Lakewood Blueclaws
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Lakewood BlueClaws 2018 Media Notes - September 7th vs Kannapolis (White Sox) South Atlantic League Champions: 2006, 2009, 2010 www.BlueClaws.com / @BlueClaws on Twitter Lakewood BlueClaws (46-23/87-51) vs Kannapolis Intimidators (35-35/74-63) South Atlantic League Northern Division Championship Series, Game Two Lakewood leads best-of-three series 1-0 FirstEnergy Park - Lakewood, NJ (opened 2001) RHP Spencer Howard (9-8, 3.78) vs LHP Parker Rigler (6-9, 4.43) Game One Recap ...The BlueClaws scored twice in the ninth inning to break a 2-2 tie and top Kannapolis 4-2 on Wednesday night at Intimidators Stadium...Pinch-runner Dalton Guthrie scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch before Jose Antequera added an RBI single...James McArthur threw two scoreless innings to earn the win while Zach Warren struck out the side in the ninth to earn the save. BlueClaws Bites With a Win ...A win tonight sends the BlueClaws to their fifth SAL Championship Series in five post-season trips...Lexington leads Rome 1-0 in the SAL Southern Division Chamiponship Series and the winner of that series will host Games One and Two of the SAL Championship Series beginning on Monday night...The BlueClaws have never lost Standing a Northern Division Championship Series (4-0) and are 9-1 in games in the Northern Division Championship Series. Record 46-23/86-51 With a Loss ...If Kannapolis wins on Friday night, the BlueClaws and Intimidators will play on Saturday night...The BlueClaws have only gone to Game Three once in their five Games Ahead 6.5 Northern Division Championship Series, defeating Hickory 6-0 in Game Three in 2010 behind Jonathan Pettibone. Largest Lead 6.5 (last 9/3) The New Guys ...The BlueClaws got contributions from three 2018 draft picks in their Game One win at Kannapolis...5th round pick Matt Vierling (Notre Dame) threw out the Largest Deficit (2H) 1.0 (last 6/23) potential go-ahead run at the plate to end the bottom of the 8th inning...10th round pick Madison Stokes (South Carolina) started the ninth inning with a double and his Largest Deficit (1H) 5.5 (last 5/24) pinch runner scored the winning run...12th round pick James McArthur (Ole Miss) threw two scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher. Quick Hitters How They Got Here ...The BlueClaws finished 87-51 on the year and won both halves of the SAL season, clinching a spot on Father's Day with a win and Kannapolis loss to Greensboro...Kannapolis finished 74-63 and had the second best record in the Northern Division...They clinched their spot on Labor Day with a win and a West Virginia loss Current Streak L1 at Charleston. Longest Win Streak W6 (3x) Winning Both Halves ...The BlueClaws are just the sixth South Atlantic League team since the new format went into play in 2000 to win both halves : 2000 Piedmont (Phillies), Longest Losing Streak L4 (2x) 2003 Lake County (Indians), 2004 Capital City (Mets), 2010 Lakewood (Phillies), and 2015 Savannah (Mets)...The BlueClaws won the first-half title on the last day of the half, Last Homestand 2-2 (vs DEL) their lone day in first place, though they have been in first place in the second half since July 16th. Division Sweep BlueClaws in the Playoffs ...The BlueClaws are in the post-season for the fifth time in their history and look for their fourth title this year (they won championships in 2006, 2009, and 2010 and lost in the Championship Series to Rome in 2016)...The BlueClaws are 19-7 all-time in the playoffs and 9-1 all-time in the first round after their Game The BlueClaws won the South Atlantic One win on Wednesday night. League Northern Division First-Half Zach the K ...Zach Warren struck out the side in the ninth to close out Lakewood's Game One win on Wednesday...In the second half, LHP Zach Warren allowed two earned Championship, and then clinched the runs in 26.1 innings on 11 hits with 12 walks and 56 strikeouts... Warren has struck out 49 of the last 76 batters that he has faced (including playoffs)...He held left-handed Second-Half Championship on August 30 th at hitters to a .115 batting average this year (9-78 with 42 strikeouts)...Warren was a 14th round pick last year from the University of Tennessee and grew up in Vineland, New th Jersey (73 miles from FirstEnergy Park). Greensboro…They’re just the 6 team since the league switched playoff formats in 2000 Duran, Duran ...Rodolfo Duran led the BlueClaws with 18 regular season home runs and homered in Game One of the Northern Division Championship Series on Wednesday night at Kannapolis...He went 27-73 (.370) with six home runs over the last 19 games of the regular season and had a four-hit, four run game on September 1st vs to win both halves. Delmarva...He in back to back games three times this year... Duran did not hit a single home run with Williamsport last year . The Winningest Team Winning Claws ...The BlueClaws finished 36-15 in their last 51 regular season games ...They won 87 games this year, three fewer than Bowling Green (Rays, Midwest The BlueClaws won their 85 th game of the League), but the most in franchise history (2006 and 2010 BlueClaws each won 84). th year in the second-half clincher August 30 BlueClaws Hardware ...Four BlueClaws were named to the South Atlantic Legaue Post-Season All-Star Team - LHP Will Stewart, IF Jake Scheiner, manager Marty Malloy, and and set a new franchise record for the most pitching coach Brad Bergesen...Stewart is the fifth BlueClaws pitcher to be so recognized (Carlos Carrasco, Matt Maloney, Jesse Biddle, and Will Hibbs)...Malloy is the third BlueClaws manager (Dusty Wathan and Mark Parent). wins in a season…The 2006 and 2010 BlueClaws each went 84-55. Walk-Off Claws ...The BlueClaws walk-off win on Saturday night (Ortiz double) was Lakewood's 11th of the year and seventh since July 23rd (the team record is 14 set by the 2010 BlueClaws)...Lakewood has won nine games since July 23rd in which they've trailed in the 7th inning or later. Down to the Wire (Again) Scheining Bright ...Jake Scheiner hit .330 in the second half, best in the league (tiedwith Greenville's Pedro Castellanos), was third in OPS at .940 (Asheville's Todd Czinege at Last year, Kannapolis won the First Half Title 1.010) and first OBP at .428 (Greenville's Tanner Nishioka at .401)...He finished 35-103 since July 23rd...He had two home runs in Hickory, giving him 13 on the year...He hit on the last day of the half, eliminating safely in 40 of his last 47 games (had a 12-game hitting streak snapped July 16th and a 10-game hitting streak snapped on August 18th)...He is 67-203 (.330) with 31 walks and 35 strikeouts in 57 games in the second half. Lakewood...This year, the BlueClaws won the First Half Title on the last day of the half, Run the Vierling ...BlueClaws OF Matt Vierling finished the regular season 30-93 (.323) since August 1st with five home runs (including four since August 19th) and five walks eliminating Kannapolis...Then Kannapolis after hitting .264 with one home run and two walks in July, covering his first 24 games as a BlueClaw...Vierling joined Lakewood on July 2nd from Williamsport where he was 21-50...He was a 5th round pick this year from Notre Dame. qualified for the post-season on the last day of the second half with a win and a loss by Home Run Index ... The BlueClaws hit 95 home runs on the year, most in team history, surpassing the 2004 teams total of 90 , when Randy Ruiz led the team with 17 and Jake Blalock was the only other player in double-figures with 16...The BlueClaws have three players with double-digit home runs - Rodolfo Duran has 18 (after not homering last West Virginia at Charleston. year) while Jake Scheiner has 13 and Jhailyn Ortiz also has 13. Shutout City ...The BlueClaws threw their franchise-record 23rd shutout (15 in the first half and eight in the second half) in the August 12th win at Hickory, surpassing Lakewood's 22 that they threw in 2017...Since 2008, the only other SAL team to throw 18 shutouts in a full season was last year's BlueClaws, who threw a team-record 22 shutouts (2017 Columbia and 2014 Hagerstown threw 17)...Buies Creek (Astros, Carolina League) has thrown 18 shutouts this year, second most in the minors. Brogdon Dyamite Post-Break ...Connor Brogdon has allowed three earned runs in 30.1 innings pitched in the second half, with 41 strikeouts against five walks (he had a stretch of 19 straight innings without an earned run snapped on August 17th vs Rome)...Brogdon has four saves this year, all in the second half...He was a 10th round pick last year from Lewis & Clark State.. Brogdon was named Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July. Throw Them Out ...Rodolfo Duran threw out 39 of 93 base-stealers this year (.419) and leads the league in runners thrown out and is tied in percentage (MJ Melendez of Lexington)...Last year, Edgar Cabral threw out 46% of 67 attempted base- stealers, which would have led the league had he played enough games (he was promoted in July).