SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Game Notes (April 10)

Published on April 10, 2019 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The Power goes for a series win over the Lexington Legends this morning at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, with first pitch set for 10:35 a.m. RHP Clay Chandler (0-0, 0.00 ERA) makes his second start for West Virginia.

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WEST VIRGINIA BLANKS LEXINGTON TUESDAY: Logan Gilbert dominated in his second career start, tossing five scoreless innings and ceding just one hit while striking out a career-high nine batters. Meanwhile, West Virginia's offense provided him with plenty of run support, as the Power claimed a 4-0 win Tuesday evening at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Gilbert set down the first nine men he faced and only allowed two runners to reach base against him, picking up his first career victory. Onil Pena drove in the team's first run in the fourth, doubling in Julio Rodriguez, while Cesar Trejo smacked a three-run homer in the sixth to put the game out of reach. David Ellingson and Bryan Pall spun the final four innings, scattering two hits and one walk while striking out five to finish off the Power's second shutout win.

I'D BE FIRST TO LIKE THIS TWEET: Rodriguez extended his season-opening hitting streak to six games by stroking a single to center in the fourth inning. Rodriguez also reached base twice more via a pair of walks, upping his team-best average to .478 (11-for-23) with three doubles, three RBI and an OPS of 1.147. The 18-year-old is the second player in Power history to start the season with at least a six-game hitting streak. Tito Polo had the only longer stretch in 2016, posting a 10-game hitting streak from April 7-18 with a .348 (16-for-46) clip, a home run and six RBI.

JUST AS GOOD AS THAT FIRST SIP OF MOUNTAIN DEW: Joseph Rosa also continued his banner start to the 2019 season, going 1-for-4 with a sixth-inning double to push his hitting streak to five games. He and Rodriguez are the only two Power players to reach base in all six games this season. Rosa is averaging .400 (8-for-20) after going 0-for-3 in the season opener Thursday, and is tied for the team lead with three RBI. The switch-hitter has also worked the second-most walks on the team (five), with Jarred Kelenic leading the way with six.

TIME TO UPDATE THE XML FILE AGAIN: Gilbert notched a new career-high in strikeouts Tuesday night, fanning nine Lexington Legends over his five innings of work. He became the second straight Power pitcher to set a new career high in strikeouts, and the third overall in 2019, as Steven Moyers set down eight men in his season debut Monday night and Jamal Wade also struck out eight Greenville Drive batters over three innings on April 6. With his nine-strikeout performance Tuesday, Gilbert moved into the South Atlantic League lead with his 14 total strikeouts. Over their first six games, West Virginia has struck out 70 batters, leading the SAL by nine Ks (Lakewood/Lexington, 61).

THEY SEEM TO HAVE FOUND THE SCRIPT: West Virginia's bullpen has been quite stellar to start the year. Ellingson and Pall each tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Gilbert Tuesday, with Pall setting a new career-high in innings pitched during his second pro outing. After six games, the Power's bullpen is hoisting a 0.95 mark (28.1 IP/3 ER), with six relievers still possessing spotless ERAs. Elias Espino and Wade are the only ones to give up earned runs.

WELL, THAT FIXED EVERYTHING: Trejo blasted his first career home run Tuesday night 378 feet to left-center, a three-run bomb that put the game out of reach. West Virginia has now homered in back-to-back games for the first time all season, with Trejo recording the Power's third long ball of the year, tied for fifth-best in the league with Delmarva, Greensboro and Hagerstown (Asheville, 8). The Greensboro resident also posted the team's first three-RBI game of 2019.

404 ERROR MESSAGE: Manny Pazos committed a pair of errors in West Virginia's 4-0 win over the Legends Tuesday, snapping a two-game team errorless streak. West Virginia has a .964 fielding percentage, tied for ninth-best in the SAL.

GOODBYE FOR NOW: The Power returns home Thursday to begin their 2019 home schedule with a seven-game homestand against the Augusta GreenJackets and Lakewood BlueClaws from April 11-17. West Virginia will play 14 home games in April, which includes a seven-game set against Columbia and Asheville from April 22-28.

LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU A LOT THIS YEAR: West Virginia concludes its opening seven-game road swing with the series finale in Kentucky against the rival Lexington Legends. The Power and Legends will meet 15 times this season, with 11 of them at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. West Virginia plays the Southern Division in all but four games in the first month of the season, with all four games coming against the Lakewood BlueClaws (April 15-17, 29).

POWER POINTS: The Power is the only team in the South Atlantic League with two shutout wins this year. West Virginia had 11 shutout victories in 2018... The Power turned their fifth double play of the season to end Tuesday's game... Gilbert has not allowed a run over his first nine professional innings... West Virginia was 10-17 in day games last year.

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 10, 2019


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