Game Notes (August 3)
August 3, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power begins a four-game series with the Rome Braves this evening, with first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. RHP Devin Sweet (5-4, 3.04 ERA) toes the slab for West Virginia, while RHP Odalvi Javier (3-7, 3.56 ERA) opposes for Rome.
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POWER RALLIES LATE TO TAKE FINALE : West Virginia used four runs in the sixth and three runs in the eighth to topple the Greensboro Grasshoppers, 8-5, in the series finale Friday night at Appalachian Power Park. Greensboro jumped ahead early against Ryne Inman, as the first four batters reached against the right-hander and Fabricio Macias plated two runs on his base knock. The Power responded in the bottom of the second, as Austin Shenton smacked a solo homer 406 feet over the right-center field fence to slim the lead to one. The Grasshoppers went right back to work in the third, however, driving in three runs on five hits to take a commanding 5-1 lead and help bring Inman's night to an early close. The bullpen stepped up in his absence though, as Elias Espino fired two scoreless innings in the fifth and the sixth while West Virginia's offense began to stir. Ryan Ramiz doubled to lead off the sixth against Alex Manasa, who then issued a walk to Matt Sanders. Julio Rodriguez and Bobby Honeyman then laced back-to-back RBI singles to bring Manasa's day to a close, but the Power kept on stroking against Will Gardner. Shenton delivered an RBI double to make it a one-run game, and Jake Anchia knotted the contest at five with a sacrifice fly one batter later. Bryan Pall turned in his second shutdown frame since returning from the injured list in the seventh after working out of a bases-loaded one-out jam, and Reeves Martin twirled a scoreless eighth. Former Power infielder Alfredo Reyes took over on the mound for Greensboro in the bottom of the eighth and immediately plunked Sanders. Julio then stung his first triple of the season into the right-field corner to plate Sanders and give West Virginia its first lead. A sacrifice fly from Shenton and an RBI double from Nick Rodriguez tacked on two insurance runs, and Martin finished it off in the ninth.
HONEY BUNCHES OF HITS : Since the start of his season-long 18-game hitting streak July 3 (ended July 23), Honeyman has been one of the most consistent hitters in the South Atlantic League. He has reached base safely in 25 of his 26 games in that stretch, tied for the third-most games played by any slugger in the league (Terrin Vavra, 27, Asheville). In this span, Honeyman is averaging .376 (41-for-109), the second-highest mark in the league, with two homers, 15 RBI, 20 runs scored and just 12 strikeouts. The Stony Brook product is now in the midst of his fourth hitting streak of at least six games or more this year, as well as West Virginia's 15th overall. Honeyman is boasting a .500 (14-for-28) clip during his streak with two RBI and five multi-hit games. He extended his team-leading multi-hit game total to 27 last night with a 2-for-4 evening, an RBI and two runs scored.
SHENTON STRONG : Shenton tallied his third straight multi-hit night with the Power Friday, going 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and three RBI (second three-RBI game with West Virginia, and the fourth of his MiLB career). The Mariners' fifth-round selection has now reached base safely in 14 of his 16 games with the Power, as well as 34 of his first 37 professional games. The newly-minted 29th-best prospect in the Mariners system per MLB.com is boasting a .317 average with six homers and 31 RBI between Short-Season Everett and West Virginia.
HOMER HAPPY : Shenton's bomb in the second inning marked West Virginia's 92nd home run of the season, third-most in the South Atlantic League (Greensboro, 108 and Hickory, 123). The Power has hit 51 of their 92 homers at Appalachian Power Park, the third-highest home long ball total in the league (Hickory, 76). The 2019 West Virginia squad is now tied with the 2017 unit for the fifth-most homers a Power team has posted in team history. West Virginia's highest home run total since becoming the Power is a whopping 128 dingers in 2007.
COMPLETELY SWEET : Saturday starter Devin Sweet worked his name into the Power record books for the second straight start last time out, registering the first nine-inning complete game in Power history July 28 against the Rome Braves. Sweet's performance outlasted Brian Leach for the longest start in team history, who had previously hurled 8.2 innings in 2009. The right-hander is the third West Virginia starter to pitch into the ninth inning this year, joining Clay Chandler and Steven Moyers, who each tossed 8.1 innings in their longest outings with the Power. Sweet was the 14th pitcher in the South Atlantic League to twirl a complete game this season (third of the nine-inning variety), and the third member of West Virginia's staff (Chandler and Inman, both seven innings). Since converting to a starter June 16, he is 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA, the seventh-best qualified ERA in the SAL in that span, along with 62 strikeouts in 56 innings of work. He also has the lowest qualified ERA (3.04) on the Power and is tied with Ian McKinney (High-A Modesto) for the lowest qualified earned run average in the Mariners' system.
POWER POINTS : Charlie McConnell has not committed an error in 57 consecutive games (May 15 at Charleston)... Onil Pena has just four hits in his last 42 at-bats (.095 average) with 24 strikeouts... West Virginia's bullpen has not allowed an earned run over its last 11 innings... Ramiz has hit safely in 20 of his last 23 games (July 4), averaging .324.
South Atlantic League Stories from August 3, 2019
- Greensboro Tops Greenville, 7-2, in Series Opener - Greenville Drive
- Extra Inning Drama Capped off with 3-2 Victory - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Hickory Comes Back to Beat Pimento Cheese in Extras - Augusta GreenJackets
- 'Birds Drop Opener in Charleston - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Gasper's Career Night Propels Boiled Peanuts to Series-Opening Win - Charleston RiverDogs
- Tourists Show Fight as Win Streak Comes to an End - Asheville Tourists
- Matos Slams Two Homers, Claws Win 10-6 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Sweet's Quality Start, Potent Offense Lead to 7-2 Win - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Suns Game Suspended Saturday - Hagerstown Suns
- Fireflies Have Game Interrupted by Rain...Again - Columbia Fireflies
- Fireflies Roster Move and Game Notes: August 3 at Hagerstown (Game 108) - Columbia Fireflies
- Hagerstown Suns: Game Notes - Hagerstown Suns
- Game Notes (August 3) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Braves offense struggles in series finale - Rome Emperors
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