Hillcats' Partch hits a rough patch

Curtis Partch can at least take solace in this: He isn’t the only pitcher the Winston-Salem Dash has battered around this season.

The Dash, who beat the Hillcats 6-2 Saturday night at City Stadium, entered this three-game series ranked fourth in all of affiliated minor-league baseball with a .294 team batting average. The only teams with better marks were Triple-A Albuquerque (.302) and Las Vegas (.301) and High-A High Desert (.300).

After a 15-hit performance Saturday, the Dash upped their average to .296 and helped a Hillcat pitcher set a season-high for the second straight night.

Friday in Wilmington, Lance Janke allowed 11 hits, the most allowed by a Lynchburg pitcher this season, against the Blue Rocks. One day later, Partch erased that mark, allowing 13 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

“Up and down the lineup, they don’t give away at-bats,” Dash manager Joe McEwing said. “No matter what the score is or what the situation is, they continue to grind out every at-bat. They’ve done an outstanding job of putting a lot of pressure on pitchers all year to make pitches.”

Three Dash players rank among the top five in the Carolina League in batting average, and Winston-Salem leads the circuit in batting average, runs, hits, total bases, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

Winston-Salem’s lineup is so deep that the team’s first baseman, Kyle Shelton, batted ninth Saturday.

“It’s a nice luxury for me to have,” McEwing said.

Partch felt the full wrath of Winston-Salem’s offense in the third and fourth innings. Dash catcher Logan Johnson doubled with two outs in the third before being picked off second base. The next six Winston-Salem batters got hits. Luis Sierra and Eduardo Escobar reached on bunts. Shelton hit a lazy single to left. Drew Garcia drove in two runs with a deep double. Jon Gilmore rapped an RBI single and Seth Loman slammed a single up the middle, ending Partch’s night.

“They have a lot of good hitters on their team,” Partch said. “Granted, they got fortunate a few times, but they still hit the ball hard just as much. They swing early and put the ball in play a lot, so that’s going to help out.”

And Partch pitches to contact. In his last three appearances, spanning 13 1/3 innings, he’s walked just one batter. He left pitches up in the zone Saturday and the Dash took advantage. Partch has set career highs in hits allowed in each of his last two starts, allowing 10 against Myrtle Beach on Monday before the 13 Saturday.

“It hasn’t been anything with my mechanics, or anything like that,” Partch said. “The velocity has been there. The pitches have been there. I’ve been getting a little bit unlucky, I guess. And then, in certain situations, I haven’t been able to put a guy away when I needed to.”

Hillcats relievers Sean Watson, Nick Christiani, Jeff Jeffords and Justin Freeman held the Dash scoreless for the final 4 2/3 innings, with Watson and Freeman allowing a hit apiece. The Dash have won all seven games against Lynchburg this season by a combined score of 56-24.

“They get an awful lot of hits and make an awful lot of good swings,” Hillcats manager Pat Kelly said. “You keep looking for signs of something. But they have very good approaches.”

NOTES: Kelly said injured SS Miguel Rojas (sprained wrist) will head to Cincinnati Wednesday to meet with Reds medical director Timothy Kremchek. Rojas was placed on the disabled list on June 25. … Christiani was activated from the DL before Saturday’s game, bringing the Hillcats roster to the full complement of 25 players for the first time since May 25. … Lynchburg’s Cody Puckett doubled twice and is now second in the Carolina League with 25 two-baggers, one behind Wilmington’s Eric Hosmer. … Winston-Salem LF Kenny Williams Jr. banged his knee diving for a fly ball in the second inning and had to leave the game. Williams’ status for the rest of the series is unknown. He is the son of Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams.