Game Notes (June 12)
June 12, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power concludes their first half home schedule by going for the series sweep in the finale of their three-game set with the Delmarva Shorebirds Wednesday evening at Appalachian Power Park. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. LHP Steven Moyers (5-4, 4.77 ERA) takes the hill.
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CASETTA-STUBBS DEALS IN FOUR-HIT SHUTOUT: Damon Casetta-Stubbs hurled a career-high six scoreless innings and combined with two Power relievers to hold the Delmarva Shorebirds to four hits in a 1-0 Power win Tuesday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Casetta-Stubbs worked through the first three frames without any major issues, scattering three hits and stranding four men on base. In the bottom half of the stanza, West Virginia struck against Drew Rom, with Charlie McConnell igniting the run-scoring frame as he reached on a fielding error by Alexis Torres. Rom then issued back-to-back walks to J.R. Davis and Utah Jones before Julio Rodriguez grounded into a fielder's choice that brought in McConnell for the only run of the contest. Casetta-Stubbs continued his gem through the sixth, setting down the last 10 men he faced and punching out a career-best seven batters while only issuing one walk in the best start of his young career. Benjamin Onyshko took over in the seventh and had a rocky start, tossing eight straight balls before issuing a strike. He battled back to wiggle out of a one-out, runners at first and third jam to end the inning after retiring Ben Breazeale and Torres. The Stetson product followed that up with a 1-2-3 eighth inning before handing it over to Bryan Pall, who struck out two in a scoreless ninth after ceding a leadoff single to pick up his third save of the year.
STUMBLING STUBBS NO MORE: After dropping his last five decisions, Casetta-Stubbs turned in the best start of his Minor League career Tuesday evening against the Delmarva Shorebirds. The Vancouver, Wash., native had never thrown more than five innings in a start previously (five times this season). Prior to his brilliant outing last night, the right-hander held an 0-5 record and an 11.12 ERA over his last seven starts, dating back to May 5.
BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: With their 1-0 win yesterday over Delmarva, the Power snagged their 12th one-run victory of the season, improving their overall record in one-run contests to 12-8. West Virginia's .600 winning percentage is second-best in the league, only behind Delmarva (.727), while their 20 one-run games played is 10th-most in the SAL (Hagerstown, 29). The Power has won back-to-back 1-0 decisions this season (April 4 at Greenville). West Virginia has not claimed more than two 1-0 games in the same season since 2011, when they won four of those decisions.
HANGING ZEROES: The Power posted their sixth shutout victory of the season Tuesday night, and their first since a 2-0 blanking of the Lakewood BlueClaws April 30 in New Jersey. Casetta-Stubbs made his second start with West Virginia in that outing, firing five scoreless innings before Sal Biasi, Dayeison Arias and Nolan Hoffman took care of the final four frames. The Power's six shutouts are third-most in the SAL, trailing Greensboro (7) and Delmarva (8).
BREAK OUT THE BROOMS: With a win in Wednesday's homestand finale, West Virginia would claim its third series sweep of the season, with all three coming at home (April 15-17 vs. Lakewood and April 22-24 vs. Columbia). In their two previous broomings, the Power has outscored their opponents by 13 runs each time; however, the run differential over the first two games of their series with the Shorebirds is a razor thin +2. West Virginia last broomed Delmarva in 2017, when the Power claimed all four games from August 3-6 at Appalachian Power Park.
A QUALITY GUY: Wednesday starter Steven Moyers turned in his third consecutive quality start for the Power last time out against Greenville, as well as his fifth in his last six outings. With that quality outing, Moyers surpassed Clay Chandler for the most quality starts among the Power's pitching staff with eight. In his last three starts, the left-hander has given up seven earned runs over 20.2 innings of work, good for a 3.05 ERA, with 14 strikeouts.
MORE ROSTER TURNOVER: Following their four transactions Monday, West Virginia's roster experienced more changes Tuesday prior to their middle match with Delmarva:
+ INF/OF J.R. Davis activated from the injured list and placed on the Power's active roster
- C Dean Nevarez transferred to Short-Season Everett from West Virginia
POWER POINTS: The Power did not commit an error for the 24th time this year, and notched their fifth straight game without a miscue (45 consecutive innings)... With Greensboro's loss last night, the Delmarva Shorebirds clinched the first half Northern Division title, putting themselves back in the SAL playoffs for the first time since 2005... West Virginia went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position, stranding six men on base... Julio Rodriguez is 1-for-6 with a double and an RBI since returning from the injured list Monday... Davis is currently riding a six-game hitting streak (dating back to June 1 before his injury), during which he is boasting a .421 (8-for-19) clip with a home run and two RBI.
South Atlantic League Stories from June 12, 2019
- Power Blank 'Birds Again for Sweep - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Fireflies Battle into Extra Innings on Wednesday Night - Columbia Fireflies
- Suns Fall to Lakewood in Series Final - Hagerstown Suns
- Bats Break Through, Claws Roll in Series Finale - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Watson, Bosiokovic Help Pitch Tourists to Extra-Inning Win - Asheville Tourists
- Moyers Dominates as Power Sweeps Delmarva - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Drive Top Kannapolis, 3-1, in First Half Home Finale - Greenville Drive
- Fireflies Game Notes: June 12 vs. Asheville (Game 62) - Columbia Fireflies
- Rome Edges RiverDogs to Send Division Race Down to Final Weekend - Charleston RiverDogs
- Legends Fall in Pitching Duel to GreenJackets - Lexington Legends
- Jackets Sweep Lexington as Rivera Continues to Dominate - Augusta GreenJackets
- Hagerstown Suns Game Notes - Hagerstown Suns
- Game Notes (June 12) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Fireflies to Host Independence Week Celebration on July 3, Presented by Encompass Health - Columbia Fireflies
- Rodriguez Added to SAL All-Star Team - Hickory Crawdads
- First-Place RiverDogs Return to Close out First Half in Style - Charleston RiverDogs
- Columbia's Bats Catch Fire in Asheville Rout - Columbia Fireflies
- Charleston Evens Series with 3-2 Win against Rome - Rome Emperors
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