July 14: Mudcats at Blue Rocks Game Notes

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CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (KANSAS CITY ROYALS)
Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 1:35 PM | Game 94, Away Game 46 | Frawley Stadium (6,404) | Wilmington, DE
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: N/A
Overall Record: CAR: 52-41; WIL: 55-37
Streaks: CAR: L1; WIL: W1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, WIL: 4-6
Home Record: CAR: 29-19; WIL: 25-19
Road Record: CAR: 23-22; WIL: 30-18
Division Record: CAR: 19-22; WIL: 32-25
Current Series: WIL leads 1-0 (of 3)
Season Series: WIL leads 6-1 (of 12)
CAR v. OPP: 1-3 @CAR (7), 0-3 @OPP (5)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SUN, 7/14 at WIL, 1:35 PM: Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (5-3, 2.87) at Wilmington LHP Daniel Tillo (4-8, 4.47)
MON, 7/15 at WIL, 6:35 PM: Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (4-5, 5.05) at Wilmington RHP Jonathan Bowlan (3-1, 2.16)
TUE, 7/16: Off
TODAY: Following last night's series opening loss in Wilmington, the Mudcats continue a six game road trip today with game two of a three game series versus the Northern Division's Wilmington Blue Rocks at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, DE. Today's game is the second of the series and just the second game between the two since early May (5/3-5/4) when the Blue Rocks swept the Mudcats in a rain-shortened two game series. Wilmington took the opener last night 8-7 in walk-off fashion and lead the current series 1-0. Today's game is also the eighth of 12 total meetings between the two teams this season; the Blue Rocks lead the overall season series 6-1. 
ICYMI: Ryan Aguilar stretched his current hit streak to ten straight games after hitting a solo home run in the sixth, but the Mudcats lost a 7-2 eighth inning lead while falling 8-7 in tonight's series opener in Wilmington. Reliever Rodrigo Benoit allowed three inherited runners to score and two runs of his own across in the eighth in the loss.
TODAY'S STARTING PITCHER...
Noah Zavolas (CAR): 5-3, 2.87 ERA, 17 GS, 103.1 IP, 17 BB, 76 SO, 1.17 WHIP
Last start, 7/7 vs. LYN: W, 5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 99 pitches
CL Ranks: 2nd in ERA (2.87), 1st in BB/9 (1.48), 2nd in K/BB (4.47), 1st in WHIP (1.17) & 1st in IP (103.2).
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (14), 2nd in RBI (65), 2nd in slugging (.456), 7th in OPS (.776), 9th in hits (87), tied for 3rd in extra-base hits (32) and 2nd in total bases (149)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 2nd in the CL in OPS (.845), 7th in AVG (.291), 3rd in OBP (.421), 10th in SLG (.424), 7th in hits (90), 2nd in walks (61) and 1st in runs (67)... Payton Henry is tied for 4th in the CL in home runs (10) and 4th in RBI (54)... Matt Hardy is currently 5th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 7th in games (27)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 6th in the CL in wins (6), 2nd in games (30) and tied for 2nd in saves (12)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (2.87), 1st in innings pitched (103.1) and 2nd in WHIP (1.17). Zavolas is also 1st in the CL in FIP (3.08), 2nd in xFIP (3.34), 1st in BB/9 (1.48) and 1st in K/BB (4.47).
GIDP GROWTH: The Mudcats have hit into 20 double plays over their last 20 games, 24 in their last 24 games and hit into a CL high 35 GIDPs in June... The Mudcats lead the CL in most GIDPs this season having hit into 74 double plays in 2019... Payton Henry leads the CL with 15 GIDPs overall (eight in June). Devin Hairston totaled seven GIDPs last month.
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 33-19 versus the Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 15-6 versus Northern Division teams since 6/11 (at FRE)... Carolina, however, has gone just 1-6 in games versus the Wilmington Blue Rocks this season... The Mudcats are just 4-14 vs. Southern Division teams since 5/24 (vs. DE, 3.5 GB before 5/24) and have suffered seven straight losses in games versus Southern Division teams (6/16 vs. WS - 7/3 at MB).
RUNS ON RUNS: The Mudcats are 7-3 over their last 10 games and have scored a CL high 66 runs since 7/5. They have also outscored opponents by 26 runs over that same span... Carolina currently leads the CL in runs scored overall this year (428); up from 5th (362) in the CL in runs on 7/4. 
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense is currently 2nd in professional baseball (MLB & MiLB) with 76 hit-by-pitches this season. The Mudcats also totaled a Carolina League high 24 HBP in June.
AG DEPT.: Ryan Aguilar has hit safely in 10 straight games and is batting .438/.600/.750 with a 1.350 OPS during the streak (14-for-32, 13 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI). Aguilar has also hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games (.411/.529/.625, 1.154 OPS, 23-for-56, 16 R, 6 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 12 BB, 17 SO). He also recently reached safely in all five of his PA on 7/6 vs. FRE after going 2-for-2 with 3 R, 3 BB, 2 2B & 3 RBI.
HAIR ON FIRE: Devin Hairston has hit safely in nine straight games and is batting .483/.531/.724 with a 1.255 OPS during the streak (14-for-29, 8 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 5 SO). Hairston recently finished a double shy of the cycle on 7/9 vs. LYN after going 3-for-3 with a solo home run, a 2-run triple and a single (attempted a hustle double, but was caught at second). His solo home run came in back-to-back fashion as it followed Pat McInerney (3-run HR) in the third on 7/9 vs. LYN and was his first of the season.
YOU RANG: The Brewers promoted SS Brice Turang to the Mudcats on 7/8 from Low-A Wisconsin where he slashed .287/.384/.376 with a .760 OPS, 21 stolen bases and 31 RBI over 82 games with the Timber Rattlers. Turang was selected with the 21st overall pick in the 2018 Draft, and at just 19 years old, is currently the youngest player in the Carolina League. Turang is currently rated as the No.2 prospect in the Milwaukee farm system.
POWER OUTAGE: Mario Feliciano still leads the CL in home runs (14) this season, but has now gone 31 straight games without a big fly. His last home run came on 6/7 vs. Salem and was, at the time, his fifth over a span of four games... Rob Henry has totaled six home runs this season, but has not homered since 4/29 in Salem. He has gone 45 straight games without a home run.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 48 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 44 games. Henry, meanwhile, has caught back-to-back games three times this season (4/14 & 4/15, 6/3 & 6/4, 6/26 & 6/27); Feliciano has caught back-to-back games once (6/14 & 6/15) and has caught three straight games once(7/6-7/9).... The Carolina pitching staff is 28-20 and has totaled a 3.65 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.8 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 23-21 with a 4.27 ERA (3.2 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano... Carolina has, however, won four straight games when Feliciano starts behind the plate.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 947 strikeouts this season (tied for the 4th most in MiLB). The Mudcats are on pace to set a league and franchise record for strikeouts for the third straight season as they are on pace for over 1,400 strikeouts this season. Carolina batters combined to total a CL and franchise record 1,311 strikeouts last season; breaking the previous CL and franchise record of 1,245 SO set by Carolina in 2017.
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.