Game Notes (July 7)
July 7, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power concludes their four-game series with the Lexington Legends Sunday afternoon at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, with first pitch set for 2:05 p.m. LHP Steven Moyers (7-4, 3.69 ERA) takes the hill for West Virginia, while RHP Yohanse Morel (1-2, 7.06 ERA) opposes for Lexington.
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SWEET STRIKES OUT 10 IN 4-1 WIN: Devin Sweet tossed a career-best seven innings and struck out a career-high 10 to guide West Virginia to a 4-1 win over the Lexington Legends Saturday evening at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Sweet came out firing on all cylinders, striking out the side looking in the first while picking up a pair of 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth. Meanwhile, the Power pushed a run across in the third on Julio Rodriguez's RBI double to center for a 1-0 lead, marking the fifth straight game that West Virginia has scored first. Sweet continued to subdue the Legends, scattering six hits over seven brilliant innings and not walking a batter, while the Power picked up some insurances runs in the sixth and seventh. In the sixth, West Virginia snagged a pair of runs with just one hit, as a bases-loaded walk to Mike Salvatore and a hit by pitch brought in two, while Joseph Rosa stroked a run-scoring single in the seventh to push the lead to 4-0. Lexington managed its only run in Sweet's final frame, but he battled back to fan Chase Vallot and Jackson Lueck for his ninth and 10th punchouts of the night. Dayeison Arias took care of the final two innings, ceding just one hit and picking up two strikeouts.
OH HOW SWEET IT IS: In just his fifth career Minor League start, Sweet turned in the best game of his Minor League career, posting career-highs in innings pitched and strikeouts. The right-hander notched the 11th game a Power starter has worked through seven innings this year, as well as the fourth double-digit strikeout game (first on the road) of the season (Clay Chandler, April 22 vs. Columbia; Ryne Inman, April 23 vs. Columbia and Steven Moyers, July 2 vs. Hickory). Across his five starts in the rotation, Sweet is 2-2 with a 2.48 ERA compared to his 4.04 mark as a reliever.
RISING ROSA: Following his 3-for-4 effort with an RBI and a run scored Saturday, Rosa notched his 21st multi-hit game of the season, the most multi-hit contests by any Power player this year. The infielder has strung together five consecutive multi-hit games, going 12-for-21 (.571) with five RBI and seven runs scored against Hickory, Lexington and Kannapolis. Rosa had been hitless in his last 10 at-bats prior to this mini surge. The New York resident's three hits are tied for the most he has had in a game this season (five times).
CHI, CHI, CHI, CHIA: After going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored Saturday, Jake Anchia extended his season-long on-base streak to 14 games (June 20-present). He has hit safely in all but one of those contests (June 30). During the second half, the West Virginia backstop is boasting a .315 (17-for-54) clip with two homers and nine RBI.
JULIOOOOO: Since his return from the injured list June 10, J-Rod has been an instant jolt to the Power lineup, averaging .274 (26-for-95) with four homers and 15 RBI. Julio tallied his fourth multi-hit game of the season last night, plating a run with an RBI double in the third before forcing in a run after he was plunked in the sixth.
ALL-STAR ARIAS: Arias recorded another stellar outing out of the Power bullpen, whittling his ERA down to a miniscule 1.36 mark this season. The righty has only allowed an earned run in four of his 28 appearances this year, and has struck out at least one batter in all but five of them. His 28 appearances are sixth-highest in the league, while his six saves are tied for fifth-most with Logan Browning (GVL), Austin Conway (KAN) and Ryan Walker (AUG).
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF QUALITY STARTS: Moyers, who gets the ball in the series finale today, turned in his seventh consecutive quality start for the Power last Tuesday against Hickory, as well as his ninth in his last 10 outings. With that quality outing, Moyers posted his 12th quality start of the year, the most among West Virginia's pitching staff. The only other Power pitcher in team history (2005-present) to have 12 quality starts in a season is Dario Agrazal, who accomplished the feat in 2016. In his last seven starts, the left-hander has given up 10 earned runs over 48.0 innings of work, good for a 1.88 ERA, the second-lowest ERA in the SAL during that stretch (May 28-current), along with 46 strikeouts. The University of Rhode Island product has hurled at least six innings in 13 of his 16 starts this season, and has only ceded more than three runs in four of them. Moyers leads the SAL in both innings (100.0) and strikeouts (105). The southpaw is the lone league hurler to surpass the century mark in innings and strikeouts this season. West Virginia has not had a pitcher with at least 100 innings pitched and 100 strikeouts since 2017, when both Luis Escobar and Eduardo Vera crossed those thresholds, with Escobar posting a Power single-season record 168 punchouts over 131.2 frames. Vera locked up 109 hitters through 132.1 innings of work.
POWER POINTS: Ryan Ramiz's 46 walks are tied with Mason Martin for fourth-best in the SAL... West Virginia went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, stranding 14 men on base, tied for the most this year (April 6 at GRV).
South Atlantic League Stories from July 7, 2019
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- Apostel and Gonzalez Homer in Victory over Columbia - Hickory Crawdads
- Suns Take Finale in Comeback Fashion - Hagerstown Suns
- Bill on Baseball: Mason Martin Moves up to Bradenton - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- Bill on Baseball: Sweep Makes Fireworks More Dazzling - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- Gil Falters Late, RiverDogs Settle for Split in Greenville - Charleston RiverDogs
- Legends Walk It off in Extras over Power - Lexington Legends
- Four-Run Sixth Inning Leads Drive Past RiverDogs, 5-2 - Greenville Drive
- Power Erases Four-Run Deficit But Falls in Extras - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Rome Takes Finale 4-1 behind Mejia, Earning Series Split - Rome Emperors
- Timely Braves Hitting Leaves Tourists on the Short Side - Asheville Tourists
- Fireflies Roster Move and Game Notes: July 7 at Hickory (Game 84) - Columbia Fireflies
- Hagerstown Suns: Game Notes - Hagerstown Suns
- Game Notes (July 7) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Rasquin Ropes Three Hits, Fireflies Fall in Ninth - Columbia Fireflies
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