Game #100 Preview — Dash at Potomac
Game #100 — Road Game #50
Winston-Salem Dash (12–17, 40–59) at Potomac Nationals (19–9, 53–43)
Sunday, July 24–6:05 p.m.
Pfitzner Stadium (Woodbridge, Va.)
GAME BACKGROUND:
Potomac handed Winston-Salem a pair of losses on Saturday night at Pfitzner Stadium. Behind a three-run homer from big league rehabber Ryan Zimmerman in the first, the P-Nats cruised to a wire-to-wire 6–2 victory in the opener. In the nightcap, the Dash were able to escape multiple jams until Jose Marmolejos allowed the P-Nats to break through with a walk-off single in the seventh of a 3–2 decision. The Dash hope to snap a six-game road skid and avoid a sweep in Sunday’s finale at Potomac before returning to BB&T Ballpark for a week-long homestand.
STARTING LINEUP:
Nick Basto went 2-for-3 with an RBI in Saturday’s doubleheader finale (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).
Landon Lassiter — CF
Gerson Montilla — 3B
Mason Robbins — RF
Nick Basto — LF
Zack Collins — C
Telvin Nash — 1B
Marcus Davis — DH
Toby Thomas — 2B
Cleuluis Rondon — SS
Tanner Banks — LHP
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DASH DOTS:
- Dating back to July 10, the Dash have lost six consecutive road games. This is the longest such skid in 2016 and two games shy of the worst in the Dash era (2009-present). Winston-Salem has endured two road losing streaks of eight games since the nickname change: August 5–16, 2014, and May 23-June 12, 2015. After posting a 14–14 (.500) road record through the end of May, the Dash are just 5–16 (.238) away from BB&T Ballpark since June 1.
- During this difficult stretch on the road, Winston-Salem has lost all six of its games at Pfitzner Stadium. It is the second time in the Dash era that Winston-Salem has lost six straight games at one road stadium in a single year. The club also lost six in a row at Myrtle Beach in 2010 (June 7–9; July 30–31, with a doubleheader on July 30). This is the longest streak overall since the Dash dropped seven straight games in Lynchburg (August 8–10, 2014; June 5–7, 2015, with a doubleheader on June 5).
- A pair of disappointing trends rolled along during Saturday’s doubleheader. Winston-Salem fell to 2–6 in doubleheader games this season, and the squad has been swept in back-to-back twin bills. In Saturday’s doubleheader finale, the Dash also suffered their sixth walk-off loss in their last 19 road games dating back to June 12.
- Marcus Davis pushed his hitting streak to 10 games with a knock in both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader. During this span, Davis boasts an average of .450 (18-for-40) with 10 RBIs and five runs scored. Davis’ current streak is the third-longest by a Winston-Salem hitter this year. He also owns the longest, a 16-game run from May 21 to June 9. All-Star Hunter Jones, who is now in Double-A Birmingham, strung 11 games together from June 10–24.
- Davis and Dash second baseman Toby Thomas are the top two hitters, in terms of average, in the first month of the second half in the CL. Since the All-Star break ended on June 23, Thomas has a slight edge on Davis with a .385 mark (40-for-104) to go along with one home run, eight RBIs and 18 runs. Davis owns a .378 average (37-for-98) with three homers, 19 RBIs and 18 runs during this span. Thomas and Davis are third and fourth, respectively, in all of High-A in batting average since June 23.
- The Dash’s bullpen did not surrender an earned run over four innings of action in Saturday’s doubleheader. In the previous seven games, Dash relievers had a 7.52 ERA (30 R, 27 ER in 32.1 IP).
- Following Sunday’s finale at Potomac, Winston-Salem will play 14 of its next 17 games at BB&T Ballpark (17 of final 23 are road games).
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Sunday’s contest will be broadcast live on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn Radio app. The Pregame Dash will begin at 5:50 p.m., with the first pitch set for 6:05 p.m.
-Joe
