8/22: Mudcats at Pelicans Game Notes

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CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (CHICAGO CUBS)
Thursday, August 22, 2019 | 7:05 PM | Game 128, Away Game 65 | TicketReturn.com Field (6,599) | Myrtle Beach, SC
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 62-65; MB: 52-73
Streaks: CAR: L2; MB: W4
Last 10 Games: CAR: 2-8, MB: 7-3
Home Record: CAR: 34-29; MB: 29-40
Road Record: CAR: 28-36; MB: 23-33
Division Record: CAR: 24-40; MB: 25-35
Current Series: MB leads 2-0 (of 3)
Season Series: MB leads 8-6 (of 15)
CAR v. OPP: 4-2 @CAR (6), 2-6 @OPP (9)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
THU, 8/22 at MB, 7:05 PM: Carolina RHP Wuilder Rodriguez (0-0, 9.00) at Myrtle Beach LHP Brenden Little (1-1, 7.27)
FRI, 8/23 vs. LYN, 7:00 PM: Lynchburg TBA at Carolina LHP Scotty Sunitsch (1-0, 0.00)
SAT, 8/24 vs. LYN, 5:00 PM: Lynchburg TBA at Carolina LHP Aaron Ashby (2-6, 3.70)
TONIGHT: Following last night's loss, the Mudcats conclude a six-game, seven day, road trip tonight with the final game of a three game series versus the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Ticketreturn.com Field in Myrtle Beach, SC... The Pelicans took last night's game 4-1 while clinching a series win with their second straight victory against the Mudcats. Myrtle Beach leads the current series 2-0 and leads the overall season series 8-6 between the two teams this season. The Mudcats finished their 2019 home slate at 4-2 against the Pelicans, but are just 2-6 in Myrtle Beach so far this season. Tonight's game is the third of three in the series and the last of nine second half meetings between the two teams. It is also the final meeting of 15 overall games between the two teams this season.
ICYMI: Trever Morrison doubled and tripled, Pat McInerney had his second straight multi-hit game and Phil Bickford pitched through two and 2/3 scoreless inning in relief, but the Mudcats lost their second straight to the Pelicans 4-1 on Wednesday night in Myrtle Beach.
TRAGIC NUMBER: Carolina's playoff elimination number to possibly finish in first place in the CL Southern Division second half race fell to two following last night loss. Additionally, Carolina's tragic number to finish in second place (and a potential playoff spot assuming Down East wins the second half) fell to four after night's loss. The Mudcats have failed to reached the playoffs in seven consecutive Carolina League seasons and 10 straight seasons overall.
MVP: Mario Feliciano was named the 2019 Carolina League Most Valuable Player on 8/22. Feliciano is the first Mudcats player to win the MVP award since the Mudcats joined the Carolina League for the 2012 season. Feliciano, however, is the fifth player overall in team history to be named league MVP as Mark Johnson (1994), Jason Kendall (1995), Gaby Sanchez (2008) and Dave Sappelt (2010) were all named Southern League MVP during Carolina's Double-A and Southern League era (1991-2011). Feliciano also earned post-season All-Star honors at catcher.
P.O.Y.: Noah Zavolas was named the 2019 Carolina League Pitcher of the Year on 8/22. Zavolas is the second Mudcats pitcher in team history to earn the Carolina League's Pitcher of the Year award, joining Cody Anderson who won the same award following the 2013 season. Former Mudcats pitcher Travis Wood was additionally named the Southern League's Most Outstanding Pitcher during his 2009 season with Carolina. Zavolas also earned post-season All-Star honors at starting pitcher.
CAROLINA'S STARTING PITCHER(S)...
Wuilder Rodriguez: 0-0, 9.00 ERA, 1 GS, 4.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
Last start, 8/17 at LYN: ND, 4.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 68 p.
Making 2nd start with Carolina this season; 4th start overall in 2019.
Has combined to go 0-1 with 6.10 ERA, 7 BB, 34 SO and a 1.27 WHIP over 11 games, five starts and 31.0 innings w/AZL Brewers Gold, Rocky Mountain & Carolina this season.
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (19), 2nd in RBI (78), 1st in slugging (.474), 5th in OPS (.798), 7th in hits (117), 7th in runs (60), 1st in extra-base hits (45) and 1st in total bases (203)... Payton Henry is tied for 3rd in the CL in home runs (14) and 3rd in RBI (72)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 8th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 9th in games (36)... Cody Beckman, Michael Petersen and J.T. Hintzen are all currently tied for 4th in the CL in games (38)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (2.98), 2nd in innings pitched (133.0) and 1st in WHIP (1.14). Zavolas is also 2nd in the CL in FIP (3.21), 1st in xFIP (3.36), 1st in BB/9 (1.56) and 1st in K/BB (4.43)... Matt Smith is currently 4th in the CL in ERA (3.65), 7th in WHIP (1.27) and 3rd in K/BB (2.97).
OF LATE: The Mudcats have gone just 11-27 since 7/10 and since starting the second half at 12-8 over their first 20 games (6/20-7/9) following the All-Star break... The Mudcats have also combined to hit just .209 with 3.13 R/G and a run differential of -35 runs since 7/10. 
HEATING UP: Rob Henry has hit safely in five of his last six games and is batting .318/.375/.500 with a .875 OPS during the streak (7-for-22, 2 3B, 5 RBI)... Pat McInerney has hit safely in four straight games and is batting .438/.471/.688 with a 1.158 OPS during the streak (7-for-16, 3 R, 4 2B, 2 RBI). McInerney is also 5-for-8 with three doubles and one run during Carolina's current series in Myrtle Beach.
EXCLUSIVE COMPANY: CL MVP Mario Feliciano currently leads the leagues in home runs with 19 big flies this season. The last Mudcats player to finish a season as the league leader (tied with Mobile's Paul Goldschmidt) in homers was Neftali Soto who homered 30 times for the then-Southern League affiliated Mudcats in 2011... Carolina has never had a player finish the season as the league leader in both homers and RBI. However, George Canale led the Southern League in RBI (102) and was second in the home runs (21) in 1995; Mark Johnson led the SL in homers (23) and was third in RBI (85) in 1994.
STREAKS OF NOTE: Phil Bickford has pitched through 21.2 consecutive scoreless innings (6 BB, 31 SO, 12.9 SO/9) and 11 straight scoreless appearances from 7/9 through 8/21 (21.0 IP, 6 BB, 31 SO, 13.3 SO/9)... Rob Henry started the season with six home runs over his first 16 games, but has not homered since 4/19 in Salem while going 71 straight games without a home run.
ALL THE Ks: The Carolina offense has combined to total a Carolina League high 1,288 strikeouts this season (5th most in MiLB). The Mudcats are on pace to set both a CL and franchise record for most strikeouts for the third straight season. Carolina has also totaled 348 more strikeouts than hits; the third highest such difference in MiLB.
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense has combined to total a Carolina League high 95 hit by pitches this season. The Mudcats are also 3rd in MiLB and 3rd in all of baseball in most HBP this season.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry starting 62 games behind the plate and Feliciano starting 59 games at catcher... The Carolina pitching staff is 34-28 and has totaled a 3.57 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 8.7 SO/9, 38.4 CS%) in games started by and caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 27-32 with a 4.22 ERA (3.1 BB/9, 8.0 SO/9, 30.0 CS%) in games caught by Feliciano.
THE TOP 30: The Carolina roster currently features five of Milwaukee's Top 30 prospects (as rated by MLBPipeline.com) including No. 1 INF Brice Turang, No. 8 LHP Aaron Ashby, No. 9 C Mario Feliciano and No. 16 C Payton Henry.
THE MUDCATS HAVE…
... played in Zebulon, NC since 1991 (29th season).
... played in the Carolina League since 2012 (8th season).
... been an affiliate of the Brewers since 2017 (3rd season).
... not made the playoffs since the 2008 season.
... not made the playoffs during their Carolina League era.
... operated under the ownership of the Brewers since Oct. 2017.