Game Notes (July 14)
July 14, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power concludes their three-game series with the Greensboro Grasshoppers Sunday afternoon at First National Bank Field, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. RHP Josias De Los Santos (1-6, 5.09 ERA) toes the slab for West Virginia, while Greensboro sends RHP Colin Selby (3-2, 3.14 ERA) to the bump.
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POWER OUTLASTS GRASSHOPPERS SATURDAY: Onil Pena stroked a home run and tallied four RBI, while the Power used a six-run fifth to propel themselves to a 10-8 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers Saturday night at First National Bank Field. Bobby Honeyman kicked off the scoring in the second inning, as the third baseman roped a solo homer to right-center that made it 1-0 West Virginia. Greensboro responded in the bottom of the frame, plating three runs on three hits against Steven Moyers to snag a 3-1 lead. After the Grasshoppers extended their lead to 4-1 on a Jonah Davis solo shot in the third, the Power retaliated in the fourth thanks to an RBI single from Joseph Rosa before exploding for six runs in the fifth. J.R. Davis ignited the rally with a two-out walk, while Julio Rodriguez and Honeyman stroked back-to-back RBI doubles to tie the game at four. Greensboro went to their pen to get Cam Alldred, but David Sheaffer greeted him with an RBI single to give West Virginia a 5-4 lead. Following a walk to Rosa that put runners at first and second with two down, Pena unloaded a 412-foot blast to right-center, thrusting the Power's edge to four. The Grasshoppers clawed back with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to square the contest at eight, but West Virginia pushed two across in the seventh on run-scoring singles from Pena and Charlie McConnell for the final blow. Dayeison Arias spun the final two innings for the Power, allowing just two hits and striking out five.
PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER: Following a 2-for-5 night with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored, Honeyman extended his hitting streak to nine games, the longest active streak on the team. In this span, the infielder is averaging .289 (11-for-38) with a home run, four RBI and five runs scored, and has only struck out six times. In fact, Honeyman has only fanned six times over his last 14 games, stretching across 57 at-bats. Honeyman is in the midst of his third hitting streak of eight games or more this season (May 13-20 and May 24-June 2 with identical .344 averages). The Stony Brook product is now one of four Power batters to post a hitting streak of nine games or more (Jarred Kelenic, 18 games, April 11-May 2; Cesar Izturis Jr., 9 games, April 12-26; and Pena, 9 games, April 12-22).
EATING GRASSHOPPERS FOR BREAKFAST: Pena put together another solid game against the Greensboro Grasshoppers last night, going 2-for-3 with four RBI, his second game with four RBI or more against Greensboro this season. Overall, Pena is averaging .286 against the Grasshoppers in 11 games played this season, collecting five of his team-best 11 homers and 12 RBI. The first baseman has the second-best qualified average amongst active West Virginia sluggers against Greensboro (Rosa, .324 in 10 games). Pena's 11 homers are a new season-best, surpassing his 10 bombs with the Short-Season Everett AquaSox in 2017.
THE LONG BALL: With Honeyman and Pena going deep Saturday, the Power now has 76 home runs as a team this year, third-most in the South Atlantic League behind Greensboro (92) and Hickory (102). West Virginia has turned First National Bank Field into a launching pad this season, blasting 10 homers in nine games, the most long balls they have hit in any visiting park.
JULIOOOOOOO: Julio has continued to provide a consistent spark to West Virginia's lineup, especially in the month of July. He has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, dating back to July 4 in Lexington, during which he is averaging .324 (12-for-37) with a homer and 11 RBI. The Mariners' sixth-best prospect per MLB.com recorded his 15th multi-hit game of the year Saturday night.
ALL-STAR ARIAS: Arias recorded another stellar outing out of the Power bullpen to pick up his team-best seventh save, hurling two scoreless frames with a career high-tying five punchouts and whittling his ERA down to a miniscule 1.23 mark this season. The righty has only allowed an earned run in four of his 30 appearances this year, and has struck out at least one batter in all but five of them. His 30 appearances are sixth-highest in the league, while his seven saves are tied for fifth-most with Grant Anderson (Hickory) and Logan Browning (Greenville).
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS: With a win in Sunday's series finale, the Power would complete their fifth sweep of the season, and first of the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Only one of West Virginia's previous four broomings have come on the road, when they took all four games in Hagerstown to end the first half from June 13-16. The Power has not swept the Grasshoppers since a rain-shortened two-game, three-day series in Charleston August 9-10, 2016. However, West Virginia has only broomed Greensboro once in North Carolina (May 29-June 1, 2008) in Power history.
POWER POINTS: McConnell has not committed an error in 43 straight games... The Power went 7-for-12 with RISP.
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