Mark Mathias contributed to all four Lynchburg Hillcats runs, while Justus Sheffield (7-4, 3.53) struck out eight in 6 2/3 scoreless innings to pave the way for a second consecutive shutout of Wilmington, 4-0, at Frawley Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
After his previous outing was cut to two innings because of a suspended game, Sheffield made up for lost time by holding the Blue Rocks to four hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight in the process. In his last four starts unaffected by weather, Sheffieldhas 33 punchouts in 23 1/3 frames with a 3-0 record in that time. Sheffield allowed the leadoff batter to reach in four of the first five innings but worked around that with three different double plays.
Cam Hill took over for the lefty and retired all four batters he faced, including one strikeout. Mitch Brown pitched the ninth inning and struck out a pair to complete the combined shutout. Lynchburg has a league-leading 10 shutouts this year. This marked the second time this season the Hillcats have posted back-to-back shutouts with the other occasion coming April 20 and 21 against Potomac and Frederick.
Entering the game on an 11-game hitting streak, Mark Mathias hit an infield single in the first to quickly extend it. Anthony Santander lined a single to right, and Bobby Bradley drove in Mathias with a base hit up the middle to give Lynchburg a run in the opening stanza.
The Hillcats plated their other three runs on a bases-clearing double by Mathias in the fifth. It scored Luigi Rodriguez, Alex Monsalve, and Greg Allen. During his 12-game hitting streak, Mathias is 22-46 (.478) with a whopping 11 doubles, 16 RBIs and 15 runs scored. Rodriguez had a multi-hit game as well, finishing 2-4 to raise his batting average to .338 in 20 games with the squad.
Tyler Krieger went 1-3 in the contest to stretch his hitting streak to 15 straight…The streak is already the fifth longest in the Carolina League this season, and he has only been with the team for 18 games…Lynchburg shut out 10 opponents all of last season…The Hillcats have won six in a row and are a Carolina League-best 32-16 on the road.
Lynchburg enjoys an Off Day Wednesday before returning to City Stadium Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Thomas Pannone (1-0, 1.69) will make his home debut for the Hillcats. Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 6:15 p.m.
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Chris Graham
