W: Enderson Franco (4-3)
L: Jordan Stephens (1-7)
S: Evan Phillips (7)
ZEBULON, N.C. (June 10, 2016) – Outside of a solo home run from Nick Basto, Winston-Salem’s offense was silenced in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Mudcats on Friday night at Five County Stadium.
Basto, in his first start with Winston-Salem since May 8, led off the fourth with a blast off Carolina starter Enderson Franco (4-3) to tie the game at one. The 22-year-old was sent back to Winston-Salem on Friday after a 22-game stint with Double-A Birmingham. At the High-A level this season, the Carolina League Player of the Month for April is hitting .344 with six homers and 19 RBIs.
For the first time in six games, the opposing team scored first. With one out in the third, Dash starter Jordan Stephens (1-7) gave up back-to-back singles to put runners on first and third. Omar Obregon subsequently laid down a safety squeeze to plate the game’s first run and put Carolina (23-35) up 1-0.
The Dash (25-36) would respond with the aforementioned Basto homer in the fourth, but that would be Franco’s only blemish. The Mudcats right-hander tossed six innings, allowing four hits and one earned run.
In the next half inning, Carolina took the lead for good. With one on and one out, Braxton Davidson smacked a two-run homer to right off Stephens, giving the Muddies a 3-1 edge.
The Dash right-hander tossed six innings, yielding five hits and three earned runs. The former Rice Owl has now thrown at least five innings in each of his last six starts. Stephens’ quality start also continues a tremendous run for Winston-Salem’s starters. Over the last 10 games, the Dash rotation has submitted a 1.71 ERA (15 ER in 79.0 IP), with no hurler giving up more than three runs in an outing.
Carolina relievers Taylor Lewis and A.J. Minter each provided a scoreless inning of middle relief to bridge the way to the ninth. Evan Phillips, one of two Midseason Carolina League All-Stars on the Mudcats roster, threw a scoreless ninth to convert his seventh save in eight chances. Overall, the Dash offense mustered just five hits in Friday’s contest.
With the loss, Winston-Salem falls to 15-15 on the road. The defeat also snaps a four-game winning streak, a season-high for the Dash.
Marcus Davis’ 16-game hitting streak came to an end on Friday. The designated hitter went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, ending the sixth-best streak in Dash history (2009-present). During the run, the Cincinnati native hit .277 (18-for-65).
Euclides Leyer worked a scoreless seventh inning and Danny Dopico followed with a 1-2-3 eighth.
The Dash continue their four-game set against the Carolina Mudcats on Saturday at 6 p.m. Winston-Salem sends Spencer Adams (6-3, 3.42 ERA) to the rubber against Mudcats righty Raymar Navarro (3-1, 4.67 ERA). The Pregame Dash begins at5:45 p.m., and fans can tune in on wsdash.com/broadcast or the TuneIn Radio App.
After a week-long road trip to Carolina and Wilmington, the Dash return to BB&T Ballpark on Thursday, June 16, for a four-game set against the Salem Red Sox to conclude the season’s first half. Thursday’s series opener is another ThrowbackThursday, presented by Parr Investments, that will feature commemorative Warthogs jerseys. For tickets, call the Dash at(336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.
