Game Notes (June 28)
June 28, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power continues their four-game series against the Kannapolis Intimidators Friday evening at Appalachian Power Park, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. RHP Deivy Florido (2-3, 4.89 ERA) takes the hill for West Virginia, while Kannapolis opposes with RHP Johan Dominguez (3-3, 2.05 ERA).
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ANCHIA STUNS KANNAPOLIS IN TENTH: Jake Anchia smashed a walk-off three-run homer 394 feet to left field in the bottom of the tenth inning off Lane Ramsey to vault West Virginia to a 4-3, come-from-behind victory over the Kannapolis Intimidators Thursday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Steven Moyers spun a scoreless first, but ran into trouble in the second, allowing four base hits and a run as the Intimidators took a 1-0 lead. Moyers settled down after that, firing six strong innings and scattering six hits while striking out seven men. Meanwhile, Jason Bilous no-hit West Virginia through six, but Bobby Honeyman broke up the bid in the seventh with a one-out flared single to left against Wilber Perez. Sal Biasi fired two scoreless innings and Bryan Pall hurled a shutdown ninth before Honeyman came through again in the bottom of the frame against Ramsey. J.R. Davis singled and moved to second on a throwing error by Johan Cruz to start the inning and Charlie McConnell pushed him to third with a sacrifice bunt before Honeyman drove him in with a base hit to left that tied the game at one. In the tenth, the Intimidators managed two runs (one earned) against Pall, but the Power fought back in the home half. Ramsey walked Onil Pena on four straight pitches before Anchia stepped to the dish and crushed an 0-2 slider over the wall to end the ballgame.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH: Anchia blasted his 11th home run of the season in Thursday's 4-3 win over Kannapolis, as well as his third consecutive home run in the eighth inning or later (June 10 vs. Delmarva, grand slam in the eighth and June 24 at Greensboro, two-run homer in the ninth). The Nova Southeastern product is tied with Jarred Kelenic for the team lead in homers among all Power batters this season, as well as tied for eighth-most in the South Atlantic League. Anchia and Kelenic are two of the three West Virginia sluggers with double-digit homers this season, along with Pena (10). The Power backstop is currently riding a six-game hitting streak, dating back to the start of the second half (June 20), during which he is averaging .292 (7-for-24) with two homers and seven RBI. Anchia also posted his ninth multi-RBI game of the season, and fourth with three or more runs batted in.
REASONS TO FLIP BATS: With Anchia's walk-off bomb Thursday, West Virginia now has five walk-off wins in 2019, including two walk-off homers (Dean Nevarez, April 26 vs. Asheville). The Power has won 10 games in their last at-bat this season (10-8).
THE LONG BALL: With Anchia's homer Thursday, the Power has hit 66 home runs as a team, third-most in the league (Greensboro, 77 and Hickory, 85). Conversely, the pitching staff is tied with Asheville in giving up the second-most homers in the South Atlantic League (62). Greensboro leads the way with 66 jacks surrendered. West Virginia has cranked 36 of its 66 long balls at Appalachian Power Park this season, the fourth-highest home total in the league.
WHAT A QUALITY GUY: Moyers turned in his sixth consecutive quality start for the Power Thursday evening against Kannapolis, as well as his eighth in his last nine outings. With that quality outing, Moyers posted his 11th quality start of the year, the most among West Virginia's pitching staff. The last Power pitcher to have more than 11 quality starts in a season was Dario Agrazal, who notched 12 in 2016, the most by any West Virginia hurler in team history (2005-present). In his last six starts, the left-hander has given up 10 earned runs over 39.2 innings of work, good for a 2.27 ERA, with 36 strikeouts. The University of Rhode Island product has hurled at least six innings in 12 of his 15 starts this season, and has only ceded more than three runs in four of them. Moyers leads the South Atlantic League in innings pitched (91.2) and strikeouts (95).
STREAK SNAPPED: Prior to West Virginia's win last night, the Intimidators had taken 10 straight from the Power, including back-to-back sweeps July 25-26, 2018, in Kannapolis and May 11-13 in Charleston. West Virginia has not claimed a season series against Kannapolis since 2016, when the Power went 5-2 against their Northern Division foe.
BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: With their 4-3 win Thursday over Kannapolis, West Virginia snagged its 18th one-run victory of the season, improving their overall record in one-run contests to 18-9. The Power's .667 winning percentage is second-best in the South Atlantic League, only behind Delmarva (.692), while their 27 one-run games played are fifth-most on the circuit (Lakewood, 35).
POWER POINTS: Pall earned his first career Minor League win after punching out four batters over two innings of work... Moyers has struck out at least six batters in each of his last four starts... Honeyman recorded his 15th multi-hit game of the season with his 2-for-3 night Thursday, third-most on the team behind Joseph Rosa (16) and Kelenic (17).
South Atlantic League Stories from June 28, 2019
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- Late Rally Lifts Dogs over Tourists in Historic Rout - Charleston RiverDogs
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- Fireflies Toss Near No-No against Hickory - Columbia Fireflies
- Rome Edges Greenville, 4-3, Again - Greenville Drive
- Bats and Bullpen Lead Kannapolis to 7-4 Victory - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Rodriguez Homers as Power Falls to Kannapolis - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Lexington Clings to 1-0 Victory over Jackets - Augusta GreenJackets
- Hoppers Score Four in Ninth to Top Claws 5-2 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Fireflies Game Notes: June 28 vs. Hickory (Game 75) - Columbia Fireflies
- Grayson Rodriguez Headed to Futures Game - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Game Notes (June 28) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Hagerstown Suns Game Notes - Hagerstown Suns
- Wilson to Sign Autographs Saturday on Wheelers Weekend - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Braves Open Road Trip with 4-3 Win over Drive - Rome Emperors
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