Game #88 Preview — Dash at Frederick

Game #88 — Road Game #45
Winston-Salem Dash (8–9, 36–51) at Frederick Keys (9–8, 45–42)
Monday, July 11–2:00 p.m.
NYMEO Field (Frederick, Md.)

GAME BACKGROUND:

Slugger Telvin Nash went deep twice, but the Frederick Keys earned a walk-off 5–4 victory on Sunday night from NYMEO Field. The Dash will try and round out their four-game set against Frederick with a series-splitting win on Monday.

STARTING LINEUP:

On Sunday, Telvin Nash became the 29th different player in the Dash era (since 2009) to hit two home runs in a single game (Jody Stewart/ W-S Dash).

Hunter Jones — CF
Gerson Montilla — 3B
Mason Robbins — RF
Nick Basto — LF
Marcus Davis — DH
Telvin Nash — 1B
Toby Thomas — 2B
Brett Austin — C
Cleuluis Rondon — SS
Zach Thompson — RHP

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DASH DOTS:

• One game after Winston-Salem registered its biggest come-from-behind-win since May 22, 2009, Nash became the first Dash hitter to club a pair of home runs in one game since June 20, 2014. Outfielder Jason Coats, who is now in the Major Leagues with the White Sox, socked two long balls in a win over Salem on that day. Nash became the 29th different player in the Dash era (2009-present) to go deep twice. It was the 39th multi-homer game of the Dash era.
• At the end of June, the Dash found themselves in the bottom half of the Carolina League in team home runs (40). However, Winston-Salem has churned out 13 long balls in the first 10 days of July, which already surpasses the club’s efforts in April and June (12 in each). The Dash are only three long balls away from their season-high for a month (May). The only CL team with more July homers than the Dash is Frederick, who has 19 overall and eight thus far this series.
• Sunday starter Jordan Stephens labored over four innings, during which he needed 87 pitches. Stephens gave up three runs on six hits in a no-decision. Before this outing, the former Rice Owl had given up just one run in his previous 27.1 innings. Still, Stephens’ earned run average stands at 3.57, which is ninth-lowest among qualified Carolina League pitchers.
• One day after Stephens, the White Sox fifth-round pick in 2015, took the mound, the Dash turn to Chicago’s fifth-rounder from 2014. Righty Zach Thompson will make his High-A debut in Monday’s finale. While with Low-A Kannapolis, Thompson went 6–3 with a 2.62 ERA, the fourth-best qualified ERA in the South Atlantic League. A Midseason All-Star in the SAL, Thompson made 16 starts with the Intimidators in each of the last two years (2015: 3–8, 4.44 ERA).
• Zach is not the only Thompson brother who has suited up in Minor League Baseball. His older brother Matt passed up college and went into the Texas Rangers’ system after being a seventh-round pick in 2008. Zach had an opportunity to watch his brother play in Hickory in 2010, and five years later, Zach was suiting up against the Crawdads as a member of the Kannapolis Intimidators. Thanks to his promotion to the Dash on July 11, Zach has now soared higher than his brother in the Minors. Matt peaked with the Low-A Hickory Crawdads in 2010 and 2011, combining to go 12–14 with a 5.17 ERA in 51 appearances. Overall in the Minors, Matt was 16–19 in 75 appearances (54 starts).
• Even though the club was just 24–46, Kannapolis had five All-Star honorees, and Thompson had the biggest impact during the North Division’s 2–1 victory in Lexington, Ky. Thompson worked a perfect sixth inning, during which he struck out a pair. Two other SAL All-Stars have logged time with the Dash this season — southpaw Tanner Banks, who did not appear in the game because he was promoted to the Dash, and infielder Danny Mendick, who went 0-for-2. The other two Kannapolis products in the Midsummer Classic were infielder Landon Lassiter (1-for-2, single) and Seby Zavala (0-for-0, walk).
• Several Dash hitters are at or near the top of the Carolina League in various offensive categories. Nick Basto (.324) and Robbins (.305) are first and second, respectively, among active, qualified CL hitters. Basto had reached in six straight plate appearances before a sixth-inning strikeout Sunday, while Mason Robbins saw his four-game multi-hit streak end with just his second 0-for-5 day of the season. Hunter Jones paces the circuit in hits (96) and at-bats (341), while he is second in runs (60) and fourth in stolen bases (30).
• After Monday’s finale in Maryland, the Dash return to the Triad for a seven-game homestand that begins Wednesday at BB&T Ballpark, which has drawn 1,998,520 fans in its seven-season history. Thus, with only 1,480 fans to go until the two-million mark, the Dash will surpass this milestone in their series opener with Potomac. The downtown facility, which was named the best ballpark in High-A via a fan vote on Ballpark Digest earlier this year, was the quickest to reach one million fans, and it will be the second-quickest to get to two million fans.
• Starting Wednesday, the Dash will play 21 of their next 29 at BB&T Ballpark before finishing with 17 out of 23 road games.
• Former Dash star Carson Fulmer spun a perfect inning and struck out two in Sunday’s MLB Futures Game.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

Monday’s contest will be broadcast live on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn Radio app. The Pregame Dash will begin at 1:45 p.m., with the first pitch set for 2:00 p.m.

-Joe