8/15: Mudcats vs. Dash Game Notes

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WINSTON-SALEM DASH (CHICAGO WHITE SOX) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Thursday, August 15, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 122, Home Game 63 | Five County Stadium (6,500) | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 60-61; WS: 61-53
Streaks: CAR: L4; WS: W2
Last 10 Games: CAR: 3-7, WS: 4-6
Home Record: CAR: 34-28; WS: 30-28
Road Record: CAR: 26-33; WS: 32-25
Division Record: CAR: 24-37; WS: 27-27
Current Series: WS leads 2-0 (of 3)
Season Series: WS leads 8-5 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 2-4 @CAR (7), 2-5 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
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)
FRI, 8/16 at LYN, 6:00 PM: Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (10-9, 4.34) at Lynchburg TBA
SAT, 8/17 at LYN, 6:00 PM: Carolina TBA
TONIGHT: Having lost four straight, the Mudcats conclude a six-game, seven day, home stand tonight with the final game of a three game series versus the Winston-Salem Dash at Five County Stadium... The Dash took yesterday's game 4-2 and lead the current series 2-0; they also lead the overall season series 9-4 while going 5-2 against the Mudcats in Winston-Salem and 4-2 against Carolina in Zebulon. Today's game is the third of the series and the 14th and final meeting between the two teams this season. 
ICYMI: Payton Henry had a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh, reliever Phil Bickford struck out five over two and 1/3 scoreless innings and Wes Rogers went 1-for-3 with a RBI triple, but the Mudcats dropped the middle game of a three-game series 4-2 to the Dash on Wednesday at Five County Stadium. The Dash scored twice in the third, once in the fourth and once in the fifth while scoring all four of their runs over the first half of Wednesday's middle game of the series. All four of those runs were allowed in by starter Christian Taugner who ended up taking the loss for the Mudcats.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Mudcats fell to 60-61 overall after losing yesterday's game 4-2 to the visiting Dash at Five County Stadium. Carolina has now dipped to a game below .500 for the first time since starting the season at 0-1 following a 6-4 season opening loss in Kinston versus the Wood Ducks.
CAROLINA'S STARTING PITCHER(S)...
Matt Smith: 4-10, 3.59 ERA, 24/18 G/GS, 97.2 IP, 26 BB, 81 SO, 1.25 WHIP
Last start, 8/10 vs. SAL: L, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 61 pitches
Starter: 3-8, 3.39 ERA, 18 GS, 79.2 IP, 12 HR, 17 BB, 64 SO, 1.26 WHIP
Post All-Star: 2-4, 2.93 ERA, 9 GS, 43.0 IP, 5 HR, 8 BB, 38 SO, 1.16 WHIP
OF LATE: The Mudcats have gone just 9-23 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 .200 with 2.8 R/G and a run differential of -31 runs since 7/10... Carolina scored first in both games of a doubleheader on 8/8 in Kinston at Grainger Stadium, but have scored first in a game just six times since 7/15 while going 8-19 in that same span. They have also scored first in a game nine times since 7/10 and are 9-23 since. 
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is 1st in the CL in home runs (19), 1st in RBI (78), tied for 1st in slugging (.477), 5th in OPS (.802), 7th in hits (113), 6th 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 4th in RBI (67)... Tristen Lutz is tied for 4th in the CL in home runs (13), 10th in RBI (53), 5th in XBH (38) and 3rd in runs (61)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 8th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 8th in games (34)... Cody Beckman, J.T. Hintzen and Michael Petersen are all currently tied for 4th in the CL in games (36)... 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).
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense has combined to total a Carolina League high 94 hit by pitches this season. The Mudcats are also 3rd in MiLB and 3rd in professional baseball in most hit by pitches (94) this season.
WHO'S HOT: Tristen Lutz has hit safely in eight of his last 12 games and is batting .360/.377/.640 with a 1.017 OPS during that span (18-for-50, 6 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 9 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 17.0 consecutive scoreless innings (5 BB, 24 SO) and nine (9) 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 65 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 9-29 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 1,218 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.