MEDIA INFORMATION Winston-Salem Dash (11-10, T-2Nd, 3.0 GB / Southern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox Vs
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MEDIA INFORMATION Winston-Salem Dash (11-10, T-2nd, 3.0 GB / Southern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox vs. Wilmington Blue Rocks (9-11, 4th, 3.5 GB / Northern) Carolina League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals Game No. 21 • Home Game No. 10 • Frawley Stadium • Friday, April 27, 2018 • 7:05 p.m. BLUE ROCKS BREAKDOWN Tonight’s Starters HOME: 4-5 | AWAY: 5-6 | STREAK: W1 | LAST 5: 2-3 | LAST 10: 5-5 WIL: LHP Cristian Castillo (1-1, 7.00 ERA) vs. BLUE ROCKS BLANK P-NATS TO SALVAGE SERIES: Timely hitting and dominant pitching W-S: RHP Jimmy Lambert (1-2, 5.27 ERA) powered the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 5-0 win over the Potomac Nationals to salvage the three-game series Thursday night at Frawley Stadium. Brandon Downes smacked a home run in his season debut while right-hander Arnaldo Hernandez worked around early trouble to throw five scoreless innings and -Left-handed hurler Cristian Castillo makes his fifth start of the year for the Blue earned the win. Emmanuel Rivera paced the offense with three hits and also drove in a run. The vic- Rocks tonight. tory also snapped a three-game losing streak for the Blue Crew. -Last time out on April 21 at Frederick, he did not factor in the decision. QUITE THE DEBUT: Outfielder Brandon Downes made his 2018 debut Thursday night and put -In 2.2 innings of work, he allowed a career-high eight earned runs and tied his together a solid game at the plate. He hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to ignite the offense career-high with 11 hits surrendered. and also drew two walks. Downes is no stranger to playing in Wilmington and is now in his fourth stint -In his each of his first three starts of the season, the southpaw allowed three earned with the Blue Crew. Last season, the South Plainfield, N.J. native led the Rocks with 13 home runs runs or less. despite battling through two injuries (hip and broken hamate bone) and played in just 71 games. In 2016, -Earned his first victory of the season on April 16 against Carolina. he also paced the team with 12 home runs and hit .230 in 130 games. -Was the Opening Day starter April 5 at Potomac. -Signed as a free agent out of Mexico at the age of 20 on Dec. 15, 2014. LONG BALL FUN: With Brandon Downes’ two-run blast Thursday night, the Rocks have now clubbed -Last season with Wilmington, posted a 7-12 record with a 4.13 ERA in 26 starts. a home run in 12 of the first 20 games. -Finished second on the team in strikeouts (105) and innings pitched (141.2). -That also includes six consecutive games from April 9-14 where the Rocks hit a home run. -Also ranked fifth in the CL in innings pitched. -The streak started on April 9 at Salem when Angelo Castellano hit his first home run as a Blue Rock. -Was one of league’s best pitchers during the months of May and June. Xavier Fernandez, Vallot, Rudy Martin, Khalil Lee and Meibrys Viloria all left the yard during the -Posted a 5-1 mark with 2.32 ERA in 11 starts during two-month stretch. six-game stretch. -Allowed three earned runs or less in 19 of his 26 starts. -Wilmington went 2-4 during that span and are 6-6 overall when they hit a home run this season. -Named 2017 Carolina League All-Star. -The Rocks are third in the Carolina League with 13 home runs. -Against Winston-Salem in 2017: Lost his lone start against the Dash on April 21. -Last season, the Blue Rocks did not hit double digit home runs until May 1. -Worked 5.2 innings, allowed three earned runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out three. LEE PLAYING BEYOND HIS AGE: As one of the youngest players in the CL at just 19-years-old, Khalil Lee has shown that he can handle Carolina League pitching. -Earned the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year in 2016 by going -He picked up his third, multi-RBI game of the season Wednesday night. 6-3 with a 3.13 ERA, 73 strikeouts and just 14 free passes in 72 frames. -Rankings in CL: Tied for second in walks (17), 6th in OBP% (.429) and 7th in OPS (.882). -He led the league in IP, strikeouts, and WHIP. Was fourth in ERA. -He is top-five on the team in hits (.882, 1st), hits (17, 2nd), HR (2, T-2nd), runs (10, 2nd), RBI (11, T-2nd) -In his first season in the system in 2015, he was named the -He had his 11-game on-base streak snapped on April 18. Royals Pitcher of the Year for their Dominican Summer League. -During the streak, he hit .378 (14-for-37) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, six RBI, 10 walks -Yielded a 2.64 ERA and has solid 58 to 15 K:BB ration in 67.1 innings pitched. and posted a 1.186 OPS. -Grew up idolizing Fernando Valenzuela because he’s also from Mexico -He also has picked up a hit in all but six games played this season. and a left-handed pitcher. -Features a fastball, slider, curveball and changeup and locate all four pitches very well. ROLLING ON THE RIVERA: Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera has been the most consistent bat in the Wilmington lineup over the last 10 games. -Righty Jimmy Lambert makes his fourth start of the 2018 campaign tonight. -He posted his first three-hit game of the season and drove in a run Thursday night. -Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the fifth round of the 2016 Draft out of -In his last 10 games, he is hitting .316 (12-for-38) with five runs scored and nine RBI. Fresno State. -Rivera had his eight-game hitting streak snapped Tuesday night, against Potomac. -Last time out on April 20 against Salem, he suffered his second straight loss. - He hit .313 (10-for-32) during the stretch. -Lasted just 3.1 innings, allowed five earned runs on eight hits, walked two and -It marked the longest hitting streak by a Blue Rock this season. struck out five. -He has also been a run producer and leads the team with 13 RBI. -In his previous two starts, he lasted at least five innings and allowed just three total -Has collected a hit in all but five games this season. hits in 10.1 innings of work. -Coming off 2017 season in which he won the South Atlantic League batting title. (.310 in 122 gms) -Spent last season with Low-A Kannapolis and Winston-Salem. RUDY BEING RUDY: Rudy Martin continues his success as the Blue Rocks’ leadoff hitter. -With Kannapolis, the righty posted a 7-2 record with a 2.19 ERA in 12 starts. -Martin picked up a hit and stole a base Thursday and was also the catalyst in the Rocks’ early offense in -74 IP, 77H, 29R, 18ER, 11BB, 43K. both Tuesday and Wednesday against Potomac. -Was named a mid-season All-Star in the South Atlantic League. -On April 19 at Frederick, Martin finished 3-for-5, falling a home run shy of the cycle. -He was a vital arm in the rotation for Kannapolis which helped lead the team to a -He also tied a career-high with five RBI in the victory. first-half South Atlantic League Northern Division Championship. -His 14 stolen bases are also the most in the Carolina League, MiLB and MLB. (Trea Turner of Washington -Promoted to Winston-Salem on June 22 and made 14 starts with the Dash. has 10 in MLB) -Went 5-4 with a 5.45 ERA in 76 innings, allowed 86 hits, 51R/46ER, walked 29 -First in the CL with 20 walks, which is also second-most in all of MiLB. and struck out 59 batters. -Also is second in the Carolina League in on-base percentage (.444). -Allowed a career-high 10 home runs in those 14 starts after allowing just one in 12 total -In his career, he has stolen 76 bases and only caught 14 times. outings with Low-A Kannapolis. -Features a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. RUNNING ROCKS: As a team, Wilmington is second in the Carolina League with 36 stolen bases and have only been caught six times this season. Buies Creek leads the CL with 43. -Overall, the Blue Rocks have five different players with multiple stolen bases this season. -Martin (14), Nick Heath (7), D.J. Burt (6), Lee (5) and Gabriel Cancel (2). 2018 Regular-Season Series: WIL vs. WS -On April 7, at Potoamc, the Rocks set a franchise single-game record by swiping five bases. Martin stole three, while Burt and Heath each swiped a bag in a 5-4 win for Wilmington. The Blue Crew matched the (Series Tied 4-4 in 2017) mark on 4/14 at home against Lynchburg. Date Site Result WP LP Save DASHES ON THE DASH: The 2018 roster for the Winston-Salem Dash is arguably the most prospect- 4/27 WIL laden squad in the Carolina League. The current roster features eight of the Chicago White Sox top-30 4/28 WIL prospects per Baseball America. Outfielder Luis Robert (No. 4) leads the way but is on the disabled list. 4/29 WIL The other notable names on the roster are outfielders Blake Rutherford (No.