Game #65 Preview — Dash at Wilmington
Game #65 — Away Game #34
Winston-Salem Dash (25–39) at Wilmington Blue Rocks (22–39)
Tuesday, June 14–6:35 p.m.
Frawley Stadium (Wilmington, Del.)
GAME BACKGROUND:
Wilmington’s duo of Josh Staumont and Jake Newberry struck out 16 in the Blue Rocks’ 3–1 victory in Monday’s series opener at Frawley Stadium. The Dash try to snap a four-game skid in Tuesday’s middle match at Wilmington.
STARTING LINEUP:
Dash reliever Danny Dopico threw two perfect innings on Monday (Jody Stewart/W-S Dash).
Hunter Jones — CF
Mason Robbins — LF
Gerson Montilla — 3B
Nick Basto — 1B
Toby Thomas — 2B
Michael Suiter — RF
Brett Austin — C
Zach Fish — DH
Cleuluis Rondon — SS
Thad Lowry — RHP
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DASH DOTS:
- Right-hander Matt Cooper kept Winston-Salem in the game by giving up three runs in five innings, but Cooper suffered the loss and posted a season-low three strikeouts. Still, Cooper is the top strikeout pitcher in all of Minor League Baseball with 95, five more than Blake Snell of Durham (Triple-A, Tampa Bay). Only five other Minor Leaguers have logged more than 80 whiffs thus far this season. Cooper still enjoys a 23-strikeout lead in the Carolina League, with Staumont surging into second with 72 after his 12-strikeout gem on Monday.
- Normally, when Cooper takes the mound, the Dash’s opponent endures a rough night in the strikeout department. However, Winston-Salem’s offense stumbled to a 16-strikeout showing on Monday night. The Dash had not racked up 16 offensive strikeouts since May 6, 2015, in a 7–6, 10-inning loss at Frederick. This marked the club’s worst strikeout performance in a nine-inning game a shutout loss at Kinston on July 17, 2011, that featured 17 Dash strikeouts. Basto was the only Dash starter who did not go down on strikes in the entire contest.
- For the 28th time this season, Winston-Salem scored three runs or less in a game. The Dash are 2–26 in those games, while they own a 23–13 record when plating four or more runs. Winston is seventh in the CL in runs per game (3.97).
- Winston-Salem is in danger of suffering its fourth losing streak of five or more games. The Dash have followed up a season-long four-game win streak with four consecutive losses since Friday. The Dash have not dropped more than five in a row since a seven-game slide from August 21–27 of 2014. Since becoming the Dash in 2009, Winston-Salem has never recorded more than three skids of five-plus games, something that happened in both 2011 and 2014.
- After giving up two or more earned runs in each of his first 12 efforts at the High-A level, Tuesday starter Thad Lowry had permitted exactly one earned run in each of his last two outings, both of which came against Carolina. In these 13 innings, Lowry has scattered nine hits and struck out eight. The Dash have a better record with Lowry on the bump (6–5) than any other hurler this year. Tuesday marks Lowry’s first duel with the Blue Rocks.
- Outfielder Hunter Jones is one of two men in the Carolina League who has played all of his team’s games, joining Myrtle Beach’s Yasiel Balaguert. Jones paces the CL in games (64) and at-bats (251), while he stands tied for first in triples (7), third in hits (73), fourth in runs (46), fourth in stolen bases (26) and seventh in batting average (.291). Jones is one of two Dash players heading to next week’s All-Star Game in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Cooper).
- After posting six straight multi-hit games from May 30 to June 6, Mason Robbins has been mired in a 2-for-20 funk in his last four games. Robbins still stands fifth in the Carolina League in batting average (.292), though he was atop the circuit in average before this recent slide.
- Michael Suiter set a new career-high with four strikeouts in Monday’s loss.
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
Tuesday’s game will be broadcast live on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn Radio app. The Pregame Dash will begin at 6:20 p.m., with the first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.
-Joe
