The Week in Winston: Dash update, June 9-15

By / / FutureSox

The Dash have been firing on at least two cylinders lately, following up a 5-1 week with a 3-3 and bringing their overall record in June to 9-4. One month out from the All-Star Break, they remain the only full-season Sox team over .500, only 4½ games back in their tight division at 31-28.

Pitcher Isaiah Carranza and shortstop Shawn Goosenberg both hit the Injured List this week, Carranza for the first time this season and Goosenberg for the second. Infielder Brandon Bossard (yes) and LHP Skylar Arias have replaced them but have yet to appear. Meanwhile, Luis Curbelo and Ivan González were lost to promotion to the Barons, resulting in Fish being bumped back up from the Cannon Ballers to handle backup catcher duties. 

Top pitching performances

Drew Dalquist (two starts): 8 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 4 K, 2 HBP, 2 WP (season: 50.2 IP, 36 R (32 ER), 33 BB, 36 K, 5.68 ERA, 1.62 WHIP)

Chase Solesky (June 11): 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, BB, 2 K (season: 51.1 IP, 26 R (24 ER), 15 BB, 37 K, 4.21 ERA, 1.52 WHIP)

Matthew Thompson (June 14): 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 9 K (season: 56.1 IP, 35 R (27 ER), 20 BB, 52 K, 4.31 ERA, 1.26 WHIP)

Jesus Valles (relief): 5.1 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 5 K, WP (season, two levels: 36.1 IP, 20 R (19 ER), 13 BB, 26 K, 4.71 ERA, 1.40 WHIP)

Trey Jeans (relief): 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (season: 20.1 IP, 9 R (5 ER), 8 BB, 32 K, 2.21 ERA, 1.13 WHIP)

Ty Madrigal (relief): 3 IP, H, 0 R, BB, K, WP (season: 21.2 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 12 BB, 22 K, 2.08 ERA, 1.48 WHIP)

Top hitting performances

Duke Ellis (DH/LF/CF): 6-for-18, 6 R, 3 2B, HR, RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 SB, 0 CS (season: .313/.392/.464, 23 SB, 2 CS)

Bryan Ramos (3B): 6-for-22, 5 R, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 3 K (season: .281/.355/.488)

Terrell Tatum (LF/RF/DH): 6-for-18, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K, SB, 0 CS (season, two levels: .292/.426/.458)

Luis Mieses (DH/RF): 7-for-25, 3 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K (season: .288/.340/.447)

Adam Hackenberg (C/DH): 6-for-12, 2 R, 2B, BB, 2 K (season: .275/.345/.431)

Tyler Osik (C/1B/DH): 9-for-17, 2 R, 2B, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 HBP (season: .342/.425/.477)

Weekly rundown

There’s been a little bit of a trend lately where despite late offense, the Dash bullpen will give up a crucial run or two in the ninth or tenth, and that’s what happened in their 5-4 loss to the Greensboro Grasshoppers on June 9. Drew Dalquist got the start and only made it through three innings due to some command issues (64 pitches, 32 strikes), but he still held the Grasshoppers to just one hit and one run even as he walked three. Since I tweeted this on June 1 at zero expense to the Chicago White Sox, Dalquist has a line of 14 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 8 K with two HBP, two wild pitches, and two balks.

Defensive sloppiness contributed to the day’s bullpen woes; catcher Tyler Osik’s throwing error in the fifth led to an unearned run scoring off Luis Amaya and Bryan Ramos’s error at third led to an eventually-cashed-in insurance run off Cooper Bradford for the Grasshoppers in the ninth. Karan Patel was also charged with an unearned run, but his was due to the ghost runner scoring in the 10th on his own dang wild pitch.

At the plate, the Dash racked up 11 hits and six walks, but went 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position to score exactly one fewer run than they ended up needing. They were only able to score one in a four-walk fifth inning, that one when Ramos walked with the bases loaded. 

Three big runs scored in the ninth on Ivan González’s insanely clutch pinch-hit two-out, two-strike home run to tie it, but that was all the team could cough up. They grounded into two double plays and left at least two runners on base in six out of 10 innings. Dash lose 5-4.

It was back to winning on June 10, the resurgence of Ramos coming at a good time. Ramos batted .403/.449/.653 in 17 games in April, then crashed down to .180/.260/.326 in 24 games in May. He’s been bouncing back in June, though, and here he hit his ninth home run of the season in the first inning to score Moisés Castillo from a base hit and make it 2-0 Dash. By the end of the week, his June line would be up to a typically eye-popping .282/.391/.564.

 In the seventh, Castillo hit a sac fly to score Terrell Tatum from a double and Luis Mieses scored Duke Ellis from his own double, putting the Dash up for good at 4-2. Ellis also stole his 22nd base, putting him back in a tie for the organizational lead with Cannon Baller Wilber Sánchez.

Garrett Schoenle started for the first time in his young career and put down four innings of two-hit, one-run ball, walking none and striking out two. He’s only pitched three times for the Dash, but over 14 games between two levels this year, he’s thrown 32.1 IP at a 1.39 ERA, walking 15 and striking out 38.

He was replaced by long reliever Jesus Valles, who one-upped him (for better or worse) in hits, walks, and strikeouts but matched him in innings and runs. Ty Madrigal entered afterward and pitched around a walk for the save. Dash win 4-2.

Trailing 3-0 on June 11 after starter Chase Solesky gave up solo home runs in the first and second innings and a sac fly in a three-single third, the Dash roared back with a pair of three-run innings and a one-run inning for good measure. Oscar Colás went deep for the fifth time all year and first since May 18, scoring Ellis (single) and Tatum (walk) and tying things up at three. 

One inning later, Alsander Womack’s fielder’s choice grounder led to him stealing second, then advancing to third and scoring on consecutive wild pitches. Jason Matthews walked and Ellis doubled to put two on for Tatum, who also doubled to score them both. Tatum would steal third, his seventh steal of the year, where he would be stranded. 

Finally, in the seventh, Womack singled in Mieses, with Osik nailed at third on the throw to put the kibosh on any kind of crooked number.

Trey Jeans has been having a pretty excellent season and that continued, four of his five batters faced retired via strikeout (three swinging). Vince Vannelle reared his head for the only time all week in spite of his similarly stellar season and pitched a scoreless inning and a third, including the ninth. Vannelle has thrown 23 innings between Kannapolis and Winston, giving up five runs (four earned), walking three and striking out 17. Dash win this one 7-3.

It’s not often a starting pitcher can give up seven runs in the first three innings and not get the loss, but Luis Moncada got away with it on June 12. He was staked to an early lead after a three-run first; Ellis doubled to start the inning off and scored on Castillo’s base hit, Colás singled Castillo to second, and Ramos walked to load the bases with nobody out. Mieses obligingly hit a two-run single, making it 3-0 and knocking the pitcher out of the game. Osik even drew a walk off the new pitcher, but Harvin Mendoza struck out and Womack grounded into a double play.

Then Moncada gave up seven runs, capped by a three-run home run in the third inning. When Osik singled in Ramos from his 12th double in the bottom of the third, that cut the score to 7-4 Grasshoppers. Greensboro added another two runs in the fourth off Everhett Hazelwood, who gave up a lead-off single, stolen base, HBP, RBI double, and RBI single.

This meant the Dash entered the fifth trailing 9-4. With nobody out, Castillo was hit by a pitch, Colás walked, and Ramos walked to load the bases for Mieses, whose most recent grand slam was June 2. Here, he instead hit his 21st double of the year to score Castillo and Colás; Mieses leads the organization and is tied for second in that category in all of minor league baseball. 

Osik followed that up with a two-RBI base hit, scampered to third on Mendoza’s double, then scored the final run of the inning on Womack’s ground out, making it 9-9.

Hope lasted exactly three batters into the sixth inning. Wilber Pérez struck out the side in the fifth, but gave up a single to the second batter int he sixth and a home run to the third to make it 11-9 Grasshoppers. Patel and Madrigal combined for three scoreless innings, but it was too late. Ellis blasted a solo home run in the eighth inning and the Dash fell 11-10.

Once again, I must turn the reader’s attention to my fateful tweet of June 1, which, again, was completely free for the Sox yet has already borne such riches (@whitesox pay me). Matthew Thompson threw 63 of 79 pitches for strikes, walking none and striking out nine over 5.1 innings on June 14, allowing three runs but still setting a career high K mark. 

Since The Tweet, he has a line of 17 IP, 11 H, 3 R (!), 4 BB (!!), and 19 K (!!!). Also two HBP, but who’s counting. (For the curious, Jared Kelley for the Cannon Ballers over that time: two starts, 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), BB, 8 K.)

Anyway, Thompson exited with a 7-3 lead due to a seven-run Dash fourth. All seven runs scored with two outs; in fact, nobody even reached base before there were two outs. Ramos sparked things with a solo blast, his 10th, leading the team. Mieses then singled, Hackenberg singled, and Castillo walked, loading the bases. Harvin Mendoza came up to the plate and broke the tie with a big fly, the grand slam his fifth dong of the year and putting the Dash up 5-1.

Obviously not done yet, Matthews hit an infield single, Ellis walked, and Osik singled in Matthews, 6-1 Dash. Ellis stole third and Osik was able to take second on the play, then a wild pitch brought Ellis home, 7-1 Dash. 

In the seventh, Ramos singled in another run in the seventh, scoring Osik and making it 8-3 Dash. In relief, Amaya got two outs into the seventh before a double, walk, and single knocked him out of the game and pulled the first-place Hot Rods to within four, but that was the last run for Bowling Green. 

The Dash added two runs in the eighth anyway with a Mendoza single to score Adam Hackenberg, then Matthews’ sac fly scoring Castillo. Dash win 10-4 with Valles and Madrigal throwing 2.1 scoreless innings on the back end.

Dalquist again struggled with command on June 15 but he was again pretty good results-wise, even though the three runs he gave up were enough for the loss. Bradford was dinged for a run in relief but Jeans closed it out scoreless, lowering his ERA to 2.21.

The Dash were only able to scrape up six hits with fully half of those coming on the first three batters of the ballgame: Tatum, Castillo, and Colás all singled to open the first, Tatum knocked in by Colás, but Ramos popped out, Mieses struck out, Osik was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Mendoza grounded out to end the inning.

Another hit came in the second inning after Keegan Fish walked, Castillo’s single scoring him for a short-lived 2-0 lead. That wrapped up Dash scoring; hitting coach Nicky Delmonico was ejected before a single out in the fourth inning, apparently inspiring Matthews to hit a double. 

Their final hit and baserunner was Ramos, who singled in the eighth and was immediately erased by double play. Ellis did steal his 23rd base for the org lead, but Dash lose 4-2.

Looking ahead, the Dash have four more games to play against a very good Hot Rods (Rays) team, then they reach across divisions to host the fairly mediocre Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees). Currently in fourth place of six, they do have a comfortable seven game lead over the fifth-place Asheville Tourists (Astros).

1 thought on “The Week in Winston: Dash update, June 9-15”

  1. phillyd

    Fantastic recap. I like the exuberance shown by Colas when he or his teammates do something exciting.

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