8/10: Mudcats vs. Red Sox Game Notes

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SALEM RED SOX (BOSTON RED SOX) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Saturday, August 10, 2019 | 5:00 PM | Game 118, Home Game 59 | Five County Stadium (6,500) | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM The Big Dawg
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 60-57; SAL: 51-63
Streaks: CAR: W3; SAL: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 5-5, SAL: 3-7
Home Record: CAR: 34-24; SAL: 28-31
Road Record: CAR: 26-33; SAL: 23-32
Division Record: CAR: 24-35; SAL: 26-27
Current Series: CAR leads 1-0 (of 3)
Season Series: CAR leads 6-3 (of 15)
CAR v. OPP: 3-2 @CAR (7), 3-1 @OPP (8)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SAT, 8/10 vs. SAL, 5:00 PM: Salem RHP Thaddeus Ward (1-2, 2.58) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (4-9, 3.69)
SUN, 8/11 vs. SAL, 2:00 PM: Salem RHP Daniel Gonzalez (4-8, 4.38) at Carolina TBA
MON, 8/12: Off
TONIGHT: Winners of three straight, the Mudcats continue a six-game, seven day, home stand tonight with the middle game of a three game series versus the Northern Division's Salem Red Sox at Five County Stadium... Carolina leads the season series 6-3 having gone 3-1 versus the Red Sox in Salem and 3-2 so far against Salem at home... Tonight's game is the second of seven second half games and the 10th of 15 meetings between the two teams this season.
ICYMI: Mario Feliciano had a game tying RBI single in the seventh and Tristen Lutz followed with a go-ahead three-run home run in the same frame as the Mudcats, playing as Pescados de Carolina for the final time, rallied to defeat the visiting Salem Red Sox 6-4 in front of a crowd of 5,152 at Five County Stadium on Friday night.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Mudcats scored four times in the seventh inning last night and won a game for just the second time all year when trailing after the sixth inning. Carolina is now 2-47 when trailing after six innings this season.
CAROLINA'S STARTING PITCHER(S)...
Matt Smith: 4-9, 3.69 ERA, 23/17 G/GS, 92.2 IP, 26 BB, 73 SO, 1.28 WHIP
Last start, 8/3 at WS: L, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 70 pitches
Went 2-1 with 1.85 ERA over 5 GS in July (24.1 IP, 4 BB, 22 SO, 1.23 WHIP)
Has allowed 13 home runs (1.26 HR/9); 4th most in Carolina League
OF LATE: The Mudcats have gone just 9-19 since 7/10 and since starting the second half at 12-8 over their first 20 games following the All-Star break (6/20-7/9)... The Mudcats have also combined to hit just .209 with 3.1 R/G and a run differential of -19 runs since 7/10.
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is 1st in the CL in home runs (19), 1st in RBI (78), 1st in slugging (.480), 6th in OPS (.803), tied for 4th in hits (112), 4th in runs (59), 1st in extra-base hits (44) and 1st in total bases (197)... Payton Henry is tied for 4th in the CL in home runs (13) and tied for 3rd in RBI (66)... Tristen Lutz is tied for 4th in the CL in home runs (13), 10th in slugging (.423), 4th in XBH (37) and 3rd in runs (61)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 7th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 8th in games (33)... J.T. Hintzen, Michael Petersen and Cody Beckman are currently tied for 3rd in the CL in games (35)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (2.98), 1st in innings pitched (133.0) and 2nd in WHIP (1.14). Zavolas is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (3.22), 2nd in xFIP (3.38), 1st in BB/9 (1.56) and 2nd in K/BB (4.43).
POWERED UP: The Carolina offense has homered in five straight games, while combining for combined to total nine home runs during that same span. The Carolina offense has also totaled 14 homers over the club's last 10 games. Those 14 home runs have additionally accounted for 14 of Carolina's last 25 runs scored.
ROAD WOES: The Mudcats had lost nine straight road games before a 2-1 victory in Winston-Salem on 8/2. Carolina is, however, just 4-17 over the club's last 21 road games. They are also just 7-18 away from home since the All-Star break... Carolina started the season 16-11 over their first eight road series, but have gone 7-18 since. Overall Carolina is 26-33 on the road this season.
LUTZ OF POWER: After going 22 games without a home run from 7/6 through 7/31, Tristen Lutz has now homered three times over his last four games and four times over his last eight games while brining his season big fly total to a career best 13 in 2019. Lutz is slugging .824 with four homers and one double over his last eight while also batting .441 with a .472 OBP and 1.296 OPS since August 1 (15-for-34, 6 R, 8 RBI). 
CROWN HIM: Mario Feliciano currently leads the CL in homers (19), RBI (78), slugging (.480), ISO (.207), XBH (44) and total bases (197)... Mario Feliciano has hit safely in nine of his last 12 games and is batting .354/.404/.667 with a 1.071 OPS during that same span (17-for-48, 13 R, 3 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 16 SO). 
STREAKS OF NOTE: Phil Bickford has pitched through 12.0 consecutive scoreless innings (4 BB, 15 SO) and seven straight scoreless appearances... Rob Henry started the season with six home runs over his first 16 games, but has not homered since 4/19 in Salem while going 61 games without a home run... Devin Hairston has played through 49 straight games without an error.
FIRST: Carolina has scored first in both games of Thursday's twin-bill in Kinston and have now scored first in a game just five times since 7/15 while going 8-15 in that same span. They have also scored first in a game eight times since 7/10 and are 9-19 during that span of games. 
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 36-22 versus Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 18-8 versus Northern Division teams since 6/11 (at FRE)... The Mudcats are, however, just 8-27 vs. Southern Division teams since 5/25 (vs. DE, 2.5 G back of first before 5/25) and had suffered nine straight losses in games versus Southern Division teams (6/16 vs. WS - 7/3 at MB) before defeating the Pelicans 3-2 on 7/19. 
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry starting 60 games behind the plate and Feliciano starting 55 games at catcher... The Carolina pitching staff is 33-27 and has totaled a 3.52 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.7 SO/9, 37.6 CS%) in games started by and caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 26-29 with a 4.23 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9, 31.0 CS%) in games caught by Feliciano.
ALL THE Ks: The Carolina offense has combined to total a Carolina League high 1,184 strikeouts this season (5th most in MiLB). The Mudcats are on pace to set both a CL and franchise record for most strikeouts for the third straight season. 
THE TOP 30: The Carolina roster currently features five of Milwaukee's Top 30 prospects (as rated by MLBPipeline.com) including No. 1 INF Brice Turang, No. 2 OF Tristen Lutz, No. 8 LHP Aaron Ashby, No. 9 C Mario Feliciano and No. 16 C Payton Henry.
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).
... not made the playoffs since the 2008 season.
... not made the playoffs during their Carolina League era.
... operated under the ownership of the Brewers since Oct. 2017.