MCINERNEY’S GRAND SLAM HALTS DASH’S FIVE-GAME WINNING STREAK

Carolina 6, Winston-Salem 3 (F/7)

W: Noah Zavolas (3-2)
L: Zach Lewis (3-3)
S: Clayton Andrews (6)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (June 1, 2019) – Pat McInerney’s grand slam proved to be the difference for Carolina in Saturday’s twin bill opener, as the Mudcats snapped the Dash’s five-game winning streak with a 6-3 victory at BB&T Ballpark.

With the Dash (29-24) ahead 3-2 in the top of the sixth, Carolina (30-24) loaded the bases against Zach Lewis (3-3) to set up McInerney’s go-ahead blast. After Mario Feliciano laced a single with one out, Lewis proceeded to hit Payton Henry and Eddie Silva. Following a pitching change that brought Luis Ledo into the game, McInerney launched a grand slam to left-center to put the Muddies ahead 6-3.

Thanks to the grand slam, Mudcats starter Noah Zavolas (3-2) earned his third win of the season, going 5.1 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits. Meanwhile, Clayton Andrews locked down his sixth save of the year with 1.2 hitless frames.

The Mudcats struck first in the opening frame against Jordan Stephens, who was activated off the injured list and transferred from Triple-A Charlotte to Winston-Salem on Saturday. With one out, Ryan Aguilar drilled a solo shot to right-center to make it a 1-0 contest.

Stephens, who led the Carolina League in strikeouts during his time with the Dash in 2016, ultimately struck out four over two innings of work while allowing one run.

After Lewis relieved Stephens in the third, the Mudcats pushed across an unearned run. Zach Clark reached on a fielding error by Yeyson Yrizarri to begin the frame, and, three batters later, he came in to score on a groundout by Aguilar.

However, the Dash answered back in the bottom of the frame against Zavolas. JJ Muno drew a leadoff walk, and, after moving to second on a groundout by Evan Skoug, he stole third. Yrizarri then drove home Muno on an RBI groundout to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Muno knotted the contest with an RBI single to center in the fourth before Winston-Salem took a brief edge in the fifth. Yrizarri, Tyler Frost and Nick Madrigal hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with nobody out. Steele Walker followed by grounding into a double play, but Yrizarri scored to give the Dash their first and only lead of the game.