Dash vs. Rome: Game #88 Preview
Winston-Salem Dash (43–44) vs. Rome Braves (51–36)
Friday, July 22–7:00 p.m.
Truist Stadium (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Game 87 Recap
The Winston-Salem Dash lost a rain-shortened series finale to the Asheville Tourists, 6–2.
Colson Montgomery got his on-base streak to 50 games in the top of the first inning, on a solo home run to quickly put Winston-Salem ahead 1–0.
Chase Solesky took to the mound for the Dash, and held the Tourists off the board until the fourth inning. He allowed a leadoff double to Zach Daniels, before walking back to back hitters which loaded the bases. Deury Carrasco was able to plate Daniels on a sacrifice fly into right field, and tie the game at 1–1.
Solesky bounced back with another scoreless frame in the fifth, which would be his last inning of the day. The right-hander was superb, scattering just three base hits and allowing just the lone run in the fourth, while ringing up four strikeouts.
The Dash rewarded Solesky’s strong outing in the sixth inning, when Duke Ellis walked and promptly swiped second base, his 37th stolen base of the year. After Colson Montgomery was walked, both him and Ellis moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. That allowed Luis Mieses to score Ellis on a sacrifice fly to right field, and the Dash jumped ahead 2–1.
Chase Plymell relieved Solesky to begin the home half, but ran into some trouble. Luis Guerrero smoked a one-out double and stole third base, before Plymell struck out CJ Stubbs for the second out. However, Chad Stevens jumped on the first pitch of the at-bat and pushed a single through the middle to score Guerrero. Skyler Arias came on to take the ball from Plymell, but he immediately allowed an RBI single by Carrasco, and Asheville took the lead 3–2. AJ Lee then tripled to score Carrasco, giving the Tourists a two-run lead 4–2.
Asheville extended that advantage in the seventh inning. Michael Sandle reached first on an infield single, then JC Correa crushed a two-run bomb to left field to make it a 6–2 ballgame. The Dash got out of the inning unscathed, but rain in Asheville forced the game to be called early. Cesar Gomez got the official win on his record, and Plymell took the loss for the Dash.
MONTGOMERY MAKING IT ON-BASE
Colson Montgomery has carried over his hot streak from Kannapolis to Winston-Salem. Through 18 games he has a .323 average and .438 on-base percentage, including four home runs and nine RBIs. In all of those games, he’s reached base safely, increasing his on-base streak to 50 games.
DUKE DIGGIN’
Duke Ellis has been consistent all year in showing off his contact and speed. On the basepaths, Ellis has been a terror, as he’s in first place in the South Atlantic League in stolen bases with 37, and is in second place in runs in the league with 61, just one behind first place. Meanwhile, from the batter’s box, he’s got on base reliably as he’s in tenth place in batting average in the league with a .300 average.
WINSTON TOWER POWER
Luis Mieses and Bryan Ramos have been two of the most effective hitters in the South Atlantic League when playing at home. Mieses is second in the league in RBIs with 33 while Ramos is third with 32. Ramos has also hit the ball out of Truist Stadium seven times this year, tied for the eleventh-best mark in the league.
HOME COOKING
In their last 24 games at home, the Dash have been dominant, going 16–8. Winston-Salem took five out of the six games against Greenville before narrowly winning their series, four games to two, against their I-40 rivals, the Greensboro Grasshoppers. The Dash split the series with Hudson Valley through four games but took the latter two to win the series four games to two. The Dash then took three out of six games against Wilmington to give them a 66.67% winning percentage through the last 24 games.
First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m.
