SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power Game Notes

Published on August 22, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Charleston RiverDogs (24-33, 63-61) at West Virginia Power (32-26, 55-73)

Game 129 | August 22, 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 Bryan Mitchell (7-11, 5.07) vs. LH Zac Fuesser (3-6, 4.02)

Mitchell: Allowed 3 R on 3 H with 2 K and 1 BB over 1.0 IP in 8/17 Loss vs. AUG (6-3 GreenJackets)

Fuesser: Allowed 4 R on 5 H over 4.1 IP with 5 K and 3 BB in 8/17 ND @ KAN (7-6 KAN in 10)

POWER REPLAY: West Virginia lost 5-4 to Charleston on Tuesday night. The RiverDogs scored four in the second off Robby Rowland on a solo home run by Saxon Butler and a three-run shot from Cody Grice. Charleston led 5-0 heading into the home half of the eighth when Eric Avila hit a grand slam to put the Power behind by one. Nick Goody entered the game and struck out the final four batters. Rowland took the loss despite striking out a season-high eight batters over six innings. Fred Lewis earned the win with an inning and a third of shutout relief.

AIN'T THAT GRAND: Tuesday night's eighth inning grand slam by Eric Avila was the first by a West Virginia hitter this season. The Power were one of three clubs (Rome and Savannah) that had not hit a grand slam this season. In fact, West Virginia went over two years without a grand slam. Jarek Cunningham's based loaded blast on June 10, 2010 at Asheville was the last one prior to last night.

WELCOME TO WV: Pittsburgh made a series of roster moves that affected the Power today. The Pirates promoted reliever Emmanuel De Leon to the Bradenton Marauders roster and placed outfielder Junior Sosa on the Disabled List. To replace De Leon in the bullpen, Pat Ludwig was promoted from State College. Ludwig was taken out of Yale with the Pirates 10th round selection in the 2012 Draft. Pittsburgh also promoted Alex Fuselier from the Spikes to the Power. The outfielder was selected in the 21st round of the 2011 First Year Player Draft from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

FOUR GONE CONCLUSION: Eric Avila has been named as the South Atlantic League's Player of the Week for August 13-19. The Power infielder hit .423 over seven games with nine runs batted in and hit home runs in four consecutive games while the club played in Kannapolis last week. Avila is the first West Virginia player to be honored by the league this season. Avila is the second player in Power franchise history to hit one out in four consecutive games, matching Caleb Gindl's feat from August of the 2008 season.

A BAKER'S DOZEN: Jose Osuna's hitting streak has reached 13 straight with an eighth innings single last night. The Power first baseman is batting .291 over his last 13 games with two home runs and seven runs batted in.

BRING ON THE BABY BOMBERS: The RiverDogs own a 24-21 edge in the all-time series dating and have won eight of 10 this year against the Power. West Virginia still a winning record at home, having gone 11-9 at Appalachian Power Park since 2005. The Power and RiverDogs will meet tonight and three times next week in Charleston, SC.

1.5 BEHIND: Hagerstown walked off with a 7-6 win over Kannapolis and pushed both West Virginia and Hickory a game and a half back in the SAL Northern Division. Entering the day, each club has 12 games remaining this season.

POWER POINTS: Kyle McPherson was recalled by Pittsburgh on Monday and made his MLB debut against the Padres that night. He is the 28th player to wear a Power jersey to reach the big leagues since 2005... Eric Avila's current hitting streak has reached 10 games and is his longest ever while wearing a Power jersey. The third baseman is hitting .395 with six home runs and 16 batted in during his streak...Last night, Robby Rowland matched Zac Fuesser and Zack Dodson's team-best eight strikeout efforts. Fuesser has struck out eight in a game twice (4/25 & 7/22) while Dodson did it once (4/20).

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh lost 7-5 in 10 innings at San Diego... Indianapolis edged Syracuse 2-1... Altoona beat Trenton 5-0. Jameson Taillon pitched five shutout innings in his Double-A debut... Bradenton scored twice in the first but lost 3-2 at Fort Myers... State College fell 3-1 at Auburn.

ON THE AIR: All 140 West Virginia Power games can be heard on ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, WV 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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