SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power Game Notes

Published on August 6, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Lakewood BlueClaws (22-22, 48-65) at West Virginia Power (25-19, 48-66)

Game 115 | August 6, 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

LH Lino Martinez (5-5, 5.79) vs. LH Mike Jefferson (4-7, 5.08)

Martinez: Allowed 3 R on 8 H with 6 K and 1 BB over 6.0 IP in 8/01 ND @ DEL (6-5 Shorebirds)

Jefferson: Surrendered 6 R on 8 H over 5.0 IP with 4 K and 1 BB in 8/01 Loss vs. HAG (12-7 Suns)

POWER REPLAY: West Virginia won its' third straight with an 8-4 victory over Lakewood. The Power scored twice in the second on a doubled and a passed ball and added two on a home run by Willy Garcia in the fourth. Robby Rowland shut down the BlueClaws bats over the first six innings before allowing back-to-back home runs in the top of the seventh. West Virginia added four runs in the eighth before Lakewood plated two in the ninth. Rowland earned his seventh win, Robbie Kilcrease notched his seventh hold, and Nathan Kilcrease worked the final inning and two-thirds for his tenth save. Four Power players had four hits each in the win.

SCORING DIFFERENTIAL: West Virginia has scored 564 runs this season and has allowed 631. During the first half of the season, the Power scored 316 over seventy games for an average of 4.5 runs per game and allowed 442 for an average of 6.3 runs allowed per game. In 44 second half games, the team has scored 248 run (5.6 runs per game) and has allowed 189 (4.3 runs allowed per game).

#WINNING: Sunday's West Virginia win coupled with a loss by Hagerstown to Lexington pushed the Power back into sole possession of first place in the South Atlantic League's Northern Division. West Virginia has been alone in first place for only two days this year: Wednesday prior to a 12-7 loss to the Suns and today prior to a 7:05 start against Lakewood.

NEARLY BACK-TO-BACK: West Virginia came within two outs of back-to-back shutouts. Friday night, West Virginia pitchers combined to work their fourth shutout this season. On Saturday, the BlueClaws broke up the shutout in the ninth and snapped a 17 and a third scoreless innings drought. The Power have not recorded two straight shutouts since May 24 and 25 of the 2010 season (3-0 and 5-0 wins at home against Lexington. Lakewood avoided being shutout in two straight and has not been held off the scoreboard in back-to-back games since August of the 2008 season.

HANSON'S BIG FLY: Alen Hanson's home run on Saturday was his first since July 5. The Power shortstop hit 15 home runs during his first 327 at bats of the season and went 93 at bats between his 15th and 16th home runs. Hanson's 2012 totals place him sixth all-time in Power history, one behind a three-way tie for fourth and eight behind matching Stephen Chapman's club record of 24 during the 2008 season.

BATTLE WITH THE BLUECLAWS: West Virginia and Lakewood play final game of this 19 game season series this afternoon. The Power have won 13 of 18 with the BlueClaws this year, but still trail the all-time series 57-54. West Virginia is 9-2 at Appalachian Power Park this season against Lakewood and 32-33 at home all-time in the set.

STREAKY STRONG: Francisco Diaz has hit safely in his last eight games and is hitting .591 during this hitting streak with 13 hits in his last 22 at bats. Gregory Polanco singled once on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to seven straight. The Power center fielder is batting .393 over his last seven games.

POWER POINTS: Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco rank first and second in the league with 134 and 133 hits apiece, respectively. No Power player has led the South Atlantic League in hits since Lorenzo Cain's 2006 club record 162... All four of West Virginia's combined shutouts have come during the second half of the season.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 6-2 on Sunday and start a four game series against Arizona at PNC Park tonight... Indianapolis beat Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre 7-2... Altoona lost 13-4 at New Britain... Bradenton edged Palm Beach 10-7. State College lost 10-9 to Aberdeen.

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.

Check out the Charleston Dirty Birds Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from August 6, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central