June 22: Mudcats at PNats Game Notes

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CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at POTOMAC NATIONALS (WASHINGTON NATIONALS)
Saturday, June 22, 2019 | 6:35 PM | Game 72, Away Game 37 | Northwest Federal Field | Woodbridge, VA
RADIO: WDWG, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO:carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: N/A
Overall Record: CAR: 40-31; POT: 31-38
Streaks: CAR: W1; POT: L1
Last 10 Games: CAR: 5-5, POT: 5-5
Home Record: CAR: 20-15; POT: 14-21
Road Record: CAR: 20-16; POT: 17-17
Division Record: CAR: 19-16; POT: 11-14
Current Series: Tied 1-1 (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 6-2 (of 14)
CAR v. OPP: 2-1 @CAR (7), 4-1 @OPP (7)

UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS...
SAT, 6/22 at POT, 6:35 PM: Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (6-5, 5.07) at LHP Tim Cate (0-0, -.--)
SUN, 6/23 at POT, 1:05 PM: Carolina RHP Noah Zavolas (3-3, 3.60) at Potomac RHP Andrew Lee (2-4, 3.45)
MON, 6/24 vs. DE, 7:00 PM: Down East TBA at Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (2-4, 5.32)
TONIGHT: Following last night's series tying 6-2 victory in Potomac, the Mudcats continue their first series of the second half with game three of a four game series in Woodbridge, VA versus the Northern Division's Potomac Nationals. The Mudcats enter tonight's game, the third of the four game set, currently tied at 1-1 following last night's 6-2 victory. Tonight's game is also the ninth of 14 total meetings between the two teams this season and the second of eight second half meetings. Carolina is currently 6-2 overall this season against the Nationals having swept Potomac from 4/8-4/10 in Woodbridge and after taking two of three versus the P-Nats at home from 4/26-4/28 earlier this season.
ICYMI: Aaron Ashby turned in another gem after totaling eight strikeouts over seven and 1/3 scoreless innings, Devin Hairston drove in two runs while going 2-for-5 and Clayton Andrews picked up his tenth save as Carolina earned a series tying 6-2 victory versus the Nationals on Friday night in Potomac. The Mudcats led from start to finish in Friday's series tying victory as they scored twice in the first, twice in the eighth and twice more in the ninth while going up 6-0 in the game. The Nationals eventually got on the board in the ninth, but scored just twice in the final frame while falling 6-2 as Carolina evened the four game series at 1-1.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Aaron Ashby pitched through his second consecutive scoreless start last night while leading the Mudcats to a 6-2 victory in Potomac. Ashby also struck out eight while reaching a career high 101 pitches and earning his first win as a Mudcat last night. Ashby is currently 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA over 14.1 IP and two starts this Carolina this season (5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 16 SO). He is also 4-4 with a 2.87 ERA over 13 games and 12 starts between Low-A and High-A this season (75.1 IP, 24 ER, 31 BB, 96 SO).
TONIGHT'S CAROLINA MUDCATS STARTING PITCHER...
Nelson Hernandez: 6-5, 5.07 ERA, 14 GS, 76.1 IP, 28 BB, 58 SO, 1.38 WHIP
Last outing... 6/14 vs. WS: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 SO, 83 pitches
Currently 3rd in CL in highest HR/9 (1.06). 
Has allowed at least 1 HR in four of last five games; has also allowed 2 HR in three of last five games.
TRENDING: Rob Henry is batting .383/.500/.468 with a .968 OPS over 14 games in June (18 H, 9 R, 4 2B, 7 RBI, 9 BB, 17 SO)... Mario Feliciano has totaled a .915 OPS over 18 games in June (19 H, 14 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 14 RBI), but is just 1-for-21 over his last five games... Devin Hairston went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI last night and is batting .400/.438/.600 over his last five games (6-for-15, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBI).
WHERE THEY RANK: Mario Feliciano is currently 1st in the CL in home runs (14), tied for 1st in RBI (49), 3rd in slugging (.484), 9th in OPS (.798), 3rd in extra-base hits (27), 2nd in total bases (122), tied for 9th in runs (38) and tied for 10th in hits (66)... Ryan Aguilar is currently 6th in the CL in OBP (.397), 2nd in walks (47) and 2nd in runs (47)... Matt Hardy is currently tied for 1st in the CL in wins (7) and tied for 2nd in games (22)... Cody Beckman leads the CL in appearances (23)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in games (22), 3rd in the CL in saves (10) and tied for 2nd in wins (6)... Clayton Andrews is currently tied for 3rd in the CL in saves (10)... Noah Zavolas is currently 2nd in the CL in innings pitched (75.0) and 9th in WHIP (1.29). Zavolas is also 6th in the CL in FIP (3.39), tied for 7th in xFIP (3.46), 2nd in BB/9 (1.44) and 2nd in K/BB (4.42) per Fangraphs.
CAROLINA LEAGUE LEADERS - TWO-OUT RBI
Player Team RBI HR AVG OPS
Henry, P CAR 23 5 .256 .812
Corredor, A POT 22 3 .234 .654
Feliciano, M CAR 20 6 .277 .957
Adams, J FAY 19 5 .267 .788
Henry, R CAR 18 3 .278 .928
QUALIFIED: Per Fangraphs.com, Rob Henry is currently 4th in the CL in wRC+ (142), 4th in wOBA, 6th in OPS (.826) and 9th in SLG (.442) among qualified CL batters this season. Henry recently reached the threshold to qualify (min. 2.7 PA/team games) having now totaled 195 PA this season.
BEANBALLS: The Carolina offense has combined to total a professional baseball high (MLB & MiLB) 64 hit-by-pitches this season. The Mudcats have also totaled a Carolina League high 18 HBP in June.
ALL THE Ks: Carolina batters have combined to total a Carolina League high 746 (tied for 3rd most in MiLB) 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 1,460 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.
BACK STOP SPLITS: Payton Henry and Mario Feliciano have split catching duties this season with Henry totaling 36 games behind the plate and Feliciano catching 35 games. Henry, meanwhile, has caught back-to-back games twice this season on 4/14 & 4/15 and 6/3 & 6/4; Feliciano has caught back-to-back games once 6/14 & 6/15.... The Carolina pitching staff is 23-13 and has totaled a 3.47 ERA (2.9 BB/9, 9.0 SO/9) in games caught by Henry... Carolina's pitchers are 17-18 with a 4.56 ERA (3.3 BB/9, 8.1 SO/9) in games caught by Feliciano. 
SUPER MARIO: Mario Feliciano took over sole possession of the top spot on the Carolina League leader board for home runs this season after connecting on his 10th and 11th homers on 6/3 versus Frederick at Five County Stadium. Feliciano homered in four straight games between 6/3 and 6/7 while hitting five homers and bringing his league leading homer total to 14 on the season. He was also named the Carolina League's Player of the Week following that week of games (6/3-6/9, .429/.500/1.286, 1.786 OPS, 5 HR, 11 RBI).
POWER OUTAGE: The Mudcats have gone seven straight games without hitting a home run (since 6/11). The current power outage is the longest such streak since the club went without a home run in eight straight between 4/30 and 5/9. Despite the recent homerless streak, the Mudcats are currently second in the Carolina League in team home runs with 56 (2nd behind Fayetteville's 69 HR).
DUAL THREAT: Clayton Andrews has recently begun playing as a two-way player having appeared in 19 games as a reliever and seven games as Carolina's starting center fielder this season. As a pitcher, Andrews is currently 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA, seven walks, 38 strikeouts and 10 saves (3rd most in the CL). As a position player, Andrews is batting .304/.333/.304 (7-for-23) and has hit safely in four straight games; including a 3-for-5 & 1 RBI performance in his last start in center on 6/16 vs. Winston-Salem. His first start in center this season came on 5/20 vs Lynchburg. Andrews hit .302/.382/.377 over 57 games (6 2B, 5 3B, 25 BB, 6 SO) at Long Beach St. in 2018 before going to the Brewers in the 17th round of the 2018 Draft.
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault became the winningest manager in Carolina Mudcats team history after collecting his 177th victory as skipper in Carolina on 6/15/19 vs. Winston-Salem. Ayrault is in his third season as Manager of the Mudcats and his eighth season overall as Manager of Milwaukee's High-A affiliate...
MANAGER W L PCT G SEASONS
Joe Ayrault 178 169 .513 347 2017-Present (3)
David Bell 176 239 .424 415 2009-11 (3)
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).
... operated under the ownership of the Brewers since Oct. 2017.
... not made the playoffs since the 2008 season.
... not made the playoffs during their Carolina League era.