Game Notes (June 3)
June 3, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power begins a three-game series with the Hickory Crawdads Monday evening at L.P. Frans Stadium, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. RHP Deivy Florido (2-1, 3.26 ERA) toes the slab for West Virginia.
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POWER HANGS ON FOR 5-4 WIN IN FINALE: Steven Moyers hurled a career-best 7.2 innings, while West Virginia held off a furious Asheville rally to claim a 5-4 victory over the Tourists in the series finale Sunday afternoon at McCormick Field. Moyers had a rough start to his outing, allowing a run in each of his first two innings, but the southpaw settled down, at one point retiring 12 in a row from the second to the sixth inning. Meanwhile, the Power's offense went to work in the fifth against Ryan Feltner, as Ryan Ramiz chopped an infield single off the glove of Feltner to start the rally. J.R. Davis followed with a wall-scraping double to put runners at second and third, while Keegan McGovern worked a walk to load the bases with one out. Bobby Honeyman stepped up and sizzled a ground ball past the first basemen to tie the game at two. Onil Pena then pushed West Virginia in front with a sacrifice fly to right to make it 3-2 Power. Charlie McConnell and Pena tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh, with McConnell doubling in Ramiz on a ball that just missed leaving the yard and Pena stroking a single to left. Asheville fought back in the eighth, as Coco Montes launched a leadoff homer and Will Golsan capitalized on a Honeyman fielding error to close the lead to one. However, David Ellingson shut the door over the final 1.1 innings, retiring Daniel Montano to end the eighth and striking out the first two batters in the ninth before getting Terrin Vavra to ground out to end it.
SWEET AS HONEY: Honeyman is the hottest hitter on the Power currently, hitting safely in 17 of his last 19 games (May 13-present). He is averaging .315 (23-for-73) with 10 RBI and 12 runs in that span. Honeyman is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak as well, going back to May 24, tied for his longest streak of the season (May 13-20).
MOYERS SHINES IN CAREER OUTING: Moyers ceded three earned runs on seven hits over his career-high 7.2 innings with three strikeouts Sunday afternoon. The southpaw worked his second start of seven innings or more this season, tossing the longest outing by a Power pitcher in 2019. No West Virginia hurler has gone longer than 7.2 innings since Gavin Wallace spun eight frames against Lexington June 7, 2018, at Appalachian Power Park. Moyers now has seven quality starts this year, the most on the team, including ones in his last two appearances (May 28 vs. Lexington).
SAVE ME: Ellingson collected his second save of the season with his 1.1 innings of hitless work Sunday afternoon. The Georgetown product now has the last two saves for the Power, who had not registered a save since May 10 vs. Augusta. Ellingson recorded his 10th career save in 15 opportunities over 62 total Minor League appearances.
WE'RE ON TO THE SECOND HALF: The South Atlantic League's Northern Division is a three-horse race after the Power was officially eliminated from playoff contention Saturday night in Asheville. West Virginia has not made the playoffs since 2015, when they posted a league-best 87-52 record and won the second-half title with a 50-20 mark.
DIVISIONAL STRETCH TO FINISH: Despite not being in the playoff hunt, the Power has the chance to play spoiler for two teams still fighting for the first half Northern Division playoff spot. West Virginia closes out the first half playing 10 of their final 14 games against Northern Division foes, with all of those contests coming against teams the Power has not faced yet this season (Hagerstown, Hickory and Delmarva).
A MONTH TO FORGET: West Virginia was happy to see the month of May come to a close, as the team posted a 10-20 record this past month, the most losses of any team in the SAL. The Power also recorded a .224 average, the fourth-worst mark in the league, and a 5.44 ERA, the highest ERA of all Sally League staffs. West Virginia had not dropped 20 games in a single month since May 2012, when they put up an identical 10-20 record, while the pitching staff has not held a higher monthly ERA since April 2012, as the arms slotted in a 5.80 earned run average over 24 games.
DOMINANT DAYEISON: Dayeison Arias shut down the last major Tourists rally in the seventh Thursday night, entering with runners at the corners and two down with Asheville's hottest hitter in Vavra at the dish. The reliever induced a groundout and cruised through the other three batters he faced in the eighth. Arias has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 appearances (April 25-present), during which he has thrown 17 innings, ceded just six hits and struck out 21 batters compared to four walks. Only one other pitcher in the SAL has a spotless ERA with at least that many innings under their belt in this span, Kannapolis starter Johan Dominguez (21 innings, six games, four starts).
POWER POINTS: Pena posted his first three-hit game since April 16 Sunday afternoon. The first baseman has 10 multi-hit games in 2019, tied with McConnell for third-most on the team... West Virginia went 3-for-14 with RISP Sunday.
South Atlantic League Stories from June 3, 2019
- Bats Can't String Together Runs in Extra Innings Loss - Hagerstown Suns
- Stobbe Delivers BlueClaws 10-Inning Win - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- 'Birds Continue K-Town Beatdown - Delmarva Shorebirds
- RiverDogs Ride the Longball to Game One Win in Greensboro - Charleston RiverDogs
- Lexington Tops Greenville, 7-2, on Monday - Greenville Drive
- Woods-Richardson Hurls Five No-Hit Innings, Columbia Takes Opener - Columbia Fireflies
- Six Run Inning Fuels 'Dads Victory over Power - Hickory Crawdads
- Anchia Homers, De Los Santos Dazzles in 7-2 Loss - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Fireflies Game Notes: June 3 vs. Rome (Game 57) - Columbia Fireflies
- Fleet Feet to Celebrate Global Running Day with Nationwide 5K - Augusta GreenJackets
- Hagerstown Suns Game Notes - Hagerstown Suns
- Bill on Baseball: Ogle's New Role Clinches Hoppers' Win - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- Crawdads Name Douglas Locascio New General Manager - Hickory Crawdads
- Game Notes (June 3) - Charleston Dirty Birds
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