UPCOMING GAMES and PROBABLE PITCHERS RHP Justin Garza (3-5, 4.23) Vs. RHP Nolan Watson (0-0, 11.25) HILLCATS COACHING STAFF
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TODAY’S MATCH-UP Hillcats Blue Rocks LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (5-3, 34-41) VS. WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (4-3, 35-42) 5-3 | 29-38 Record 4-3 | 31-39 Game 76 - 2nd Half Game 9 - Friday, June 29, 2018 - 7:05 p.m. - Frawley Stadium 3-1 | 17-15 Home 2-2 | 18-17 2-2 | 12-22 Road 2-1 | 13-22 L1 Streak W1 3-2 Last 5 3-2 RHP Justin Garza (3-5, 4.23) vs. RHP Nolan Watson (0-0, 11.25) 5-3 Last 10 4-3 LAST GAME: The Wilmington Blue Rocks put together a six-run sixth inning, and scored nine unanswered runs on the night, to defeat the Lynchburg Hillcats 9-2. Zach Plesac struck out eight in five innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth. He suffered the loss for Lynchburg. Conner Capel went 1-2 at the plate, driving home both Hillcats runs with sacrifice flies in the first .238 (8th) Batting Avg. .240 (6th) and sixth. Lynchburg was held to just five hits in the ballgame. The bullpen also struggled, surrendering five runs on six hits over three innings. 4.07 (6th) ERA 4.34 (8th) .971 (8th) Fielding Pct. .969 (9th) ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Hillcats are in the midst of a season-long nine game swing, with five against the Blue Rocks and four against the Keys. The Hillcats have struggled mightily 3.8 (9th) Runs/Game 4.2 (6th) away from City Stadium this season, going a league-worst 14-24 on the road, and face a rubber game tonight in Wilmington. Prior to this series, the Hillcats last road win came on June 1 30 (10th) HR 38 (8th) in Frederick. The Hillcats are 4-0 on the road against the Salem Red Sox, but are just 10-24 away from City Stadium against all other Carolina League opponents. 251 (10th) RBI 297 (5th) WELCOME BACK TO THE COMMONWEALTH, ERNIE!: After playing his college ball up the road at the University of Virginia, Ernie Clement made his return to The Commonwealth 252 (9th) BB 315 (1st) Sunday, making his Adv.-A debut for Lynchburg. Clement was outstanding, going 5-7 across two games, scoring three runs and driving in a pair for the Hillcats. Clement has reached base 629 (4th) K 616 (6th) safely in his first six games, posting an OPS of .935. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Clement was drafted of UVA in the fourth round in 2017. 40 (9th) SB 93 (2nd) 1st HALF STANDINGS AND THE 'ROCKS KEEP RUNNIN, RUNNIN : The Wilmington Blue Rocks have stolen 93 bases this season, the second-most in the league behind Buies Creek (97). The 'Rocks stole five bases in Monday's series-opener, matching a season-high for the most steals the Hillcats have allowed in a game. Nick Heath leads the club with 21 stolen bases, and four other Wilming- Northern Division GB ton players have double digit steals. By comparison, the Hillcats have 40 stolen bases this season, which is second-lowest in the league behind Frederick who has swiped just 29 bags. Lynchburg 5-3 .541 -- Wilmington 4-3 .471 0.5 JUSTIN IN JUNE: Tonight's starter Justin Garza has struggled through four June starts, and looks to turn it around tonight against the Blue Rocks. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 7.80 ERA *Potomac 3-4 .429 1.5 (highest of any month), having allowed 13 ER in 15 IP. His roughest outing came against Wilmington on June 5, when he surrendered eight earned runs in 1.1 innings. Salem 3-4 .429 1.5 RED HOT RODRIGUEZ: After recording just five hits in his first 15 games (.119) with the Hillcats this season, Jorma Rodriguez has jump started his game at the plate, tallying 11 hits in his Frederick 3-5 .375 2.0 last nine games (.344). He has raised his average 94 points over that span. Southern Division ANGELS IN THE HILL CITY: Catcher Angel Lopez rejoined the Hillcats roster on Tuesday. The 21-year-old appeared in two games for Lynchburg earlier in June, but was transferred to Buies Creek 6-2 .750 -- Short-Season Mahoning Valley once the Scrappers season began. Lopez takes the place of Logan Ice, who was promoted to Double-A Tuesday. Carolina 5-2 .714 0.5 *Winston-Salem 5-3 .625 1.0 ALL ABOARD THE CHU CHU TRAIN: Li-Jen Chu has been on a tear at the plate for the Hillcats. The catcher is batting .306 (15-for-49) with four doubles, two home runs, and nine RBI Down East 3-5 .375 3.0 over his last 13 games. Chu had eight hits over his last four games on this homestand, including an opposite field three-run homer Sunday. He has appeared in a designated hitters role 15 Myrtle Beach 1-7 .125 5.0 times, the second-most on the team. *CLINCHED FIRST HALF TITLE ALL-STARS ALIGN: Three Lynchburg Hillcats represented the North Division All-Star team in the Mid-Season Classic Tuesday. Conner Capel, and Sam Hentges received the recognition SERIES MATCHUP for the first time in their careers, While Dalbert Siri was named an All-Star for the second time. All three players represented well in Zebulon, as Capel went 2-for-4 with a double and an Hillcats vs. WIL (since ‘95) ..................... 209-251 RBI, while Siri and Hentges each tossed a scoreless inning. At City Stadium ................................... 105-118 At Frawley Stadium ............................ 104-128 FIRST HALF STRUGGLES: Lynchburg finished the first half of the season with a 29-38 record, marking their worst first half since 2010, when the club went 29-41. The Hillcats hit just 2017 at City Stadium ........................................ 3-4 .236 as a team and only bashed 25 home runs, the lowest mark in the Carolina League. Lynchburg lost 16 of their first 21 games, and ended up finishing last in the Northern Division. 2017 at Frawley Stadium ................................. 5-4 FIRST ONE WINS: When the Hillcats plate the first run, they are 25-15. When the opponent scores first, Lynchburg is just 9-26 this season. 4/12 @ WIL L 4-2 8/14 @ Wilmington 4/13 @ WIL W, 3-2 8/15 @ Wilmington SIRI-OUSLY?: Siri, signed by the Indians as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2014, has gone 1-2 with a 1.90 ERA in 19 outings out of the Hillcats bullpen. The 4/14 @ WIL L, 5-2 8/16 @ Wilmington 22-year-old right-hander has also notched three saves, and is averaging over one strikeout-per-inning with 35 punch outs in 23.2 frames. Dating back to April 25, Siri has allowed just two 4/15 PPD. to 6/6 8/27 v. Wilmington earned runs over 18 innings of work, good for a 1.00 ERA. Over his last ten outings, Siri has fired 13 scoreless innings and has struck out 20. 6/5 @ WIL L, 9-2 8/28 v. Wilmington 6/6 @ WIL L, 4-1 8/29 v. Wilmington TOP-30 IN LYNCHBURG: Conner Capel (No. 12), Sam Hentges (No. 17), Ernie Clement (No. 24), Mitch Longo (No. 27) and Eli Morgan (No. 28) are all Hillcats players that are ranked on 6/6 @ WIL L, 6-5 8/30 v. Wilmington the Indians Top-30 prospect list.. Capel, an outfielder, batted .246 with 22 HR and 61 RBI in 119 games for the Single-A Lake County Captains last season. Hentges, a left-hander, missed 6/7 @ WIL L, 7-4 the majority of last season while he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but leads the Hillcats in striekouts this season. Clement won a championship with the University of Virginia 6/25 @WIL L, 6-5 in 2015 and was promoted to Lynchburg from Lake County on June 23 . Longo, an outfielder, battled injuries last season, but while he was healthy, he hit a combined .376 with 4 HR and 6/26 @ WIL W, 8-3 28 RBI between Lake County and Lynchburg. Morgan spent all of last season with Short-Season Mahoning Valley. He appeared in 13 games (8 starts) and sported a 3-2 record with a 1.03 6/27 @ WIL W, 5-1 ERA over 35 innings. He played his college ball at Gonzaga and was drafted in the 8th round of the 2017 MLB draft. 6/28 @ WIL L, 9-2 7/4 v. Wilmington 7/5 v. Wilmington HILLCATS COACHING STAFF 7/6 v. Wilmington 7/7 v. Wilmington Rougie Odor Tony Arnold Justin Toole Grant Fink Bobby Ruiz 7/8 v. Wilmington Manager (1st Season) Pitching Coach (2nd season) Hitting Coach (1st season) Bench Coach (1st season) Athletic Trainer (4th season) 7/18 v. Wilmington 5th overall Career Record: 259-285 26th overall 3rd overall 2nd overall 7/19 v. Wilmington Ruiz is in his eighth season in the Indi- 7/20 v. Wilmington ans organization. He graduated from Arnold returns to Lynchburg after serv- 2018 marks Toole’s first year on Odor is in his 18th year coaching in Fink joins the Hillcats as bench the University of La Verne in 2008. He ing as the pitching coach for the Hillcats Lynchburg’s coaching staff and third CATS AT GLANCE the Indians organization. He played coach for the first time in 2018, spent two years at the University of in the minor leagues for the Indians in 2015. The former right-handed in the Indians organization.