Game #115 Preview — Dash vs. Carolina
Game #115 — Home Game #62
Winston-Salem Dash (19–25, 47–67) vs. Carolina Mudcats (15–29, 44–70)
Tuesday, August 9–7:00 p.m.
BB&T Ballpark (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
GAME BACKGROUND:
Frederick made their lone scoring inning count in a 5–2, series-clinching win over Winston-Salem on Sunday at BB&T Ballpark. Following an off day on Monday, the Dash will try and halt a three-game slide Tuesday against the Carolina Mudcats.
STARTING LINEUP:
Tuesday’s starter Tanner Banks has yielded just one run in his last 15 innings (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).
Landon Lassiter — CF
Gerson Montilla — 2B
Mason Robbins — RF
Nick Basto — LF
Zack Collins — C
Telvin Nash — 1B
Marcus Davis — DH
Toby Thomas — 3B
Ryan Leonards — SS
Tanner Banks — LHP
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DASH DOTS:
- Frederick earned the first series win for an opponent at BB&T Ballpark since May 24–26, when the Keys swept Winston-Salem in a three-game set. The Dash began the season with a 5–19 (.208) mark at home through May before ripping off 22 wins in their next 34 home games until Frederick’s back-to-back-to-back wins over the Dash in the Triad from Friday to Sunday. The Keys ended an undefeated string of nine series for Winston at home (5–0–4). The Dash lost six of their first seven series, with the lone outlier being a four-game split with Potomac in mid-May.
- Winston-Salem will turn to its hottest pitcher to try to snap its recent funk at BB&T Ballpark. Southpaw Tanner Banks has given up just one run on nine hits over his last 15 innings spanning two starts. He has posted a new career-high in strikeouts in each of his last two starts. Banks whiffed seven over seven shutout innings on July 29 against Lynchburg before increasing his professional-best strikeout mark to nine this past Wednesday at Carolina. He needed just 77 pitches to spin eight dominant frames in this tilt.
- Winston’s offense only mustered five total runs in its four-game series with Frederick over the weekend. This marked the fewest runs in a four-game set for the Dash since collecting only two from April 10–13, 2014, at Wilmington. This weekend, Dash were 5-for-32 (.139) with men in scoring position.
- Despite a tough weekend, Winston-Salem still boasts the Carolina League’s top two hitters in the Carolina League by batting average. Thanks to a three-hit effort Sunday, Nick Basto surged to the top spot at .314. He has yet to own a High-A average under .305 this year. Fellow outfielder Mason Robbins is second with a .310 mark. He has delivered a multi-hit game in 38 of his 98 games with the Dash in 2016 (39%). No other qualified Carolina League hitter is north of .300, with Frederick’s Aderlin Rodriguez the closest threat (.299). The Dash held Rodriguez hitless in 14 at-bats throughout the four-game series.
- Two other Winston-Salem hitters boast the two best batting averages on the circuit since the second half began. Marcus Davis (.356) owns a slight lead on fellow Dash infielder Toby Thomas (.355). Davis and Thomas are sixth and seventh, respectively, in High-A since the All-Star break ended on June 23. Shortstop Richard Urena of Dunedin (Toronto) leads all of High-A during this span with a .380 mark.
- Winston-Salem’s bullpen did not permit a run over 10 innings of work during the four-game series with Frederick. All eight active relievers made exactly one appearance during the set. The Dash’s ‘pen boasts an 11-inning scoreless surge since Wednesday’s game at Carolina. This month, Winston-Salem relievers own a 1.31 earned run average (3 ER in 20.2 IP).
- For the first time this season, Winston-Salem has scored three runs or less in six consecutive games. The previous season-long mark was five games from May 1–6, with a weather-related postponement on May 4.
- After this three-game series with Carolina, the Dash will play 17 of their final 23 games on the road. Of its 26 overall games until the end of the season, a total of 10 come against the Mudcats.
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Tuesday’s contest will be broadcast live on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn Radio app. The Pregame Dash will begin at 6:45 p.m., with the first pitch set for 7:00 p.m.
-Joe
