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Charleston Dirty Birds

Game Notes (May 23)

May 23, 2019 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The Power continues their four-game series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers this evening at Appalachian Power Park, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. RHP Deivy Florido (2-0, 0.79 ERA) is on the hill for West Virginia.

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POWER DRUBBED 17-7 BY GREENSBORO: Jarred Kelenic cranked his second home run in as many days, but West Virginia fell behind early and could never recover, as the Greensboro Grasshoppers walloped the Power, 17-7, Wednesday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Greensboro plated six runs in the first on six hits, but West Virginia clawed back, notching a single tally in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth frames, to close the gap to 8-4. However, the Grasshoppers went to work with their bats again over the final two innings, scoring two more in the eighth and dropping a seven-spot in the ninth to put the game well out of reach. The Power roared back with three runs in their final offensive frame thanks to a two-run triple from Johnny Slater and a wild pitch from Cam Alldred, but the former West Virginia reliever ultimately settled down and picked up his first save of the season.

HOMER HAPPY AT HOME: With Kelenic's homer last night, West Virginia now has 24 homers in 22 home games this season, third-most in the South Atlantic League behind Greensboro (30) and the Hickory Crawdads (29). The Power's 38 overall dingers are also third-most in the league behind the same two teams. Six of Kelenic's nine long balls this season have come in Charleston, W.Va., contributing to the outfielder's .392 clip at home vs. a .227 road mark.

KELENIC IS KELE-CLICKING AGAIN: Following a 10-game stretch where the Mariners' number-two prospect boasted just a .167 average and drove in two runs while seeing his average dip below .300, Kelenic has found his groove once again at home. In the first two games of this series with Greensboro, the outfielder is 3-for-6 with two homers, a triple, two RBI and four runs scored. Kelenic recorded his team-best 15th multi-hit game last night as well. Kelenic has now homered on back-to-back days for the second time this season (April 26 and 27 vs. Asheville).

ALMIGHTY ANCHIA: Jake Anchia has been on quite the tear recently, averaging .350 (14-for-40) in his last 11 games with five homers and 14 RBI. The backstop has reached base safely in 10 of those 11 games, dating back to May 8, during which he has raised his average from .200 to .234, an increase of 34 points. Anchia has the second-most homers on the team with seven (Kelenic, nine), as well as tied for the fifth-most in the South Atlantic League.

TAGGING @CUT4 ON TWITTER: Dean Nevarez became the second straight position player to pitch for West Virginia Wednesday night, following Nick Rodriguez, who cemented himself into the Power record books Tuesday evening, tossing a scoreless ninth inning in his first appearance on the mound since high school at John F. Kennedy High School in California. Rodriguez then became the first pitcher in South Atlantic League history (dating back to 2005 when these records began being tracked) to homer in a game when he smacked his first long ball of the season in the bottom of the ninth 403 feet over the left-field wall.

THE SCRIPT HAS BEEN FLIPPED: After posting the second-lowest ERA (2.59) in the league in April, West Virginia's pitching staff has been battered around to the tune of a 5.29 mark in May, the highest ERA in the South Atlantic League in that span. The Power's starting rotation has taken the brunt of this avalanche, with their ERA ballooning from 2.63 to 4.47 in the season's second month, an increase of 184 points.

BIG INNING BITES: Greensboro's six-run first and seven-run ninth innings notched the seventh and eighth big innings against the Power this season (Lexington, five-run third April 8 at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, Lakewood, five-run fifth May 2 at FirstEnergy Park, Greensboro, five-run third May 4 and five-run second May 5 at First National Bank Field, Augusta, five-run fourth May 8 at Appalachian Power Park and Greenville, five-run second May 19 at Fluor Field at the West End). Greensboro's seven-run frame is the most runs West Virginia has allowed in a single inning this season, while the six hits the Grasshoppers collected in the first is tied for the most this year (second inning, May 19 at Greenville). The Power had not surrendered seven runs in a single inning since July 25, 2018, in a doubleheader (G2) at Kannapolis.

ON THE WRONG END OF THINGS: West Virginia ceded a season-high 17 runs and 16 hits in last night's loss to Greensboro, their fifth straight at home (May 11-present). The Power has not allowed more than 16 hits in a game since August 26, 2017, against Hagerstown, while a team has not put up 17 or more runs against West Virginia since August 26, 2010, when Augusta lambasted the Power, 18-1, at Lake Olmstead Stadium.

POWER POINTS: West Virginia's 10-run margin of defeat tied its largest loss of the year (May 2 at Lakewood)... The Power gave up double-digit runs for the fourth time in 2019... Kelenic notched his second three-bagger of the season.

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