SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power Game Notes

Published on June 8, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia Power (19-41) at Asheville Tourists (41-19)

Game 61 | June 8, 2012 | McCormick Field | Asheville, NC

Radio: ESPN Radio 104.5 FM & 1490 and wvpower.com Air Time- 6:45 pm

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

LH Zack Dodson (1-4, 5.36) vs. RH Ben Alsup (7-1, 4.57)

Dodson: Allowed 4 R on 7 H with 2 K and 3 BB over 5.0 IP in 6/02 ND @ HIC (6-5 Crawdads)

Alsup: Allowed 3 R on 8 H with 3 K and 2 BB over 7.0 IP in 5/31 Win vs. AUG (11-3 Tourists)

POWER REPLAY: West Virginia lost the series finale against Delmarva on Wednesday evening. The Shorebirds hit two solo home runs in the fourth inning off Nick Kingham and scored fort in the third straight game of the series. Trailing 3-0 in the home half of the seventh, West Virginia cut the deficit down to one on four hits, including run scoring singles by Elias Diaz and Gregory Polanco. Delmarva added an insurance run in the eighth and held on for the win.

HIT ME: Gregory Polanco went 1-3 on Wednesday and extended his current hitting streak to nine straight. The outfielder is batting .471 over his last nine with 16 hits over 34 at bats and has matched Dan Gamache for the third longest hitting streak by a Power player this season. Only Alen Hanson's 16-game streak in April and Polanco's own 11-game streak in May have lasted longer.

NINE DOWN & THREE TO GO: West Virginia and Asheville begin their final series this season tonight at McCormick Field. Asheville has won six of nine games so far and holds a 35-26 mark against the Power all-time. West Virginia is 13-15 at McCormick Field since 2005.

DEEP AND GONE: Willy Garcia's fourth inning home run Tuesday was his first since May 5 at Greensboro. Garcia had gone 23 games between home runs and 86 at bats between long balls. The outfielder now has seven this season after having hit a total of six during the first two years of his career.

KING OF SWING: Gregory Polanco leads the Power with nine home runs after Tuesday's game against Delmarva. The club leaders for the entire 2011 season, Matt Curry and Rogelio Noris, each hit nine as well. Curry launched nine over 46 games, while Noris needed 62 games to reach that total (0 home runs over the final 29 games in Noris's 2011 campaign). Polanco is now four long balls away from matching Caleb Gindl and Zealous Wheeler with 13, tenth most in any single season by a Power player.

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR? West Virginia's "Redneck Night" on May 26 was named as the best promotion during the month of May in all of Minor League Baseball and the team will now have the chance to win the "Golden Bobblehead" Award at the end of the season.

THREE STARS HEADED TO ASG: The South Atlantic League announced the 2012 All-Star Game rosters on Tuesday and three Power players were selected, including two starters. Alen Hanson will start at second base despite the fact that he has not played there once this season, while Gregory Polanco was selected to start in right field. Like Hanson, Polanco has not played the position he is starting in at all this season. Matt Benedict was chosen as one of the11 pitchers to represent the Northern Division team in the game to be played at Joseph P. Riley Jr. park in Charleston, SC, on July 19.

PROMO UPDATE- JUNE 15: West Virginia will hold Pink Power Night on June 15 against the Hagerstown Suns. The team will don pink jerseys that will be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting the Komen for the Cure Foundation.

POWER POINTS: 2012 marks the fourth straight year as a Pirates affiliate that West Virginia has sent multiple players to the SAL All-Star Game... Carlos Mesa has started eight games this season as the designated hitter and is batting .032. Mesa has one hit in 31 at bats this season as West Virginia's DH and the team has gone 2-6 in those starts.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 5-4 in 10 innings. The Buccos took two of three from the Reds for the second straight week and moved within two games of first place heading in to interleague play tonight... Indianapolis dropped a 5-3 final at Pawtucket... Altoona scored six in the eighth in a 7-1 win at Reading... Bradenton was rained out and will play two tonight at Daytona.

ON THE AIR: All 140 West Virginia Power games can be heard on ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, WV, across the state on the Power Radio Network, and online at milb.com. Adam Marco will call the action for each of the 70 home games this season, while the home team will provide coverage while the Power are on the road.

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