June 28: Mudcats vs PNats Game Notes

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POTOMAC NATIONALS (WASHINGTON NATIONALS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Friday, June 28, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 78, Home Game 40 | Five County Stadium | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG 98.5 FM, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 43-34; POT: 33-42
Streaks: CAR: W1; POT: WL1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 5-5, POT: 4-6
Home Record: CAR: 21-18; POT: 16-24
Road Record: CAR: 22-16; POT: 17-18
Division Record: CAR: 19-19; POT: 13-15
Current Series: CAR leads 1-0 (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 9-2 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 3-1 @CAR (7), 6-1 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
FRI, 6/28 vs. POT, 7:00 PM: Potomac LHP Tim Cate (0-1, 11.25) at Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (4-3, 3.21)
SAT, 6/29 vs. POT, 5:00 PM: Potomac RHP Andrew Lee (2-5, 3.28) at Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (2-5, 5.82)
SUN, 6/30 vs. POT, 2:00 PM: Potomac RHP Malvin Pena (4-4, 6.29) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (2-7, 4.17)
TONIGHT: Following last night's series opening victory, the Mudcats continue a seven game home stand tonight with the second game of a four game home series versus the Northern Division's Potomac Nationals at Five County Stadium. Tonight's game is the second of four in the current series and the sixth of eight second half meetings between the two teams. It is also the 12th game of 14 total between the two teams this season. The Mudcats lead the current series 1-0 and lead the overall season series 9-2 having swept Potomac from 4/8-4/10 in Woodbridge, winning two of three versus the P-Nats at home from 4/26-4/28 and recently taking three of four in Potomac to begin the second half 6/20-6/23.
ICYMI:Nelson Hernandez took a no-hitter into the seventh while pitching through six and 1/3 innings with just one hit allowed and seven strikeouts, Rob Henry had a two-run single, Payton Henry hit a solo home run and Julio Garcia had a RBI single as the Micro Brews defeated the Nationals 4-1 on Thursday night at Five County Stadium. The Mudcats scored four two-out runs in the game after scoring twice in the first on a bases loaded, two-out RBI single from Rob Henry and later getting two, two-out runs in the sixth on a solo home run from Payton Henry and a RBI single from Julio Garcia. 
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Nelson Hernandez took a no-hitter through the sixth and into the seventh before allowing a one-out RBI double to Jakson Reetz. Hernandez left the game after the Reetz double and finished with just one hit allowed over 6.1 IP. Relievers Justin Topa and Clayton Andrews and combined to allow just one hit the rest of the way as Carolina allowed just two hits in the game. Potomac's two hits last night were a new season low for an opponent at Five County Stadium.
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTING PITCHER...
Noah Zavolas: 4-3, 3.21 ERA, 14 GS, 84.0 IP, 5 HR, 12 BB, 64 SO
Last start - 6/23 at POT: W, CG, SHO, 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 SO
Pitched through 9-inn. CG, 2-hit SHO w/11 SO on 6/23 in Potomac
CL Ranks: 3rd in ERA (3.21), 2nd in BB/9 (1.29) & 2nd in K/BB (5.33)
GIDP GROWTH: Payton Henry hit into a double play for the second straight game and for the fourth time over his last six. Henry has grounded into a CL high seven double plays this month; Devin Hairston is 2nd in the CL in most double plays grounded into in June. The Mudcats have grounded into eight double plays over their last five games and have additionally hit into a CL high 62 double plays this season. 
NOAH NO-RUNS: Noah Zavolas was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending on June 23. He earned the weekly honor after pitching through a complete-game, two-hit shutout with a career best 11 strikeouts on 6/3 in Potomac. Zavolas was the first CL pitcher to turn in a nine-inning complete-game shutout and the seventh in MiLB this season. He is also the first Mudcat to spin a nine-inning complete-game shutout since 2010 when LHP Matt Fairel (9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO), of the then-Southern League Mudcats, went the distance in a 5-0 Carolina victory in Montgomery on 7/23/10.
WHERE THEY RANK:Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (14), tied for 1st in RBI (53), 2nd in slugging (.476), 8th in OPS (.796), 4th in extra-base hits (27) and 2nd in total bases (127)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 5th in the CL in OBP (.397), 2nd in walks (49), 1st in runs (51) and tied 5th in wRC (47)... Payton Henry is tied for 6th in the CL in RBI (43) and 3rd in SO (96)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 3rd in the CL in wins (7) and is tied for 2nd in the CL in games (24)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 3rd in the CL in wins (6), tied for 2nd in games (24) and 3rd in the CL in saves (10)... Clayton Andrews is currently 2nd in the CL in saves (11)... Noah Zavolas is currently 3rd in the CL in ERA (3.21), 2nd in the CL in innings pitched (84.0) and tied for 4th in WHIP (1.18). Zavolas is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (3.12), 2nd in xFIP (3.24), 2nd in BB/9 (1.29) and 2nd in K/BB (5.33) per Fangraphs.com.
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 25 6 .258 .844
Corredor, A POT 22 3 .229 .633
Feliciano, M CAR 21 6 .276 .950
Henry, R CAR 20 3 .258 .871
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense has combined to total a professional baseball high (MLB & MiLB) 69 hit-by-pitches this season. The Mudcats have also totaled a Carolina League high 23 HBP in June.
POWER OUTAGE: Payton Henry broke a stretch of 18 straight games without a home run after hitting a solo shot in the sixth last night versus Potomac. Including Henry's homer last night, the Mudcats have now totaled just two home runs over their last 12 games. Despite the recent power outage, the Mudcats are currently second in the Carolina League in home runs with 58 (2nd behind Fayetteville's 76 HR)... Mario Feliciano has totaled a CL best 14 homers this season, but has not homered since 6/7 vs. SAL. Tristen Lutz is tied for 2nd on the Mudcats in home runs with eight, but has not homered since 6/11 at FRE. Rob Henry (6 HR) last homered on 4/29 at SAL.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 809 (3rd most in MiLB) strikeouts this season. 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 1,460 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.
TRENDING: Payton Henry has hit safely in four straight games (5-for-13 last four) and is batting .304/.360/.457 with a .817 OPS over his last 12 games (14-for-46, 3 R, 4 2B, 2 BB, 3 RBI)... Eddie Silva has hit safely in six of his last seven games and 7-for-24 with a double and 5 RBI (.292/.400/.333, .733 OPS)... Rob Henry is batting .318/.438/.379 with a .816 OPS over 19 games in June (21-for-66, 14 R, 4 2B, 9 RBI, 12 BB)... Ryan Aguilar is batting .288/.434/.474 with a .908 OPS over his last 18 games (16-for-57, 16 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 14 BB).
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 40 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 36 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.... The Carolina pitching staff is 25-15 and has totaled a 3.45 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.9 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 17-19 with a 4.50 ERA (3.4 BB/9, 8.2 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano. 
DUAL THREAT: Clayton Andrews has recently begun playing as a two-way player having appeared in 21 games (27.1 IP) as a reliever and eight games as Carolina's starting center fielder this season. As a pitcher, Andrews is currently 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA (9 BB, 43 SO) and 11 saves (2nd most in CL). As a position player, Andrews is batting .333/.357/.333 (9-for-27) and has hit safely in five straight games; including back-to-back multi-hit games on 6/16 and 6/25. His first start in center this season came on 5/20 vs Lynchburg. Andrews hit .302/.382/.377 over 57 games (6 2B, 5 3B, 25 BB, 6 SO) at Long Beach St. in 2018 before going to the Brewers in the 17th round of the 2018 Draft.
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault became the winningest manager in Carolina Mudcats team history after collecting his 177th victory as skipper in Carolina on 6/15/19 vs. Winston-Salem. Ayrault is in his 3rd season as Manager of the Mudcats and his 8th season overall as Manager of Milwaukee's High-A affiliate...
MANAGER W L PCT G SEASONS
Joe Ayrault 181 172 .513 353 2017-Present (3)
David Bell 176 239 .424 415 2009-11 (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.