob Henry is currently just shy of qualifying for the CL leader board this season. Henry is, however, currently 6th in the CL in slugging (.495) and 3rd in ISO (.269) among CL players with at least 100 PA this season. He is also tied for 7th in the CL in homers (6).
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault is in 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 165 155 .516 320 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.