CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Charlottesville Tom Sox (24-9) will face the Staunton Braves (16-18) tonight at John Moxie Stadium. It will be broadcast live on the Braves Facebook page. First pitch is set for 7:30 P.M.
Coverage: Viewers can head to the Braves Facebook Page to watch tonight’s game. A link to the live stats is available on Pointstreak. The Tom Sox Twitter account (@CvilleTomSoxVBL) will provide live updates.
Ticket Information: Tickets for tonight’s game can be purchased at the gate. Free tickets are available at Brookdale Senior Living, City National Bank, Tasty Eats ‘N’ Treats, Henry Funeral Home & Cremation Center, the Staunton YMCA, and Fisher Auto Parts in Staunton.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Charlottesville: RHP Brady Kirtner – Virginia Tech (2-0, 2.57 ERA, 21.0 IP, 12 BB, 30 K)
Staunton: TBA
LEADING OFF
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The Tom Sox and Braves will meet for the eighth and final time this season.
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The Tom Sox’s 24-9 record is the best in the VBL. They are 1 of 2 South division teams over .500.
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Charlottesville struggled at the plate and on the mound Tuesday, falling in Waynesboro 9-0.
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Charlottesville’s offense has scored 39 runs over the last 4 games.
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Due to COVID-19 issues in Covington, yesterday’s home game and Saturday’s away game against the Lumberjacks were both canceled. Charlottesville will play 40 regular season games due to the cancelations.
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The Tom Sox will clinch the South Division with a win tonight.
SERIES vs STAUNTON
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Charlottesville is 23-19 against Staunton all-time, but is 8-12 at John Moxie Stadium.
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Charlottesville is 3-4 at John Moxie Stadium since the start of the 2019 season.
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After winning the first four games against the Braves this season, the Tom Sox have lost the last 3.
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The 3-game losing streak is tied for the Tom Sox’s longest in the series’ history.
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5 of the 7 games this season have been decided by 4+ runs. The other two have been 1-run affairs.
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The Tom Sox and Braves would meet in the 1-4 matchup if the playoffs started today.
LAST TIME OUT
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The Tom Sox struggled both at the plate and on the mound, falling 9-0 to Waynesboro on Tuesday.
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Charlottesville was shut out for the first time since June 20, when they were no-hit by Winchester. They were shut out in 9 innings for the first time since June 23, 2018.
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The Tom Sox managed only four baserunners (3 hits) in their 9 innings. No runner reached base until the sixth inning.
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Waynesboro pitching struck out ten Tom Sox batters and walked only one.
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Waynesboro scored 6 of their 9 runs in the first inning, including a pair of RBI walks.
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The Tom Sox walked 10 batters, their 2nd-most this season, and allowed 8 Generals hits.
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Charlottesville’s bullpen allowed only three runs, four hits, and struck out six in 7.2 innings.
TEAM TRENDS
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The ‘Sox offense has scored 7.6 runs/game in wins and 3.8 in losses. They had scored 3.1 runs/game in losses prior to Friday’s loss in Staunton.
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22 of Charlottesville’s 33 games have been decided by 3 or more runs.
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Three of the six 1-run games have been walk-off wins. Each of the last two have been decided by one run – a walk-off win on Wednesday and walk-off loss on Friday.
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The ‘Sox are batting .277 with 2 outs. In all other situations, they are batting .244.
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Tom Sox batters are batting .280 with runners on base and .306 with runners in scoring position.
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Charlottesville has scored double-digit runs in 4 of the last 6 games. They did so in 4 of the previous 27.
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After stealing 92 bases through the first 29 games, Charlottesville has stolen just one in the previous 4.
TIME TO CLINCH
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The Tom Sox can clinch the South Division regular season with a win tonight.
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The regular season crown would be Charlottesville’s 2nd in the last 4 seasons (2017).
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The Tom Sox currently sit 7 games ahead of Harrisonburg with 7 games remaining in their schedule.
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The Tom Sox would face the 4th-seeded Braves if the playoffs started today.
