Game #124 Preview — Dash at Myrtle Beach
Game #124 — Away Game #60
Winston-Salem Dash (24–29, 52–71) at Myrtle Beach Pelicans (34–19, 70–53)
Thursday, August 18–7:05 p.m.
TicketReturn.Com Field (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
GAME BACKGROUND:
Winston-Salem plated a pair in the top of the ninth inning, but Myrtle Beach nipped the Dash 6–5 on Wednesday night at TicketReturn.Com Field. The Dash hope to avoid a sweep at the hands of Myrtle Beach on Thursday.
STARTING LINEUP:
Drew Hasler threw a perfect 1.1 frames on Wednesday (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).
Landon Lassiter — CF
Gerson Montilla — 2B
Mason Robbins — RF
Nick Basto — LF
Zack Collins — DH
Marcus Davis — 1B
Toby Thomas — 3B
Daniel Gonzalez — C
Cleuluis Rondon — SS
Tanner Banks — LHP
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DASH DOTS:
- Last season, Winston-Salem went 17–3 in one-run games en route to the Southern Division’s second-half championship. This year, the Dash have been unable to continue their magic in close games. The club is 21–37 (.362) in games decided by one or two runs, including seven straight losses in these types of contests against the Birds. This week, the Dash have lost three straight in Myrtle Beach by a combined five runs, including back-to-back one-run defeats.
- The Dash now find themselves 10 games back of the Pelicans in the Southern Division’s standings. Only 17 games remain for both clubs, which means that Myrtle Beach’s magic number to clinch a spot in the Carolina League playoffs is eight. Any combination of Dash losses or Pelicans wins that reaches eight will eliminate Winston-Salem from postseason contention. In the Dash era (2009-present), Winston-Salem has reached the playoffs four times.
- Through May, the Dash were a respectable 14–14 on the road. Since then, however, Winston is just 8–23 away from BB&T Ballpark. The Dash are 6–17 on the road in the second half (with six walk-off defeats), including 13 losses in their last 16 tries. Winston-Salem’s overall road mark of 22–37 is sixth in the eight-team Carolina League.
- In Wednesday’s loss, Gerson Montilla delivered three RBIs for the fifth time this season. He paces the Dash with 63 RBIs, though three other Winston-Salem sluggers have at least 55 RBIs: Nick Basto (59), Marcus Davis (59) and Mason Robbins (55). Montilla feasts on scoring chances with less than two outs. With men in scoring position and zero or one down, Montilla is a .351 hitter (27-for-77). With two away in these situations, the former Arizona farmhand is 4-for-50 (.080).
- Even though he only whiffed three Wednesday, right-hander Jordan Stephens still paces the Carolina League with 126 strikeouts, 14 more than second-place Trevor Clifton of Myrtle Beach. In his league-leading 24th start, Stephens did surrender an earned run in the first inning for the first time this year. To avoid the sweep, the Dash turn to southpaw Tanner Banks, who has punched out 22 in his last four outings spanning 22.0 innings. However, he has labored against the Birds this year, giving up 10 runs (all earned) on 15 hits in 7.1 innings (12.27 ERA).
- Following Thursday’s road trip finale, the Dash head back to BB&T Ballpark for a quick three-game series with the Salem Red Sox, the first half Southern Division champions. After playing 20 times in the first half, the Dash and Red Sox have yet to lock horns since the All-Star break. Salem owns a 12–8 edge in the season series, including nine wins in 12 tries at BB&T Ballpark.
- Robbins’ eight-game hitting streak, one shy of his longest of the season, came to an end with a 0-for-5 effort on Wednesday. Still, Robbins leads the CL in average (.321) and hits (142).
- Basto is second in the league in average (.315), and he has hit safely in six in a row. The Dash added infielder Dante Flores, a former USC standout, from the AZL White Sox Wednesday.
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Thursday’s game will be broadcast live on 600 AM-WSJS in the Winston-Salem area, as is the case with every Thursday game throughout the season. The game is also available on wsjs.com, as well as wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn App. The Pregame Dash will begin at 6:50 p.m, with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.
-Joe
