Game #124 & #125 Preview — Dash vs. Salem
UPDATE — 7:10 p.m.
Dash’s game two lineup:
Landon Lassiter — CF
Gerson Montilla — 2B
Mason Robbins — RF
Nick Basto — LF
Zack Collins — DH
Toby Thomas — 3B
Marcus Davis — 1B
Daniel Gonzalez — C
Cleuluis Rondon — SS
Zach Thompson — RHP
Game #124/#125 — Home Game #65/#66
Winston-Salem Dash (24–29, 52–71) vs. Salem Red Sox (32–21, 75–47)
Saturday, August 20–5:00 p.m.
BB&T Ballpark (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
GAME BACKGROUND:
After rain forced the cancellation of the Dash’s road trip finale at Myrtle Beach on Thursday, the opener between Winston-Salem and the Salem Red Sox was postponed due to rain on Friday night at BB&T Ballpark. The Dash will play a doubleheader against Salem on Saturday, with the first contest starting at 5 p.m.
STARTING LINEUP (Game one):
Tanner Banks and Zach Thompson (above) will start game one and two, respectively (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).
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Landon Lassiter — LF
Gerson Montilla — 2B
Mason Robbins — RF
Nick Basto — 1B
Zack Collins — C
Toby Thomas — 3B
Brett Austin — DH
Michael Suiter — CF
Cleuluis Rondon — SS
Tanner Banks — LHP
DASH DOTS:
- The Dash are 9.5 games back of the Pelicans in the Southern Division’s standings. Myrtle Beach lost at home to Lynchburg on Friday night. Thus, the Dash’s elimination number remains at seven with 31 combined games remaining for the Dash (16) and Pelicans (15). Any combination of Dash losses or Pelicans wins that reaches seven will eliminate Winston-Salem from playoff contention. In the Dash era (2009-present), Winston-Salem has reached the postseason four times.
- Winston-Salem has played three doubleheaders in the second half, and all three have resulted in sweeps. Most recently, the Dash took a pair from Carolina on August 11, including a Marcus Davis walk-off single in the finale. The first two twin bills of the second half went the other way, with Myrtle Beach sweeping Winston-Salem at BB&T Ballpark on July 6 before Potomac earned a couple of wins on July 23 at Pfitzner Stadium.
- Winston-Salem returns home for the first time since last Thursday. After enduring a 5–19 (.208) start at home through May, the worst mark in Minor League Baseball at the time, the Dash have bounced back with a 25–15 (.625) record at BB&T Ballpark. However, the Dash have been unable to make up ground in the playoff race due to an 8–23 record on the road since June 1.
- The Dash boast the two best qualified hitters in the Carolina League. Even though his eight-game hitting streak ended on Wednesday at Myrtle Beach, Mason Robbins paces the circuit with a .321 average. He also leads the way with 142 hits. Fellow outfielder Nick Basto stands second at .315, 11 points better than third-place Aderlin Rodriguez of Frederick. If Robbins and Basto maintain their hold on the top two spots, it would be the second time in five years that a Winston-Salem duo would finish one-two in batting average. Carlos Sanchez and Dan Black finished with .315 marks in 2012, the last year the Dash reached the Mills Cup Finals.
- In Saturday’s opener, the Dash turn to southpaw Tanner Banks, who has punched out 22 in his last four outings spanning 22.0 innings. In his last five outings, the Utah native has allowed just five earned runs over 27.1 innings (1.65 ERA). Before this surge, Banks owned a 6.00 ERA in his first seven starts at the High-A level. Righty Zach Thompson gets the call in game two. Thompson is 2–1 with a 4.32 ERA in three starts at BB&T Ballpark (0–3, 9.90 ERA in four road efforts).
- The White Sox announced Friday that righties Thad Lowry and Connor Walsh have earned their first promotions to Double-A Birmingham. Lowry leads the CL with 135.1 innings of work, during which he is 8–8 with a 4.06 ERA. Walsh leads the Dash with five saves and posted a 3.40 ERA in 25 relief appearances. The Dash did receive one new pitcher, southpaw Aaron Bummer from rookie-level Great Falls.
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Coverage for the suspended game on Saturday will begin at 4:45 p.m on wsdash.com/broadcast, MiLB.tv, or the TuneIn App. First pitch is schedule for 5:00 p.m. Saturday’s regularly scheduled contest will begin thirty minutes after the suspended game ends.
-Joe
