WV Power Game Notes: August 22, 2015 vs. Lakewood
August 22, 2015 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
Lakewood BlueClaws (30-24, 63-59) at West Virginia Power (37-17, 74-49)
Game 124 | August 22, 2015 | Appalachian Power Park | Charleston, WV
Radio: Charleston's ESPN 104.5 & 1490 - wvpower.com Airtime: 6:45 pm
TONIGHT'S MATCH-UP
RH Tyler Viza (4-3, 3.53) vs. RH Alex McRae (5-9, 5.20)
Viza: Gave up four runs on seven hits over 5.0 IP with BB and 9 K in 8/16 L @ DEL (4-2 Birds)
McRae: Surrendered four runs on 12 hits over 5.1 innings with 2 BB and 4 K in 8/17 L @ LEX (4-2 Legends)
THE LEADOFF: West Virginia rallied to defeat Lakewood 7-4 on Friday night at Appalachian Power Park. The first half of the game was dominated by the starting pitchers. Yeudy Garcia worked six shutout innings for his first career quality start but Lakewood's Will Morris went five shutout innings. The game changed dynamic once the bullpen's game in. Chase Simpson hit an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to give the Power a 1-0 lead and West Virginia added two more runs in the seventh. After Lakewood hit two home runs to take a 4-3 lead, the Power rallied with four in the eighth including a game-tying RBI single from Taylor Gushue and a go-ahead RBI single from Kevin Newman.
OH NO, IT'S THE CLAW: The Power continue their final series against Lakewood. The Power are 7-5 against the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate this season and can ensure a winning record against Lakewood with a win tonight. West Virginia leads the all-time series 89-72. West Virginia currently leads Lakewood in the Northern Division standings by seven games.
MAGIC NUMBER DWINDLING: The Power have a magic number of 10 heading into play tonight. Any combination of 10 Power victories or Lakewood losses will guarantee a postseason berth for the Power. Hickory's elimination number is also at 10 though they won the first-half championship. The only team in the league who has been eliminated from postseason contention are the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: West Virginia's offense has had at least nine hits in 18 of the 20 games played this month and have the league's best batting average this month at .308. The next closest team is the Savannah Sand gnats who are hitting .293 this month. Elvis Escobar has the best batting average among everyday starters with a .384 clip. Nine different Power hitters are batting above .300 this month.
DANCE LIKE IT'S 2006: Friday's win was the 74th of the season and the Power have matched the total win output from the 2006 West Virginia Power. With four more victories, West Virginia will match the 2008 club who won 78 games. The 2007 and 2013 clubs won a franchise-best 82 games. There are 16 games remaining in the regular season.
KINGSMAN: Elvis Escobar currently leads the team with a .301 batting average which also ranks seventh in the South Atlantic League. The last player to hit over .300 for West Virginia with enough at bats to win a batting title was Walker Gourley (.304) in 2013. The current batting leader in the league is Asheville's Shane Hoelscher who is hitting .320.
ON TO THE NEXT ONE: The West Virginia Power will unveil their 2016 schedule on August 25. Schedule magnets with the match-ups and dates will be given away on August 31.
PROMO UPDATE- AUGUST 23: The first 1,000 fans will receive headphones courtesy of Renaissance Dental to celebrate Chuck's Birthday. Additionally, the ZOOperstars return to Appalachian Power Park for the final time this season to entertain the fans.
POWER POINTS: The Power have committed 105 errors this season and own the fewest errors in the league this season. The league record for the fewest errors is 107, set by Augusta in the 2013 season over 137 games... The Power have the most wins (42) at home in all of Low-A ball.
AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Madison Bumgarner held the Pirates in check with a quality start and a home run in Pittsburgh's 6-4 loss to San Francisco...Indianapolis split a doubleheader with Charlotte. The Tribe took game one 5-1 but lost in the nightcap 7-2...Altoona used a big-inning for the second straight, a five-run sixth, to beat Bowie on the road 6-3...Wyatt Mathisen led Bradenton with three RBIs and Jordan Steranka had three hits, two RBIs, and two runs in Bradenton's 9-3 win over Fort Myers...Kevin Kramer scored the Black Bears' lone run in a 1-0 win at Mahoning Valley..
ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on Charleston's ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. Adam Marco will call the action once again and will be joined by Mike Baggerman when the team plays at Appalachian Power Park.
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South Atlantic League Stories from August 22, 2015
- Bailey Leads Legends to 7-4 Win over Hagerstown - Lexington Legends
- Lexington Rolls Past Suns 7-4 - Hagerstown Suns
- Haddad hits first-career blast picks up three RBI in R'Dogs seventh-straight win - Charleston RiverDogs
- 'Birds Pump Brakes on Drive Rally, 5-4 - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Shorebirds Squeak Past Drive, 5-4 - Greenville Drive
- Unearned Runs Sink BlueClaws in 4-2 Loss on Saturday - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Power defeats Lakewood - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Braves Break Through Late; Beat Tourists 7-4 - Asheville Tourists
- Sand Gnats Streak Paused Due to Rain Saturday - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Intimidators, Sand Gnats Rained out Saturday - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- WV Power Game Notes: August 22, 2015 vs. Lakewood - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Pitching Propels Crawdads to 3-1 Win - Hickory Crawdads
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