July 13: Mudcats at Blue Rocks Game Notes

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CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (KANSAS CITY ROYALS)
Saturday, July 13, 2019 | 6:05 PM | Game 93, Away Game 45 | Frawley Stadium (6,404) | Wilmington, DE
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: N/A
Overall Record: CAR: 52-40; WIL: 54-37
Streaks: CAR: W1; WIL: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, WIL: 3-7
Home Record: CAR: 29-19; WIL: 24-19
Road Record: CAR: 23-21; WIL: 30-18
Division Record: CAR: 19-22; WIL: 32-25
Current Series: First game (of 3)
Season Series: WIL leads 5-1 (of 12)
CAR v. OPP: 1-3 @CAR (7), 0-2 @OPP (5)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SAT, 7/13 at WIL, 6:05 PM: Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (9-6, 4.65) at Wilmington LHP Marcelo Martinez (5-3, 4.42)
SUN, 7/14 at WIL, 1:35 PM: Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (5-3, 2.87) at Wilmington LHP Daniel Tillo (4-8, 4.47)
MON, 7/15 at WIL, 6:35 PM: Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (4-5, 5.05) at Wilmington RHP Jonathan Bowlan (3-1, 2.16)
TONIGHT: After splitting last night's doubleheader in Frederick, the Mudcats continue a six game road trip tonight with game one of a three game series versus the Northern Division's Wilmington Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, DE. Tonight's game is the first between the two teams since early May (5/3-5/4) when the Blue Rocks swept the Mudcats in a rain-shortened two game series. Tonight's game is also the seventh of 12 total meetings between the two teams this season; the Blue Rocks lead the overall season series 5-1. 
ICYMI: The Mudcats finished with a split in last night's doubleheader in Frederick after dropping game one 6-4 before later taking game two 4-1 in extras. Carolina's game one loss saw them lose a 4-0 lead in the second as the Keys ran away with the game by scoring six unanswered runs the rest of the way. Game two, meanwhile, was tied 1-1 through the eighth before Carolina broke the tie with three runs in the ninth, two of those three were driven in on a 2-run home run from Eddie Silva.
TONIGHT'S STARTING PITCHER...
Nelson Hernandez (CAR): 9-6, 4.65 ERA, 18 GS, 98.2 IP, 31 BB, 31 SO
Last start, 7/7 vs. LYN: W, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 87 pitches
Carolina is 12-6 in starts made by Hernandez this season and have averaged 5.6 runs/game in his starts.
Has allowed 11 home runs this season; including eight homers allowed at home.
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (14), tied for 1st in RBI (65), 2nd in slugging (.458), 8th in OPS (.778), 9th in hits (87), tied for 3rd in extra-base hits (32) and 2nd in total bases (149)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 2nd in the CL in OPS (.838), 3rd in OBP (.422), 7th in hits (89), 2nd in walks (60) and 1st in runs (65)... Payton Henry is tied for 3rd in the CL in home runs (10) and tied for 4th in RBI (51)... Matt Hardy is currently 5th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 6th in games (27)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 6th in the CL in wins (6), tied for 2nd in games (29) and tied for 2nd in saves (12)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (2.87), 1st in innings pitched (103.1) and 2nd in WHIP (1.17). Zavolas is also 1st in the CL in FIP (3.08), 2nd in xFIP (3.34), 1st in BB/9 (1.48) and 1st in K/BB (4.47).
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 28 6 .271 .856
Feliciano, M CAR 26 6 .278 .926
Corredor, A POT 26 3 .257 .679
Henry, R CAR 21 3 .254 .842
GIDP GROWTH: The Mudcats have hit into 20 double plays over their last 19 games, 24 in their last 23 games and hit into a CL high 35 GIDPs in June... The Mudcats lead the CL in most GIDPs this season having hit into 74 double plays in 2019... Payton Henry leads the CL with 15 GIDPs overall (eight in June). Devin Hairston totaled seven GIDPs last month.
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 33-18 versus the Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 15-5 versus Northern Division teams since 6/11 (at FRE)... Carolina, however, has gone just 1-5 in games versus the Wilmington Blue Rocks this season... The Mudcats are just 4-14 vs. Southern Division teams since 5/24 (vs. DE, 3.5 GB before 5/24) and have suffered seven straight losses in games versus Southern Division teams (6/16 vs. WS - 7/3 at MB).
RUNS ON RUNS: The Mudcats are 7-2 over their last nine games and have outscored opponents by 27 runs over that same span... Carolina currently leads the CL in runs scored overall this year (421); up from 5th (362) in the CL in runs on 7/4. 
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense is currently 2nd in professional baseball (MLB & MiLB) with 76 hit-by-pitches this season. The Mudcats also totaled a Carolina League high 24 HBP in June.
AG DEPARTMENT: Ryan Aguilar has hit safely in nine straight games and is batting .464/.625/.714 with a 1.339 OPS during the streak (13-for-28, 11 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI). Aguilar has also hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games (.423/.538/.596, 1.135 OPS, 22-for-52, 14 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 11 BB, 14 SO). He also reached safely in all five of his AB on 7/6 vs. FRE after going 2-for-2 with 3 R, 3 BB, 2 2B and 3 RBI.
HAIR ON FIRE: Devin Hairston finished a double shy of the cycle on 7/9 vs. LYN after going 3-for-3 with a solo home run, a 2-run triple and a single (attempted a hustle double, but was caught at second). His solo home run came in back-to-back fashion as it followed Pat McInerney (3-run HR) in the third on 7/9 vs. LYN and was his first of the season. Hairston has hit safely in eight straight games and is batting .520/.571/.800 with a 1.371 OPS during the streak (13-for-25, 7 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 5 SO).
LUTZ AND LUTZ OF SUCCESS: Tristen Lutz has hit safely in eight straight games and is batting .400/.486/.667 with a 1.153 OPS during the streak (12-for-30, 5 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 6 SO).
YOU RANG: The Brewers promoted SS Brice Turang to the Mudcats on 7/8 from Low-A Wisconsin where he slashed .287/.384/.376 with a .760 OPS, 21 stolen bases and 31 RBI over 82 games with the Timber Rattlers. Turang was selected with the 21st overall pick in the 2018 Draft, and at just 19 years old, is currently the youngest player in the Carolina League. Turang is currently rated as the No.2 prospect in the Milwaukee farm system.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 47 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 44 games. Henry, meanwhile, has caught back-to-back games three times this season (4/14 & 4/15, 6/3 & 6/4, 6/26 & 6/27); Feliciano has caught back-to-back games once (6/14 & 6/15) and has caught three straight games once(7/6-7/9).... The Carolina pitching staff is 28-19 and has totaled a 3.55 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 8.9 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 23-21 with a 4.27 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano... Carolina has, however, won four straight games when Feliciano starts behind the plate.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 933 strikeouts this season (5th most in MiLB). The Mudcats are on pace to set a league and franchise record for strikeouts for the third straight season as they are on pace for over 1,400 strikeouts this season. Carolina batters combined to total a CL and franchise record 1,311 strikeouts last season; breaking the previous CL and franchise record of 1,245 SO set by Carolina in 2017.
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.