May 27: Mudcats vs. Wood Ducks Game Notes

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DOWN EAST WOOD DUCKS (TEXAS RANGERS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Monday, May 27, 2019 | 12:00 PM | Game 51, Home Game 24 | Five County Stadium | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 29-21; DE: 34-17
Streaks: CAR: L2; DE: W2
Last 10 Games: CAR: 5-5, DE: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 13-10; DE: 14-13
Road Record: CAR: 16-11; DE: 20-4
Division Record: CAR: 16-10; DE: 22-7
Current Series: DE leads 2-1 (of 4)
Season Series: DE leads 4-3 (of 20)
CAR v. OPP: 1-2 @CAR (10), 2-2 @OPP (10)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
MON, 5/27 vs. DE, 12:00 PM: Down East RHP Reid Anderson (2-1, 3.48) at Carolina RHP Dylan File (4-4, 3.73)
TUE, 5/28: Off
TODAY: After last night's last loss to the visiting Wood Ducks, the second place Mudcats conclude an eight game home stand today with game four of a four game series versus first place Down East at Five County Stadium. Yesterday's 3-1 loss dropped the Mudcats to 4.5 games back of the Southern Division leading Wood Ducks in the Carolina League first half standings. Carolina enters tonight's game in a 1-2 hole in the current series and a 3-4 deficit in the overall 20-game season series between the two teams. The two teams last faced off during the first series of the season (4/4-4/7) where they split a four game set 2-2 at Grainger Stadium in Kinston.
ICYMI: Ryan Aguilar hit a solo home run in the third to bring the Mudcats within one, but Down East pitchers Jake Latz, Alex Eubanks and Joe Kuzia combined to hold Carolina to 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 Mudcats on base as the Wood Ducks won their second straight 3-1 on Sunday night. 
TODAY'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTING PITCHER...
Dylan File: 4-4, 3.73 ERA, 9 GS, 50.2 IP, 5 BB, 51 SO, 1.14 WHIP
Last outing: 5/22 vs. LYN, L, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO, 90 pitches
CL Ranks: 1st in xFIP (2.86), 1st in BB/9 (0.89), 1st in K/BB (10.2)
Named CL Pitcher of the Week for 4/22-4/28 (1 GS, 6 IP, 0 R, 5 SO)
WHERE THEY RANK: Ryan Aguilar is currently 7th in the CL in OBP (.393), tied for 3rd in walks (30) and tied for 3rd in runs (31)... Mario Feliciano is currently tied for 1st in the CL in home runs (9), 3rd in RBI (35), 9th in slugging (.444) and 6th in total bases (76)... Payton Henry is currently 9th in the CL in RBI (30)... Matt Hardy leads the CL in wins (6) and is tied for the league lead games (17)... Rodrigo Benoit is tied for 2nd in the CL in wins (5), tied for 1st in the CL in games (17) and 2nd in the CL in saves (8)... Noah Zavolas currently 4th in the CL in ERA (3.25), 1st in innings pitched (61.0), tied for 7th in average against (.271) and 3rd in WHIP (1.16)... Dylan File is currently tied for 6th in the CL in earned run average (3.73), tied for 1st in WHIP (1.14), 6th in average against (.269), 5th in strikeouts (51) and tied for 6th in innings pitched (50.2). 
WHAT IF: Having totaled just 127 plate appearances, Rob Henry is currently just shy of qualifying for the CL leader board in various categories this season. Henry, however, is 9th in slugging (.467), 11th in OPS (.822) and 4th in ISO (.234) among CL players with at least 120 PA this season. He is also tied for 9th in the CL in homers (6).
FACT FILE: Dylan File has walked only five batters while totaling 51 strikeouts this season. File currently owns the CL's best K/BB (10.20) and is 7th in all of MiLB in K/BB this season... File has issued just two four pitch walks this season (5/7 vs. FAY, 4th Inn. - Colton Shaver, 5/22 vs. LYN, 5th inn. - Gavin Collins). File has also reached a 3-0 count just three times this season.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 558 strikeouts (2nd in MilB) this season. The Mudcats are on pace for 1,551 strikeouts this season. Carolina batters combined to total a Carolina League and franchise record 1,311 strikeouts during the 2018 season; breaking the previous Carolina League and franchise record of 1,245 SO set by the Mudcats during the 2017 season... Carolina currently owns the second largest difference between strikeouts and hits (194 more strikeouts than hits) in MiLB.
ON TO THE NEXT ONE: The Brewers promoted OF Joantgel Segovia to Double-A Biloxi yesterday. Before the promotion, Segovia was 8th in the Carolina League in average (.302), 10th in on-base (.389), 9th in slugging (.444), 7th in OPS (.832), tied for 8th in hits (51) and tied for 7th in runs (28).
GOT HEEM: Payton Henry currently leads the Carolina League in most caught steals (22). Henry has caught 22 of 56 (39.3%) would-be base stealers over 26 games and 229 innings behind the plate this season. Henry is, however, 4th in the CL in caught stealing efficiency at 39.3%; MJ Melendez leads the CL in caught stealing efficiency at 59.1 % (13 CS, 9 SB, 22 ATT).
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 26 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 24 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 16-10 and has totaled a 3.21 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 8.8 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 13-11 with a 4.46 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
WALK IT OFF: The Mudcats have begun the 2019 season at 13-9 at home, with nearly half of those victories coming in walk-off fashion as Carolina has won in its last at bat six times already this season (4/11, 4/28, 5/11, 5/20, 5/21, 5/24)... Seven of Carolina's final 12 home wins last season also occurred in walk-off fashion (7/19, 7/24, 7/25, 8/4, 8/8, 8/17, 8/28). Those seven walk-off wins additionally occurred over Carolina's last 22 home games of 2018.
BACK END BRILLIANCE: Reliever Rodrigo Benoit has allowed just one earned run this season (4/21 at FAY, Colton Shaver HR) and has pitched through 10 straight outings without allowing an earned run. He has, however, allowed five runs over his last four appearances with three of those last four games coming in extra-innings. All five of those runs were unearned with those particular frames beginning with a runner at second per MiLB's new extra-innings rules (Rule 9.16).
PEAKING: At 29-21, the Mudcats are currently eight games above .500 and 4.5 games back of first place Down East in the CL Southern Division standings. Carolina has been as high as 11 games above .500 once (5/21) and 10 games above four times (5/18, 5/20, 5/22, 5/24) this season. Before this season, the last time a Mudcats team sat at least 10 games above .500 overall was on 7/27/08 when the then-Southern League Mudcats were 58-48 in the overall standings. That 2008 teams was also at 27-17 in the second half on 8/4/08 and finished the year at 80-60 overall. 
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault will be away from the team this weekend while away with organization provided time off. Coach Fidel Pena will serve as acting manager for this weekend's series. Pena is in his first season as a coach with the Mudcats and his third overall as a coach in the Brewers system. He previously spent the last two seasons as a coach with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Pena is also a former catcher, infielder and outfielder who last played in Brewers system in 2016 (Brevard County Manatees, FSL).
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.