July 22: Mudcats vs. Blue Rocks Notes

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WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS (KANSAS CITY ROYALS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Monday, July 22, 2019 | 7:00 PM | Game 101, Home Game 54 | 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: 54-46; WIL: 60-39
Streaks: CAR: W1; WIL: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 3-7, WIL: 7-3
Home Record: CAR: 31-22; WIL: 27-19
Road Record: CAR: 23-24; WIL: 33-20
Division Record: CAR: 20-24; WIL: 32-25
Current Series: Tied 1-1 (of 3)
Season Series: WIL leads 9-2 (of 12)
CAR v. OPP: 2-4 @CAR (7), 0-5 @OPP (5)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
MON, 7/22 vs. WIL, 7:00 PM: Wilmington LHP Kris Bubic (3-1, 3.06) at Carolina RHP Matt Smith (3-8, 3.35)
TUE, 7/23 at DE, 7:00 PM: Carolina LHP Aaron Ashby (2-4, 4.12) at Down East LHP Sal Mendez (5-0, 2.17)
WED, 7/24 at DE, 11:00 AM: RHP Nelson Hernandez (10-6, 4.54) at Down East RHP Tim Brennan (2-0, 2.45)
TONIGHT: Following yesterday's walk-off victory, the Mudcats conclude their current six game home stand tonight with the finale 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 final game of three in the series and sixth and final meeting of the second half between the two teams. It is also the 12th and final game overall between Wilmington and Carolina this year. Carolina won in walk-off fashion yesterday to even the current series at 1-1 and to snap a nine game losing streak in game against the Blue Rocks. Wilmington leads the season series 9-2... Carolina is additionally just 2-3 in its current six game home stand.
ICYMI: Brice Turang scored the game winner in the ninth on a walk-off single from Mario Feliciano as Carolina earned a series tying 5-4 victory against the Blue Rocks on Sunday afternoon at Five County Stadium. Turang went 3-for-5 with a triple and Eddie Silva went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, a triple and two runs in the game for Carolina. The Mudcats were originally down 1-0 after Wilmington scored a run in the first, but came back with the tying run in the second before getting three in the third to take a 4-1 lead in the game. The Blue Rocks, however, rallied back with two runs in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-3 before later tying the game in the ninth on a home run by Nick Pratto. Feliciano went on to break that tie with his game winning hit in the ninth while giving Carolina's its eighth walk-off victory of the season.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: Last night's walk-off victory was Carolina's eighth of the season, but their first since 6/13. The Mudcats totaled two walk-off wins in April (4/11 vs. WIL, 4/28 vs. POT), four in May (5/11 vs. MB, 5/20 vs. LYN, 5/21 vs. LYN, 5/24 vs. DE), one in June (6/13 vs. WS) and now one in July (7/21 vs. WIL) this season.
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (15), 1st in RBI (68), 2nd in slugging (.465), 7th in OPS (.787), 9th in hits (93), tied for 2nd in extra-base hits (35) and 2nd in total bases (160)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 2nd in the CL in OPS (.826), 3rd in OBP (.410), 9th in SLG (.416), 10th 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 (56)... Matt Hardy is currently 5th in the CL in wins (7) and 7th in games (29)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 6th in the CL in wins (6), 2nd in games (31) and 3rd in saves (13)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in ERA (3.09), 1st in innings pitched (116.1) and 1st in WHIP (1.14). Zavolas is also 1st in the CL in FIP (3.11), 2nd in xFIP (3.35), 1st in BB/9 (1.47) and 1st in K/BB (4.58).
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Feliciano, M CAR 28 7 .287 .960
Henry, P CAR 28 6 .246 .780
Corredor, A POT 26 3 .240 .629
Adams, J FAY 22 5 .214 .637
Henry, R CAR 21 3 .234 .795
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 52 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 46 games... The Carolina pitching staff is 30-22 and has totaled a 3.62 ERA (3.0 BB/9, 8.7 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 23-23 with a 4.26 ERA (3.2 BB/9, 7.9 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano.
OF LATE: Carolina is just 3-8 since 7/10 and since going a perfect 6-0 in a home stand played earlier this month from 7/5 through 7/9 (versus Frederick 7/4-7/6 & Lynchburg 7/7-7/9)... The Mudcats have combined to hit just .201 with 3.09 runs/game since 7/10 and have pitched to a 4.34 ERA in that same span.
KINGS OF THE NORTH: The Mudcats are currently 34-22 versus Carolina League Northern Division teams this season. They have also gone 16-8 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. They are also just 20-24 overall versus their own division this season.
TRENDING: Mario Feliciano has hit safely in four straight games (.353/.353/.647, 1.000 OPS, 6-for-17, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI)... Eddie Silva has slashed .412/.389/.882 with a 1.271 OPS and two, two-run home runs over his last five games (7-for-17, 3 R, 1 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI)... Ryan Aguilar has slashed .295/.432/.500 with a CL best .932 OPS since 6/1 (44 G, 37 R, 43 H, 12 2B, 6 HR, 32 BB, 26 RBI).
YOU RANG: Brice Turang has hit safely in five straight games and is batting .400/.429/.700 with a 1.129 OPS during the streak (8-for-20, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI)... 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. He 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. He 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 1,011 strikeouts this season (5th most in MiLB; one of seven MiLB teams with 1,000+ strikeouts this season). 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.
EJECT BUTTON: Umpires Mike Snover and Kyle Nichol have ejected three Mudcats during the current home stand. Snover ejected OF Tristen Lutz on 7/17 and OF Rob Henry on 7/21 and Nichol ejected Manager Joe Ayrault on 7/18. Carolina has totaled five ejections overall this season, including three in the current home stand.
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.