Game Notes 8/19/15: Martinez to the mound; no runs, no fun; Louie in the lineup, and a look at quickies
Kannapolis Intimidators vs. Asheville Tourists
Wednesday, August 19, 2015–7:05 p.m.
McCormick Field — Asheville, N.C.
Game #121 of 139
RHP Luis Martinez (4–11, 5.71) vs. LHP Sam Howard (8–9, 4.00)
Intimidators: 24–27 Second Half, 59–61 (Chicago White Sox)
Tourists: 29–21 Second Half, 61–59 (Colorado Rockies)
Today’s Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) face the Tourists (A, Rockies) in the series rubber match Wednesday as Luis Martinez takes the mound for the fourth time against Asheville. The lanky right-hander will face Asheville’s lefty Sam Howard, who is making his fourth start against Kannapolis. This is the third head-to-head matchup between Martinez and Howard, who both started the games on May 19 and August 3. The Intimidators look to get their offense back on track after a shutout loss, 6–0, on Tuesday. Asheville has won 10 of 13 games against Kannapolis in 2015. Wednesday’s game is the final meeting between the two squads in the regular season.
Intimidating Starter: Luis Martinez, 20, makes his 21st start of the year and his fourth against Asheville. He is coming off a home loss to Hagerstown, giving up six runs (three earned) on seven hits over 5.0 innings on Aug. 14, his 11th loss of the year which ties for second-most in the league. After finishing July 2–2 with a 1.52 ERA (5 ER/29.1 IP) and 20 strikeouts in five starts, he has hit a speed bump in August, going 0–2 with a 15.00 ERA (15 ER/9.0 IP) in three starts. Martinez has struggled against Asheville, going 0–3 with a 17.55 ERA (13 ER/6.2 IP), 14 walks and four strikeouts in three starts. MLB.com currently ranks Martinez as the №30 Prospect in the White Sox organization. He has started three of the Intimidators’ league-leading 13 shutouts, the most in the rotation. Martinez was signed as a free agent on Dec. 16, 2011. In 2014, he went 5–3 with a 2.93 ERA (24 ER/58.1 IP) and 62 strikeouts in 12 games (11 starts) between the AZL White Sox and Great Falls.
Asheville’s Arm: Sam Howard, 22, makes his 22nd start of the season and fourth against Kannapolis. He is 3–0 with a 2.95 ERA (6 ER/18.1 IP) and 12 strikeouts in three starts against the Intimidators. Howard ranks fifth in the league with 97 strikeouts in 108.0 innings, and he ranks third among starters in highest strikeouts/9 IP ratio at 8.08 (97 SO/108.0 IP). Howard is coming off a home loss to Augusta on August 14, allowing three runs on five hits in 5.0 innings, snapping a streak of six straight winning decisions, including four consecutive wins July 22 through August 8. After going 2–8 with a 4.91 ERA in 12 starts in the First Half, Howard enjoyed a hot July, going 3–0 with a 1.19 ERA (4 ER/30.1 IP) in five starts, including a 9-inning complete game shutout on July 27 against Rome. August has not been as kind, as Howard is 2–1 with a 6.48 ERA (12 ER/16.2 IP) in three starts this month. The Rockies selected him in the third round (82nd overall) of the June 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Georgia Southern University where he went 7–6 with a 235 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) as a junior. He made his professional debut last season with Advanced Rookie Grand Junction.
About Last Night: Asheville shutout Kannapolis, 6–0, behind six strong innings from Jesus Tinoco. He struck out eight while giving up three hits and a walk to earn the win, improving to 3–0 in four starts with Asheville since being traded from the Blue Jays to the Rockies as part of the Troy Tulowitzki deal. James Lomangino spun the final three frames for the save (2). Asheville scored two in the second and three more in the fourth to tag Thad Lowry (11–7) with the loss. Max White finished 2–2 with a double and two RBI for the Tourists, and Yonathan Daza also drove in two with a double in the fourth.
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Walsh Working It: Kannapolis reliever Connor Walsh spun three effective relief innings on Tuesday, striking out three while allowing a run on three hits with no walks. He now has 64 strikeouts in 45.0 IP in 25 relief appearances this season. Opponents are batting .205 (34–166) against the former Cincinnati Bearcat. Walsh has struck out at least one batter in every game he’s pitched this season and has fanned multiple batters in 18 of his 25 games.
No Runs, No Fun: Kannapolis suffered its fifth shutout loss of the season on Tuesday and fourth of the Second Half. Kannapolis last suffered a shutout loss on Aug. 7 at Greensboro, a 3–0 defeat. Since the All-Star Break, Kannapolis has also suffered shutout defeats June 27 against Asheville (L, 0–4) and July 9 at Charleston (L, 0–1). Kannapolis is 4–4 in shutouts in the Second Half. The Intimidators still lead the SAL in winning percentage in shutouts with a 13–5 record (.722), and the team’s five shutout losses are second-fewest in the league to Greenville (6–3). Their 13 shutout wins are the most in the league.
Louie in the Lineup: Louie Lechich has played 111 games this season, tied for fourth-most in the SAL this season. The outfielder ranks tied for fifth with 63 RBI and ranks third with 421 at-bats. On Monday, he mashed a two-run home run, his fifth of the season and 10th of his career to tie Chris Curley for the team lead in home runs.
Spoiled Vacation: Despite an 0–4 night on Tuesday, Alexander Simon has tormented the Tourists this season, batting .487 (19–39) with a triple, seven RBI, and nine runs scored in 10 games against the Tourists. The first baseman is batting .288 (23–80) with runners in scoring position and .253 (63–249) overall in 62 games with the Intimidators.
That Escalated Quickly: Tuesday’s game took place in two hours and 14 minutes, the eighth-fastest nine-inning game Kannapolis has played this season. The Intimidators’ fastest nine-inning game of the year came August 7 in a 3–0 loss in Greensboro that took one hour and 51 minutes.
Broadcast Information: This season, all 140 games will be broadcast live on the Kannapolis Intimidators inBaseball Network at IntimidatorsBaseball.com and via TuneIn Radio App with the Josh Feldman, in his fifth season as the “Voice of the Intimidators,” and Nick Nollenberger, in his first year with the team.
