SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power Game Notes

Published on August 4, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Lakewood BlueClaws (22-20, 48-63) at West Virginia Power (23-19, 46-66)

Game 113 | August 4, 2012 | Appalachian Power Park | Charleston, WV

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

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

RH Colin Kleven (6-7, 4.40) vs. LH Porfirio Lopez (1-2, 8.31)

Kleven: Allowed 0 R on 2 H with 8 K and 0 BB over 8.0 IP in 7/30 Win @ DEL (4-0 BlueClaws)

Lopez: Allowed 0 R on 1 H over 2.0 relief IP with 4 K and 0 BB on 7/30 vs. HAG (14-2 Power)

POWER REPLAY: West Virginia beat the Lakewood BlueClaws 2-0 on Friday evening. West Virginia scored a run in the first on a single by Gregory Polanco that plated Alen Hanson and added an insurance run in the eighth on an error. Nick Kingham pitched the first six scoreless innings before Ryan Hafner, Robbie Kilcrease, and Nathan Kilcrase authored a shutout frame of their own. Kingham struck out five and picked up his fourth win of the season while Nathan Kilcrease earned his ninth save.

ZEROED IN: West Virginia pitchers combined to work their fourth shutout this season. All four have come during the second half of the season, though this was the first in front of the home fans. Power pitchers blanked Rome 9-0 in game two of a doubleheader on July 13, shut out Augusta 2-0 in game two of a twinbill on July 17, and held Lakewood scoreless in 6-0 win on July 27 at FirstEnergy Park.

BIG CROWD SEES BIG WIN: Friday's WVU Night drew the largest home crowd this season. The Power and BlueClaws played in front of 4,770, surpassing the previous home attendance high of 4,564 on July 4 (also against Lakewood).

STILL ONE GAME BACK: The Power enter play tonight alone in second place in the SAL Northern Division. Hagerstown won in walk-off fashion against Lexington on a grand slam by Matt Skole in a 6-3 victory. The Power are one game behind the Suns and one game ahead of the BlueClaws and Hickory Crawdads.

BATTLE WITH THE BLUECLAWS: West Virginia and Lakewood meet for the 17th time this season when they take the field tonight. The Power have won 11 of 16 with the BlueClaws this year, but still trail the all-time series 57-52. West Virginia is 7-2 at Appalachian Power Park this season against Lakewood and 30-33 at home all-time in the set.

ONE STILL GOING AND ONE STOPPED: Francisco Diaz rides a seven game hitting streak into heading into his next contest. Diaz is 11 for his last 19 and has driven in six during this streak, which is his longest of the season. Gregory Polanco singled once in four plate appearances last night to extend his hitting streak to five straight.

K IS FOR KINGHAM: Nick Kingham leads the team with 94 strikeouts over a team-high 100.2 innings pitched. Zack Von Rosenberg led the Power in 2011 with 114 over 125.2 innings, Kyle McPherson had 124 in 117.2 innings in 2010, and Gabriel Alvarado had 96 over 114.0 innings in 2009. Should Kingham stay in the rotation on schedule every fifth day, he is on pace to make five more starts. That puts the right-hander on pace surpass Von Rosenberg's strikeout total from last season by one.

PROMO CHECK- AUGUST 4: The first 1,000 fans through the gates at Appalachian Power Park will receive a Ryan Braun bobblehead courtesy of the National Guard.

POWER POINTS: Jose Osuna hit nine home runs in July and set a new franchise record... Gregory Polanco finished the month of July with a flourish, driving in four runs Tuesday to push his month-long total to 30 runs batted in and set a new club record... Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco rank first and second in the league with 133 and 131 hits apiece, respectively. No Power player has led the South Atlantic League in hits since Lorenzo Cain's 2006 club record 162.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh fell 3-0 at Cincinnati in game one of their NL Central showdown. The Reds are now up by 4.5 games in the division... Indianapolis blanked Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre 2-0... Altoona lost in walk-off fashion 5-4 at New Britain... Bradenton fell 7-6 to Palm Beach... State College shut out Hudson Valley 1-0 to snap a two game skid.

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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