May 9 - Micro Brews vs. Woodpeckers - Game Notes

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FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS (HOUSTON ASTROS) at CAROLINA MICRO BREWS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Thursday, May 9, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 33, Home Game 13 | 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: 19-13; FAY: 15-18
Streaks: CAR: W2; FAY: L5
Last 10 Games: CAR: 7-3, FAY: 2-8
Home Record: CAR: 7-5; FAY: 7-7
Road Record: CAR: 12-8; FAY: 8-11
Division Record: CAR: 10-6; FAY: 6-13
Current Series: CAR leads 2-0 (of 3)
Season Series: CAR leads 6-3 (of 20)
CAR v. OPP: 4-1 @CAR (10), 2-2 @OPP (10)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTERS:
TODAY, 5/9 vs. FAY, 7:00 PM: Fayetteville RHP Enoli Paredes (1-1, 2.70) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (1-2, 3.68)
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, -.--)
TONIGHT: Winners of two straight, the Micro Brews continue a six game home stand tonight with the finale of a three game series versus the Fayetteville Woodpeckers at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, NC. Yesterday's 10-7 home win for the Micro Brews clinched a series victory (2-0) versus Fayetteville and lifted Carolina to 6-3 overall versus Fayetteville this season. Carolina has now won two series versus Fayetteville and split one having won a three game home series (2-1) versus the Woodpeckers from 4/15 through 4/17 and splitting a four game road series (2-2) in Fayetteville (first home games in Segra Stadium history) between 4/18 and 4/21. Tonight's game is also the 10th of 13 first half games and 20 overall this season between the two teams.
ICYMI: Zach Clark went 2-for-3 with a career high five RBI, Mario Feliciano drove in four while going 2-for-4, Matt Hardy earned his league leading fifth win and Clayton Andrews picked up his third save as Carolina won its second straight game 10-7 versus Fayetteville on Wednesday at Five County Stadium. The victory also clinched a series win for the Micro Brews as it put them up two games to none in their three game home series versus Fayetteville. 
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Micro Brews improved to 6-2-2 in overall series played this season after yesterday's 10-7 series clinching victory versus Fayetteville. Carolina is 5-0 in three game series this season and 1-1-2 in four game sets. The Micro Brews are also 1-1 in sweeps having swept Potomac in a three game series between 4/8-4/10 and suffering a sweep in Wilmington during a rain-shortened series between 5/3 and 5/4 (two games, 0-2)... Carolina can earn its first home series sweep of the season tonight with a win versus Fayetteville.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MICRO BREWS STARTER...
RHP Matt Smith: 1-2, 3.68 ERA, 7 G, 1 GS, 22.0 IP, 15 H, 10 BB, 22 SO
Last outing - 5/3 at WIL: L, 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 66 pitches
Making second start of 2019 tonight versus Fayetteville.
Missed the 2017 & 2018 seasons while recovering from "Tommy John"
STREAKING: Ryan Aguilar has reached base safely in a team best 21 straight games (4/14-Present) and is batting .288/.422/.370 with a .792 OPS during the streak (21-for-74, 14 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 14 BB, 3 HBP, 23 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.
POWER OUTAGE: The Micro Brews have gone seven straight games without 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 1.60 ERA and 35 SO against 10 BB since 4/28 (33.2 IP, 18 H, 6 ER, 0.83 WHIP, .158 AVG).
MEN OF STEAL: The Micro Brews totaled a season high three stolen bases on May 7 vs. Fayetteville and have additionally totaled 11 steals over their last 13 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 (.225), 8th in slugging (.342), 8th in OPS (.656) and 8th in hits (229) this season.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 16 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 15 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 10-5 with a 4.25 ERA (122 SO, 41 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 Micro Brews opened the year with a record of 17-10. Just three years earlier, the 2005 Marlins affiliated Micro Brews opened the season going 18-4 in April. The 2005 and 2008 Micro Brews 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 Micro Brews 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.
WHERE THEY RANK: Ryan Aguilar is currently 4th in the CL in OBP (.419), tied for 3rd in runs (21) and 3rd in walks (21)... Rob Henry is currently tied for 4th in the CL in homers (6)... Payton Henry is currently tied for 5th in the CL in homers (5), 9th in slugging (.449) and tied for 6th in RBI (23)... 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 4th in innings (34.0), tied for 9th in average against (.264) and 7th in WHIP (1.18)... Dylan File is 9th in the CL in ERA (3.48) and 7th in strikeouts (37). File is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (2.65) and 1st in xFIP (2.68) per fangraphs.com.
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         151         .510        308         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.