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SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Game Notes (August 29)

August 29, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The Power concludes their three-game rain-shortened series with the Lexington Legends this evening at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. RHP Josias De Los Santos (4-7, 4.42 ERA) takes the mound for West Virginia, while RHP Zach Haake (3-6, 3.06 ERA) counters for Lexington. Full game notes are attached and below.

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OFFENSE HELD TO TWO HITS IN 4-2 LOSS : Juan Then battled through five innings in his second Low-A start, but West Virginia's offense only mustered two hits and could not score past the first inning, as they fell in the doubleheader opener, 4-2, to the Lexington Legends Wednesday afternoon at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. The Power got off to a good start, as Billy Cooke reached on a throwing error to begin the ballgame and moved to second on the play. After he swiped third, Cooke came into score on a wild pitch that also issued a walk to Caleb Ricca. Ricca then stole second base and scored two batters later on a base hit from Bobby Honeyman to make it 2-0 West Virginia. However, Lexington responded with two runs in their half of the first, as Reed Rohlman delivered a two-run single to knot the game at two. The Legends added a run in the third on Eric Cole's solo homer and another in the sixth against Logan Rinehart, while the Power tallied just one hit after the first inning. Carlos Hernandez struck out eight batters over six innings, and Daniel James spun a 1-2-3 seventh to pick up his fourth save of the season.

RICCA HOMERS IN 6-1 LOSS IN FINALE : Caleb Ricca smacked a solo homer in the sixth inning, but that was all the offense West Virginia could manage against Charlie Neuweiler, who went the distance to hand the Power a 6-1 loss in the twin bill finale at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Lexington jumped on Benjamin Onyshko over his three innings of work in his first professional start, tagging him for six runs (three earned) to take a commanding 6-0 lead. West Virginia notched its only run in the sixth on Ricca's first Low-A long ball, but Neuweiler still worked his way through all seven innings while allowing just four hits and striking out 10. Sal Biasi and Bryan Pall combined for three hitless innings out of the bullpen for the Power.

THE LONG BALL : Ricca's homer was West Virginia's 102nd home run of the season, third-most in the South Atlantic League (Greensboro, 120 and Hickory, 140). The Power's five home runs in nine games at Whitaker Bank Ballpark are tied for the second-most they have had in any road ballpark (Hagerstown, Municipal Stadium and Hickory, L.P. Frans Stadium) this season (12, Greensboro's First National Bank Field). West Virginia's 102 homers are tied with the 2012 squad for the third-highest home run total by a Power club (128 in 2007 and 105 in 2010) in team history.

GOOD GRIEF, THAT'S STRONG RELIEF" : West Virginia's bullpen has been impressive throughout the last eight games, spanning the entire three-game set with Charleston and Lakewood, as well as the doubleheader at Lexington. The Power relief corps has surrendered just three earned runs in their last 26.0 innings of work (1.04 ERA) on 14 hits over that stretch.

BULLPEN BULLY : Pall's shutdown inning in the sixth inning of game two extended his scoreless streak to 12 innings, as the right-hander has not allowed a run in his last 10 appearances. In that span, he has ceded just six hits and struck out 12 batters. The Midseason South Atlantic League All-Star is one of two pitchers in the league to have not allowed an earned run and tossed 12 innings since July, joining West Virginia starter Matt Martin.

SURGING SANDERS : Matt Sanders has had quite the consistent month of August for West Virginia. The infielder has hit safely in 23 of his last 28 contests and is boasting a .303 (33-for-109) clip, the 17th-best batting average in the SAL in that span (July 28-current), with three homers and 11 RBI. Sanders is tied with Pena for the team lead with three homers and 10 RBI in the month of August. He is the only active Power hitter to have an average above .300 (.305) in the season's penultimate month.

BOBBY HONEYSTAR : On Tuesday, Honeyman was tabbed as a South Atlantic League Annual All-Star at third base, the lone Power player to take home the league's year-end honor. Honeyman snagged his second Year-End All-Star selection, as he was named to the Northwest League's Postseason All-Star squad in 2018. Honeyman is the third Power player ever to be named an Annual All-Star at 3B, joining Mat Gamel (2006) and Taylor Green (2007).

POWER POINTS : Charlie McConnell has not committed an error in 78 straight games (dating back to 5/15 at CSC)... Honeyman broke out of a 0-for-13 slump Wednesday with an RBI single in game one of the doubleheader... West Virginia struggled with runners in scoring position Wednesday, going 1-for-5 and stranding seven men on base... The Power had their four-game winning streak snapped with the game one loss Wednesday, ending their longest winning stretch of the second half... DeAires Moses posted his first career multi-hit game with West Virginia in game two of the twin bill... The Power will wrap up the 2019 season with a four-game series against Greensboro August 30 through September 2.

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