May 16 - Mudcats Game Notes

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DOWN EAST WOOD DUCKS (TEXAS RANGERS) at CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS)
Tuesday, May 16, 2017 | 7:00 PM 
Game 38, Home Game 25 
at Five County Stadium (6,500)
RADIO: The Big Dawg 98.5 FM, WDWG
STREAMING AUDIO: www.carolinamudcats.com, TuneIn Radio
STREAMING VIDEO: MiLB.tv
Overall Record: CAR: 18-19; DE: 15-22
Streaks: CAR: L1; DE: W2
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, DE: 3-7    
Home Record: CAR: 11-13; DE: 8-16
Road Record: CAR: 7-6; DE: 7-6
Division Record: CAR: 7-7; DE: 8-9    
Current Series: DE leads 1-0 (of 4)
Season Series: DE leads 3-1 (of 21)
CAR vs. OPP: 1-3 @CAR (21), 0-0 @OPP (7) 

UPCOMING PROBABLES:
TUE, 5/16, 7:00 PM: Down East LHP Jeff Springs (0-4, 4.66) at Carolina RHP Corbin Burnes (3-0, 1.13)
WED, 5/17, 7:00 PM: Down East RHP Tyler Davis (0-0, 7.43) at Carolina LHP Kodi Medeiros (1-3, 4.15)
THU, 5/18, 11:00 AM: Down East RHP Emerson Martinez (0-3, 5.00) at Carolina RHP Cody Ponce (3-3, 3.48)
ICYMI: Pedro Payano pitched through seven and 1/3 scoreless innings while leading the Down East Wood Ducks to a 5-0 shutout victory against the Mudcats on Monday night at Five County Stadium. The loss snapped Carolina's winning streak at five consecutive games.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: The Mudcats were shutout for the third time this season after losing to the Wood Ducks 5-0 last night… The loss snapped Carolina's season high winning streak at five straight games.
STARTING OFF: The Mudcats will send the Carolina League's top pitcher, Corbin Burnes, to the mound for tonight's game two start versus the visiting Wood Ducks. Burnes is 3-0 with a league best 1.13 ERA over seven starts for the Mudcats this season. He is also 2nd in WHIP (0.95), 7th in innings pitched (40.0), 2nd among starters in average against (.182) and 2nd in fewest baserunners allowed/9ip ratio (8.55). Burnes last pitched on 5/10 in Lynchburg and worked through 6.0 scoreless with four hits and three strikeouts while earning his second consecutive win. He enters tonight's start having won two straight and has not allowed a run in his last 12.2 innings pitched.
FRAME BY FRAME: Carolina's least productive inning has been the first where the Mudcats are batting a combined .176/.246/.288 with just nine runs and 22 hits this season. Their most productive inning (excluding extras) has been the seventh where they are batting a combined .301/.365/.510 with 27 runs and 46 hits (9 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR)… The Mudcats have been outscored 29-9 in the first inning this season. Of those nine total first inning runs, six were scored in the first frame on opening night in Frederick on 4/7. The Mudcats have not scored a run in the first inning since getting one across in the opening inning in game one of a doubleheader on 4/29 vs. Frederick… By inning… First: .176/.246/.288, 9 R… Second: .277/.362/.383, 20 R… Third: .235/.286/.338, 12 R… Fourth: .252/.329/.406, 27 R… Fifth: .266/.348/.353, 26 R… Sixth: .234/.303/.326, 17 R… Seventh: .301/.365/.510, 27 R… Eighth: .273/.390/.380, 19 R… Ninth: .198/.337/.321, 8 R… Extras: .333/.379/.542, 4 R.
STREAKING: Jake Gatewood was 0-for-4 last night and snapped a 23-game hitting streak. The streak was the longest of Gatewood's career and matched the Carolina Mudcats franchise record for consecutive games with a hit, tying Bryson Myles of the 2013 Mudcats (7/15/13-8/11/13). Gatewood hit .372/.443/.628 (32-for-86) with 18 runs, 10 doubles, four home runs, 14 RBIs, 11 walks and a 1.071 OPS during the streak. The streak was the longest in MiLB this season (excluding Mike Tauchman's (AAA, ABQ) 28 game hit streak which began on 8/12/16 and ended on 4/9/17).
ALL OVER THE TOP 10: Jake Gatewood is currently 4th in the Carolina League in average (.331), 4th in OBP (.413), 7th in SLG (.544), 6th in OPS (.957), 2nd in runs scored (28), 3rd in hits (45), tied for 1st in doubles (14), 3rd in extra-base hits (19), tied for 5th in home runs (5) and tied for 5th in walks (19).
OF LATE: Lucas Erceg is batting .150/.200/.250 over his last 19 games (12-for-80, 8 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 16 SO)… Isan Diaz is batting .318/.386/.636 since 4/22 and over his last 23 games (28-for-88, 15 R, 7 2B, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 11 BB, 24 SO)… Trent Clark started the season batting .180/.333/.311 over his first 19 games (11-for-61, 8 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 15 BB) before going 5-for-6 with 3 RBI on 4/30 in Frederick. Clark is now batting .304/.391/.393 over his last 15 games since 4/30 (17-for-56, 12 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 8 BB).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Mudcats have played a Carolina League high 24 home games so far in 2017. They are currently 11-13 at home and still have 13 home games remaining on their first half schedule. A total of 27 of Carolina's first 40 games were scheduled to be played at Five County Stadium. 
WHERE THEY RANK: Isan Diaz is currently tied for 7th in the Carolina League in hits (38), tied for 7h in extra-base hits (15) and 3rd in home runs (7)… Corbin Burnes leads the Carolina League in ERA (1.13) and is 2nd in WHIP (0.95). Burnes is also 7th in innings pitched (40.0), 2nd among starters in average against (.182) and 2nd in fewest baserunners allowed/9ip ratio (8.55)… Cody Ponce is tied for 2nd in the CL in innings pitched (44.0) and is 2nd in the league in lowest BB-IBB/9ip ratio (1.02)… Luis Aviles is tied for the CL lead in steals (12). 
FURTHER RANKINGS: Corey Ray has the 7th highest K% (30.5%) among qualified Carolina League hitters this season… Jake Gatewood has the 2nd highest BABIP (.444) among qualified Carolina League hitters this season… Lucas Erceg has the 3rd lowest BABIP (.238) among qualified Carolina League hitters… Troy Stokes Jr. has the 6th highest FB% (46.9%) among qualified Carolina League hitters.
PROSPECTS GALORE: The Mudcats currently have 10 players ranked on MLB.com's list of top 30 Brewers prospects; 4 of which ranking in the Brewers top 10. The plethora of top rated Brewers prospects with Carolina include outfielder Corey Ray, infielder Isan Diaz, outfielder Trent Clark and third baseman Lucas Erceg. Ray is currently ranked as the 2nd best prospect in the Brewers system by MLB.com, followed by Diaz (5), Clark (6) and Erceg (7). Each of which are also ranked in the top 10 among Brewers prospects according to both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. Also ranking among MLB.com's top 30 Brewers prospects are pitchers Marcos Diplan (11), Cody Ponce (15), Kodi Medeiros (18), Freddy Peralta (19), Corbin Burnes (20) and infielder Jake Gatewood (25)