Game #103 Preview — Dash at Lynchburg
Game #103 — Road Game #52
Winston-Salem Dash (15–17, 39–63) at Lynchburg Hillcats (19–14, 59–43)
Thursday, July 27–6:30 p.m.
Lynchburg City Stadium (Lynchburg, Va.)
GAME BACKGROUND:
Prospect righty Dane Dunning turned in seven spectacular innings on the mound, and Seby Zavala cranked a three-run homer to propel Winston-Salem to a 5–0 win over the Buies Creek Astros on Wednesday night at Jim Perry Stadium. Eloy Jimenez contributed a pair of hits and an RBI, while Matt Foster and Mike Morrison finished off the Dash’s eighth shutout of the season with one scoreless inning apiece.
Looking to build off their victory, the Dash now begin a four-game set against the Hillcats on Thursday. Last week, Winston-Salem took two of three at Lynchburg City Stadium on the back end of a six-game road swing that started in Myrtle Beach. The Dash took a wild opener on July 16 by a score of 9–7, largely thanks to a tie-breaking, four-run ninth. Winston-Salem and Lynchburg then split a twin bill two days later. Overall, the Dash are 4–6 against the Hillcats and 3–3 in Lynchburg.
DASH LINEUP:
Bryant Flete — 2B
Zack Collins — C
Eloy Jimenez — RF
Matt Rose — 3B
Jameson Fisher — LF
Seby Zavala — DH
Brandon Dulin — 1B
Yeyson Yrizarri — SS
Luis Basabe — CF
Jimmy Lambert — RHP
DASH DOTS:
· Dunning spun his second consecutive seven-inning scoreless outing at Jim Perry Stadium, blanking the Astros in 14 straight frames over his two starts in Buies Creek this season. On Wednesday, Dunning locked down his fourth win with the Dash by scattering six hits and fanning six Astros sluggers while walking just one over 94 pitches. The former Florida Gator’s first seven-inning gem at Buies Creek came on June 17 in game one of a doubleheader, during which Dunning logged the first complete-game shutout of his professional career in a 2–0 Dash win.
· Zavala went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and the aforementioned home run in Wednesday’s finale. Zavala’s long ball marked his fifth homer at the High-A level. In his last 13 contests dating back to July 5, Zavala is 19-of-45 (.422) with three home runs, 13 RBIs and 10 runs. He has 22 RBIs in 22 games with Winston-Salem.
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· All five members of Winston-Salem’s starting rotation have posted solid efforts in the Dash’s most recent turn through its staff. Across the Dash’s last five contests, their starting pitching boasts a combined 1.80 ERA (6 ER in 30.0 IP) with 26 strikeouts. Here are the day-by-day lines:
- Saturday vs. SAL: Jimmy Lambert — 7IP, 1R. 7K
- Sunday vs. SAL: Ian Clarkin — 5IP, 2R, 4K
- Monday at BC: Bernardo Flores — 5IP, 1R, 2K
- Tuesday at BC: Alec Hansen — 6IP, 3R (2ER), 7K
- Wednesday at BC: Dane Dunning — 7IP, 0R, 6K
· Jimenez registered his fifth multi-hit effort in 12 games with Winston-Salem on Wednesday. The fifth-best prospect in all of baseball according to Baseball America, Jimenez boasts a .415 average (17-for-41) with two homers, 11 RBIs and eight runs since joining the Dash on July 13 via the Jose Quintana trade with the Cubs. Overall in the CL, Jimenez is hitting .301 with 10 homers and 43 RBIs in 54 games.
· Both Luis Basabe and Yeyson Yrizarri busted out of their hitless streaks in this series on Wednesday, combining for a 4-for-8 mark with a run scored after going 0-for-9 with a strikeout across the first two games against the Astros. Basabe owns a .292 mark in July after entering with a .205 average, while Yrizarri has recorded a .256 mark in 10 games with Winston-Salem since joining the White Sox system after a trade with the Texas Rangers on July 15.
· Former Dash pitcher Aaron Bummer, who began the year on Winston-Salem’s Opening Day roster, has earned his first promotion to the Major Leagues, the Chicago White Sox announced on Thursday. Bummer is the 352nd Winston-Salem alumnus to make it to the big leagues, with 44 of them playing for the franchise during the Dash era (2009-present). The left-hander becomes the fifth player to reach The Show within the same year he suited up in the Dash purple. Bummers joins fellow pitchers Daniel Hudson (2009), Chris Sale (2010) and Daniel Webb (2013), and infielder Gregory Infante (2010).
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Thursday’s series opener at Lynchburg will be broadcast on 600 AM- WSJS/101.3 FM locally in Winston-Salem, as well as online at wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn Radio App. The Pregame Dash kicks off at 6:15 p.m., with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
