The Week in Winston: Dash update, May 5-11

By / / FutureSox

The Dash went 2-3 in a rainy week that saw one game postponed entirely, but still maintained an overall record above .500, sitting at 15-13 despite less-than-stellar hitting and pitching. The game that started on Friday, May 6 was suspended and completed on Sunday, May 8, with that day’s scheduled game turning into game two of a doubleheader. The game on Saturday, May 7 was postponed until May 24, when it will also become game two of a doubleheader. Truly, these are fascinating times.

The non-doubleheader news is that Oscar Colás was placed on the Injured List retroactive to May 8 with a wrist injury, although he’s been out of the lineup since April 28. Duke Ellis has been handling center field in his absence.

Top pitching performances

Sean Burke, May 6/8: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Chase Solesky, May 10: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 4 BB, 5 K

Jesus Valles (relief): 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 2 K, HBP, balk

top hitting performances

Duke Ellis (CF): 6-for-19, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K, 4 SB (season: .342/.405/.474)

Luis Mieses (RF): 4-for-18, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (season: .261/.317/.423)

…

weekly rundown

Drew Dalquist turned in another frustrating outing on May 5, chased in the third after giving up five runs on four singles and two walks in that inning alone. Hickory scored another run off Luis Amaya in the fourth, but 23-year-old righty Jesus Valles quelled them with four strong innings, the only other run the result of an error, a balk, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly. Isaiah Carranza struck out the side in the ninth.

Duke Ellis continued to thrive at the plate and on the basepaths, reaching base three times with two singles and a walk and stealing second. He scored a run on a Moisés Castillo single. Shawn Goosenberg homered for the third time, and Terrell Tatum scored on a balk. Final score: 7-4 Crawdads.

May 6 started as a bullpen game, perhaps with one eye on that night’s forecast. Trey Jeans was the opener, ceding a run in the first on two hits. Zach Cable held the Crawdads scoreless despite allowing three baserunners in one inning, striking out three, and Jordan Mikel only got one out into the third inning before nature progressed and the game was suspended.

Post-suspension, Sean Burke picked up with one out in the third on Sunday and proceeded to shut Hickory down. He allowed a scant two singles, with one of those eventually caught stealing by catcher Adam Hackenberg. Ty Madrigal, Cooper Bradford, and Vince Vannelle all made scoreless appearances.

Dash bats were basically silent both before and after the rain with the notable and crucial exception of the seventh inning, which contained five of their seven hits and all five of their runs. Luis Curbelo opened the inning by making it all the way to third when the Crawdads right fielder made an error on his single. Bryan Ramos walked, one of just two for him this week, and Luis Mieses hit a double like clockwork to score Curbelo and tie it 1-1. After Hackenberg struck out, Goosenberg doubled to score both baserunners, making it 3-1 Dash, then Tyler Osik contributed a double as well to knock in Goosenberg, 4-1. Jason Matthews walked after Terrell Tatum grounded out with Osik on second, then Ellis singled and scored Osik, 5-1 remaining the eventual final score. Ellis also stole second, but was stranded there. 

Doubleheader game two on May 8, following the completion of the May 6 suspended game, was seven fruitless innings of Dash baseball. The two runs allowed by Matthew Thompson over three innings of work were enough for the loss, although Jordan Mikel was dinged for two in the sixth as well. Fraser Ellard allowed both of those runs to score on Mikel’s behalf, but did pitch one out of his own, and Wilber Perez threw a scoreless inning.

Castillo singled. Mieses singled. Mendoza singled and walked. Goosenberg walked. Nobody scored or advanced beyond second base. Final score 4-0 Crawdads.

Despite good starting pitching and a 2-for-4 day for Ellis leading off, the Dash fell 6-1 to the Rome Braves on May 10. Chase Solesky bounced back nicely from a terrible last start in which he couldn’t get out of the first inning; here, he completed five, walking four but only giving up two singles. The only run he allowed was unearned on a Goosenberg error.

The Dash tied it 1-1 in the fourth when they took advantage of poor control; Ramos was hit by a pitch to open the inning, Mieses walked to push him to second, then Osik singled to score him. That was all they could muster, though, and a subsequent bullpen meltdown by Carranza, Amaya, Ellard, and Cable led to a late loss.

May 11 was almost a repeat of the doubleheader’s back half, only this time the team’s three hits were stretched over nine full innings instead of seven. Ellis and Goosenberg singled in separate innings and Mieses hit his 12th double of the year (Ellis also stole second and third base). Castillo reached twice via walk and hit by pitch. Their best shot at scoring came in the seventh, Mieses’ double leading things off and Osik walking behind him. Hackenberg reached on catcher’s interference to load the bases with nobody out, but Mendoza, Goosenberg, and Tatum all struck out without a runner crossing the plate.

Dalquist’s outing this time around wasn’t fantastic, but much better than his first of the week, allowing three runs over five innings (just one strikeout). Gil Luna Jr. returned from the disabled list with a scoreless inning, and Valles and Karan Patel also threw one apiece.

Over the last three games, totaling 25 innings, the Dash have 11 total hits and have scored zero runs while allowing 13. Since being named the Player of the Month for an April in which he batted .403/.449/.653, Ramos has gone 3-for-26 in May.

Coming up, the Dash wrap up their series in Rome, then they come back to Winston to the best of both worlds: not only do they get to play the Asheville Tourists, who are currently 8-20, but they get to do it at home, where there are video cameras, because it’s the year 2022 in the rest of the South Atlantic League. No, I’ve never heard of a jinx, what is that?

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