July 20: Mudcats vs. Blue Rocks Notes

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WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (KANSAS CITY ROYALS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Saturday, July 20, 2019 | 5:00 PM | Game 99, Home Game 52 | Five County Stadium (6,500) | Zebulon, NC
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 53-45; WIL: 59-38
Streaks: CAR: W1; WIL: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 3-7, WIL: 6-4
Home Record: CAR: 30-21; WIL: 27-19
Road Record: CAR: 23-24; WIL: 32-19
Division Record: CAR: 20-24; WIL: 32-25
Current Series: First game (of 3)
Season Series: WIL leads 1-8 (of 12)
CAR v. OPP: 1-3 @CAR (7), 0-5 @OPP (5)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SAT, 7/20 vs. WIL, 5:00 PM: Wilmington LHP Daniel Tillo (5-8, 4.28) at Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (5-4, 2.94)
SUN, 7/21 vs. WIL, 2:00 PM: Wilmington LHP Kris Bubic (3-1, 3.06) at Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (4-6, 4.99)
MON, 7/22 vs. WIL, 7:00 PM: Wilmington RHP Jonathan Bowlan (4-1, 1.59) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (3-8, 3.35)
TONIGHT: After splitting last night's de facto doubleheader with Myrtle Beach, the Mudcats will now continue their current six game home stand tonight with game one of a three game series versus the Northern Division's Wilmington Blue Rocks at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, NC... Tonight's game is the first of three in the series and fourth of six second half meetings between the two teams. It is also the tenth of 12 overall meetings between Wilmington and Carolina this year. The Blue Rocks recently swept Carolina just a week ago (7/13-7/15) in Wilmington and lead the overall season series 8-1.
ICYMI: Brice Turang and Eddie Silva both hit home runs while leading the Mudcats, playing as Pescados de Carolina, to a 3-2 series finale victory in game two of Friday's de facto doubleheader versus Myrtle Beach at Five County Stadium. Carolina, playing as the Micro Brews in game one, ended up, however, dropping game one 5-1 while seeing the Pelicans clinch a series victory.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Last night's 3-2 victory versus Myrtle Beach snapped a five game losing streak for the Mudcats. It also snapped a streak of nine straight in-division game losses for Carolina. The Mudcats are just 4-11 versus Southern Division teams since June 1... Pat McInerney swiped third base in last night's game; the stolen base was his first with Carolina (2017-Present) and the 14th of his professional career. 
TONIGHT'S STARTING PITCHER...
Noah Zavolas: 5-4, 2.94 ERA, 18 GS, 110.1 IP, 17 BB, 82 SO, 1.13 WHIP
Last start, 7/14 at WIL: L, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 103 pitches
Is 0-3 with 3.32 ERA in 3 GS vs. WIL (19.0 IP, 7 ER, 3 BB, 17 SO)
CL Ranks: 2nd in ERA (2.94), 1st in BB/9 (1.39), 2nd in K/BB (4.82), 1st in WHIP (1.13) & 1st in inning pitched (103.2)
STREAKY HALF: Carolina snapped a five game losing streak after taking last night's series finale (avoiding a sweep in the process) versus Myrtle Beach. Carolina has owned losing streaks of five straight (7/13-7/19), four straight (6/30-7/3), three straight (6/24-6/26) and two straight (7/10-7/12) in the second half... Carolina's streaky second half has also seen win streaks of three straight (6/21-6/23, 6/27-6/29) and six straight (7/5-7/9).
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (15), tied for 1st in RBI (67), 1st in slugging (.469), 5th in OPS (.791), 10th in hits (90), tied for 2nd in extra-base hits (35) and 2nd in total bases (157)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 2nd in the CL in OPS (.838), 8th in AVG (.284), 3rd in OBP (.415), 8th in SLG (.423), 9th in hits (92), 2nd in walks (64) and 1st in runs (69)... Payton Henry is tied for 5th in the CL in home runs (10) and 4th in RBI (55)... Matt Hardy is currently 5th in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 7th in games (28)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 6th in the CL in wins (6), 2nd in games (31) and 2nd in saves (13)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (2.94), 1st in innings pitched (110.1) and 1st in WHIP (1.13). Zavolas is also 1st in the CL in FIP (3.14), 2nd in xFIP (3.33), 1st in BB/9 (1.39) and 1st in K/BB (4.82).
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Feliciano, M CAR 28 7 .292 .977
Henry, P CAR 28 6 .252 .799
Corredor, A POT 26 3 .240 .633
Adams, J FAY 22 5 .221 .659
Henry, R CAR 21 3 .240 .807
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 51 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 45 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 29-22 and has totaled a 3.62 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.7 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 23-22 with a 4.26 ERA (3.2 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
POWER OUTAGE: Mario Feliciano hit his league leading 15th home run of the season on 7/17 vs. MB. That home run broke a streak of 31 straight games where Feliciano had not hit a home run... Rob Henry has totaled six home runs this season, but has not homered since 4/29 in Salem. He has gone 49 straight games without a home run.
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 33-21 versus the Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 15-8 versus Northern Division teams since 6/11 (at FRE)... The Mudcats are just 5-16 vs. Southern Division teams since 5/24 (vs. DE, 3.5 GB before 5/24) and had suffered nine straight losses in games versus Southern Division teams (6/16 vs. WS - 7/3 at MB) before defeating the Pelicans 3-2 on 7/19 in Zebulon.
AG DEPT.: Ryan Aguilar is batting .352/.477/.577 with a 1.055 OPS since 6/28 and over his last 21 games (25-for-71, 18 R, 7 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 15 BB, 22 SO). Aguilar 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... Aguilar additionally leads the CL with a .962 OPS since 6/1 (43 G, .305/.444/.518, 43 H, 12 2B, 6 HR, 26 RBI).
HAIR ON FIRE:Devin Hairston has hit safely in 10 of his last 13 and is batting .375/.419/.575 with a .994 OPS during that span (15-for-40, 8 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 9 SO). Hairston also 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.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 994 strikeouts this season (5th 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.