SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (April 17)

Published on April 17, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia puts its three-game winning streak on the line tonight in the middle game of a three-game series against the Charleston RiverDogs, with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. RHP Sergio Cubilete (0-1, 11.57 ERA) is on the bump.

------------------

OGLE, EARLY OFFENSE HEADLINE 5-1 WIN: Braeden Ogle was superb in his second start of the year for West Virginia, spinning six quality innings and allowing just one run on six hits while striking out four over 74 pitches (55 strikes) to earn his first victory at the Low-A level. Ogle mystified the RiverDogs' bats until the fifth inning, when the first two runners reached base safely but shot themselves in the foot thanks to a baserunning blunder by Leonardo Molina, who was caught too far off second base on a smoked line drive by Jason Lopez, giving Chris Sharpe plenty of time to nab Molina for the twin killing. The Palm City, Fla., native gave up his only run in the sixth, but it came with another RiverDogs' miscue as Steven Sensley tried to stretch his RBI double into a triple, but was gunned down by Deon Stafford. The Power posted three runs in the second thanks to a Lolo Sanchez two-run double and a bloop base hit to right-center from Sharpe, while tacking on two more runs in the fourth on a Calvin Mitchell RBI single and Rodolfo Castro's sacrifice fly. Jacob Taylor slammed the door on the 'Dogs over the final three innings, setting down all nine men he faced to collect his first career save in the Minor Leagues and give West Virginia a 5-1 win.

BOLSTERED BULLPEN BUOYS WINNING STREAK: Taylor's dominant performance on Monday continued a recent string of success for West Virginia's relief corps, as the 22-year-old did not allow a single baserunner to reach in his three innings of work. The Slidell, La., native also locked down his first professional save in his sixth career relief appearance after being used mostly as a starter from 2015 to 2017. Over the last five games dating back to the series finale against Lakewood on Wednesday, Power relievers have tossed 22.1 innings and surrendered just seven earned runs while racking up 24 strikeouts, good for a 2.82 ERA in that span. This quintuplet of performances has brought the bullpen's season ERA down to 4.20 from 5.56, a different of 1.36. Power relievers have held the first batters they have faced in an appearance to a 3-for-20 (.150) clip thus far, with five strikeouts.

BUSTLING (DYLAN) BUSBY: Dylan Busby has reached base safely in his last nine games, dating back to April 6 against Greenville. Across the 10 games Busby has taken the field for in 2018, the Power infielder has hit safely in seven of them, including a pair of multi-hit efforts, tied for third-best on the team. Busby is boasting a 9-for-30 (.300) stroke during his nine-game on-base streak, including two doubles, three RBI and nine walks along with a .755 season OPS.

ROAD WARRIORS: Just as they did in 2017, West Virginia earned its first road win of the season in its second road game on Friday. Having now won three straight away from Appalachian Power Park, the Power are following in the footsteps of the 2017 team who, after their first road victory, put together a string of six consecutive road wins, taking three of four from Lexington and sweeping a three-game set at Hickory.

CHEERS, CHARLESTON: After taking two of three from Hickory, the Power have arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, for a three-game set against the RiverDogs to finish off their seven-game road swing. West Virginia and Charleston are slated to play 11 times in 2018, with the Power hosting a four-game series from August 18-21 before concluding their 2018 regular season play in South Carolina from August 31 to September 3rd.

THE PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Sergio Cubilete (0-1, 11.57 ERA) will toe the slab for West Virginia in game two of the Power's three game series in South Carolina. Cubilete lasted just 2.1 innings in his Low-A debut on April 10 against Lakewood, as the BlueClaws got to him for nine runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks en route to a 15-2 thumping. Charleston will counter with RHP Garrett Whitlock (0-1, 3.60 ERA). Whitlock took a tough-luck loss on April 10 at Rome, turning in a quality outing over six innings, allowing two runs and striking out a career-best seven.

POWER POINTS: Sanchez leads the SAL with five two-baggers following his two-double effort on Monday... Sharpe is 7-for-10 over his last three games, with his .700 average sitting atop the SAL in that stretch... Oneil Cruz is hitless in his last nine at-bats after he clubbed a pair of home runs on 4/13 at Hickory... The Power went 5-for-15 (.333) with runners in scoring position on Monday, putting their road trip RISP AVG at .340 in the process, although they did leave a season-high 12 men on the basepaths... West Virginia DHs are now 3-for-36 (.083) through 11 games following Kyle Watson's 0-for-4 effort on Monday... For the first time in 2018, the Power won a game in which they did not hit a home run (1-4)... West Virginia's defense was error-free for the second time this season.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on The Jock 1300 & 1340 AM in the Kanawha Valley, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. David Kahn and John Kocsis will handle play-by-play duties in 2018.

Check out the Charleston Dirty Birds Statistics

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



South Atlantic League Stories from April 17, 2018


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