Sports stats



SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (august 20)

August 20, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia continues its four-game series with the Charleston RiverDogs tonight, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. from Appalachian Power Park. RHP Max Kranick (3-5, 4.30 ERA) is on the bump for the Power.

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

WEST VIRGINIA BLANKS CHARLESTON SUNDAY: Travis MacGregor, Samuel Reyes and Elvis Escobar combined to hurl a 7-0 shutout against the Charleston RiverDogs Sunday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park. MacGregor spun the first two innings and did not allow a hit before ceding way to Reyes, who tossed a career-best five innings of relief while scattering five hits and striking out a pair. Escobar twirled the final two innings, giving up just two hits and fanning two batters. Offensively, West Virginia got on the board in the third inning when Lolo Sanchez reached on an infield single to the pitcher, Reiver Sanmartin. Sanmartin's throw to first ended up wide of the bag, allowing Robbie Glendinning to score the Power's first run. Connor Kaiser tacked on the second tally with a sacrifice fly two batters later. West Virginia added four more in the fourth as four consecutive Power batters reached safely, starting with a single from Dylan Busby. Raul Hernandez was then hit by a pitch before Glendinning singled to load the bases. After Rodolfo Castro pinch ran for Busby at third, Jesse Medrano ripped an RBI knock to left that scored Castro. Sanchez then lofted a sacrifice fly to left before Travis Swaggerty reached on a fielding error by Chris Hess that sent in Glendinning. Kaiser capped the scoring with a ground-rule double to right to make it 6-0 West Virginia. Castro finalized the Power's scoring efforts in the fifth with a solo shot to right-center field off Dalton Higgins.

HANGING ZEROS: The Power's pitching trio of MacGregor, Reyes and Escobar recorded West Virginia's ninth shutout win of the season Sunday, and the club's first since a 7-0 blanking of Asheville July 29, when Monday starter Max Kranick and Escobar accomplished the feat. The Power's nine shutout victories are tied with Greensboro and Kannapolis for sixth-most in the South Atlantic League, while their .600 winning percentage (9-6) is fourth-highest.

ROLLING REYES: Reyes worked a five-inning relief stint for the first time in his career Sunday afternoon. His previous career-best in innings pitched was four, which he notched twice last season with the GCL Pirates (8/1 and 8/12/17). The 22-year-old has not allowed a run over his last eight innings (two appearances), while ceding eight hits. Reyes snapped a streak of four straight outings where the Power had lost a game that he had pitched in.

EXCELLENT ESCOBAR: Escobar has made a very nice conversion from the outfield to the bullpen with West Virginia. He has not allowed a run in eight of his 13 appearances, and boasts a 2.35 ERA (6 ER/23 IP) overall. Over his last seven outings, the Venezuelan native has ceded just two runs on eight hits over 14 innings of work with 15 strikeouts compared to five walks, good for a 1.29 ERA. The Power has won the last six games Escobar has appeared in.

WELCOME BACK, BUSBY: Busby was activated off the disabled list Wednesday afternoon after completing a rehab assignment with the rookie-level Bristol Pirates. In his first four games back with West Virginia since May 20, he has gone 4-for-11 with two doubles, a triple, two RBI and a run scored, while holding down the hot corner and batting in the middle of the order. The Florida State product registered his first career triple in the fifth inning Thursday.

HOLY HOMERS: Castro's solo shot in the fifth inning upped the Power's season total to 78, eighth-most in the South Atlantic League (Asheville leads the pack with 139). Castro has now homered in consecutive games for the second time this season (4/29 at Lexington and 5/1 vs. Augusta), while West Virginia sluggers have done that on seven occasions.

HAMMERIN HERNANDEZ: Hernandez went 1-for-3 with a run scored Sunday, making his league-leading average in the month of August .458 over his 15 games played. During this 15-game stretch, the Power backstop has five RBI, five runs scored and five extra-base hits to go along with a 1.081 OPS. Hernandez made his first career start at first base Sunday.

PLAYOFF PUSH: With West Virginia's win yesterday and Kannapolis' loss in the completion of its suspended game, the Power shortened the I's lead to 2.5 games in the race for the South Atlantic League's Northern Division Wild Card spot. If West Virginia wins tonight and Kannapolis falls in both games, the first of which is scoreless in the third inning after being suspended Sunday, the Power would be just one game back. The Power has 14 games remaining in the 2018 season with one series left against an above-.500 team (Rome Braves, August 23-26 at State Mutual Stadium).

POWER POINTS: Six of West Virginia's final 14 games are against the Charleston RiverDogs (August 31-September 3 in S.C.)... The Power was 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position Sunday, stranding four men on base... Glendinning registered his sixth multi-hit game with West Virginia, while Medrano posted his fifth and Kaiser notched his second... The Power is 27-1 when their offense scores seven or more runs in a game... Hernandez committed his sixth error Sunday.

Check out the Charleston Dirty Birds Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from August 20, 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.

Other Recent Charleston Dirty Birds Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central