8/13: Mudcats vs. Dash Game Notes

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WINSTON-SALEM DASH (CHICAGO WHITE SOX) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 120, Home Game 61 | 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: 60-59; WS: 60-53
Streaks: CAR: L2; WS: L3
Last 10 Games: CAR: 5-5, WS: 4-6
Home Record: CAR: 34-26; WS: 30-28
Road Record: CAR: 26-33; WS: 30-25
Division Record: CAR: 24-35; WS: 25-27
Current Series: First game (of 3)
Season Series: WS leads 7-4 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 2-2 @CAR (7), 2-5 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
TUE, 8/13 vs. WS, 7:00 PM: Winston-Salem RHP Zach Lewis (5-6, 6.38) at Carolina RHP Matt Hardy (7-2, 3.52)
WED, 8/14 vs. WS, 11:00 AM: Winston-Salem RHP Jorgan Cavanerio (7-2, 3.17) at Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (5-7, 4.78)
THU, 8/15 vs. WS, 7:00 PM: Winston-Salem LHP Konnor Pilkington (3-9, 5.71) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (4-10, 3.59)
TONIGHT: After dropping two of their last three games, the Mudcats continue a six-game, seven day, home stand tonight with the first game of a three game series versus the Winston-Salem Dash at Five County Stadium... Tonight's game is the first of three in the series and the 12th of 14 total overall between the two teams this season. The Dash lead the overall season series 7-4 while going 5-2 against the Mudcats in Winston-Salem and 2-2 against Carolina in Zebulon.
ICYMI: Salem's Pedro Castellanos went 3-for-3 with three RBI and starter Daniel Gonzalez pithed through six scoreless frames as the Red Sox clinched a series win with a 4-1 victory versus the Mudcats on Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium. Rob Henry played in both right field and caught briefly in the game went 1-for-3 with Carolina's only run of the game.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Mudcats were forced to use emergency catchers Rob Henry and Trever Morrison on Sunday, 8/11 vs. Salem after starting catcher Mario Feliciano was ejected in the seventh inning by home plate umpire Josh Gilreath. Henry, who started the game in right field, caught the last out of the seventh, but returned to right in the next inning as starting second baseman Trever Morrison went on to catch the eighth and ninth innings. Catcher Payton Henry was not available to play in Sunday's game due to an injury. Feliciano's ejection was his first of the season and was immediately followed by the fifth ejection of the season for Manager Joe Ayrault. Both ejections were made by Gilreath.
CAROLINA'S STARTING PITCHER(S)...
Matt Hardy: 7-2, 3.52 ERA, 33/3 G/GS, 64.0 IP, 14 BB, 75 SO, 1.22 WHIP
Last start, 8/8 at DE: ND, 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 38 pitches
Starter: 0-1, 3.86 ERA, 3 GS, 11.2 IP, 1 BB, 11 SO, .300 AVG
Reliever: 7-1, 3.44 ERA, 30 G, 52.1 IP, 13 BB, 64 SO, .249 AVG
OF LATE: The Mudcats have gone just 9-21 since 7/10 and since starting the second half at 12-8 over their first 20 games (6/20-7/9) following the All-Star break... The Mudcats have also combined to hit just .205 with 2.9 R/G and a run differential of -25 runs since 7/10... Carolina scored first in both games of last Thursday's doubleheader in Kinston at Grainger Stadium and have now scored first in a game just five times since 7/15 while going 8-17 in that same span. They have also scored first in a game eight times since 7/10 and are 9-21 during that span of games. 
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is 1st in the CL in home runs (19), 1st in RBI (78), 1st in slugging (.477), 4th in OPS (.802), tied for 5th in hits (113), 4th in runs (59), 1st in extra-base hits (44) and 1st in total bases (198)... 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 (.417), 5th in XBH (37) and 3rd in runs (61)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 7th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 9th in games (33)... Cody Beckman is tied for 3rd in the CL in games (36)... J.T. Hintzen and Michael Petersen are currently tied for 5th 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 (3.21), 2nd in xFIP (3.36), 1st in BB/9 (1.56) and 2nd in K/BB (4.43)... Matt Smith is currently 3rd in the CL in earned run average (3.59), 2nd in K/BB (3.12), 4th in xFIP (3.62) and 2nd in LOB% (75.0).
WHO'S HOT: Tristen Lutz has hit safely in five of his last seven of his last 10 games and is batting .381/.409/.690 with a 1.100 OPS during that span (16-for-42, 6 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI)... Mario Feliciano has hit safely in 10 of his last 14 games and is batting .340/.407/.623 with a 1.029 OPS during that same span (18-for-53, 13 R, 3 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 5 BB, 17 SO). 
EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: Mario Feliciano currently leads the Carolina League in both home runs and RBI so far this season. The last CL player to lead the league in homers and RBI was Salem's Bobby Dalbec who hit 26 home runs and totaled 85 RBI in 2018. Dalbec went on to be named the league's MVP last season. Lynchburg's Bobby Bradley (29 HR, 102 RBI) and Nellie Rodríguez (17 HR, 84 RBI) also led the CL in homers and RBI in 2016 and 2015 respectively and both went on to be named the CL MVP as well. Winston-Salem's Chris Curley (24 HR, 92 RBI) and Ian Gac (33 HR, 96 RBI) also led the CL at year's end in homers in 2013 and 2011 while earning CL MVP honors... The last Mudcats player to finish a season as the league leader (tied with Mobile's Paul Goldschmidt) in homers was Neftali Soto who homered 30 times for the then-Southern League affiliated Mudcats in 2011... Carolina has never had a player finish the season as the league leader in both homers and RBI. However, George Canale led the Southern League in RBI (102) and was second in the home runs (21) in 1995; Mark Johnson led the SL in homers (23) and was third in RBI (85) in 1994.
STREAKS OF NOTE: Phil Bickford has pitched through 14.0 consecutive scoreless innings (4 BB, 16 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 63 games without a home run.
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 36-24 versus Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 18-11 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 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 57 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 26-31 with a 4.22 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9, 30.0 CS%) in games caught by Feliciano.
ALL THE Ks: The Carolina offense has combined to total a Carolina League high 1,202 strikeouts this season (6th 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.