West Virginia Power: Game Notes (July 25)
July 25, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
Following three straight rainouts, West Virginia is set to open its series with a twin bill against the Kannapolis Intimidators tonight, with first pitch set for 5:05 p.m. from Intimidators Stadium. LHP Domingo Robles (7-6, 3.38 ERA) toes the rubber in game one, while RHP Max Kranick (1-4, 3.86 ERA) gets the call in game two.
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POWER SWEPT IN TWIN BILL SATURDAY: Ben Bengtson hit a two-run homer to cap a three-run first inning for West Virginia, but the Legends pulled ahead in the fourth and never looked back, taking the doubleheader opener, 6-4, Saturday evening at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. West Virginia took another first-inning lead in game two, plating two in the opening frame on a two-run single from Raul Hernandez, but the Legends were able to mount another comeback and finish off a doubleheader sweep with a 4-2 win in game two. In game one, Deon Stafford lofted a sacrifice fly to start the Power's scoring in the first before Bengtson plopped his home run just above the right-field fence to make it 3-0 West Virginia. Lexington responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first, but Ryan Peurifoy singled in Stafford in the fourth to extend the Power's lead to 4-2. The Legends answered in the home half on Manny Olloque's second home run of the series to pull even at four. With two down in the sixth against Beau Sulser, Ricky Aracena grounded one to Robbie Glendinning at shortstop, but he could not field it cleanly, letting both runners come in to score and pushing the Legends ahead for good, 6-4. In game two, Ike Schlabach held Lexington's bats quiet for the first and second innings, but they broke through in the third and knotted the game at two before jumping ahead for the rest of the night in the fourth on Matias' MiLB-leading 27th home run of the season.
RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY: Due to a heavy rain storm in the Lexington area, Sunday's season series finale against the Lexington Legends was cancelled due to inclement weather. The two teams will not make the game up as they do not play again for the rest of the season. Lexington won the season series, 11-7. Monday's series opener and Tuesday's twin bill against Kannapolis were also postponed due to continuous downpours in North Carolina. These three rainouts marked the 30th, 31st and 32nd weather-affected games this year for the Power, the most in club history (2005-present).
HOLY HOMERS: Bengtson's home run was his fourth of the season and third at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in 2018. All four of Bengtson's home runs have come away from Appalachian Power Park. Bengtson recorded his first long ball since July 11 at Hickory. The Power infielder posted West Virginia's 65th home run of the season, ninth-most in the South Atlantic League, with Asheville leading the way with 115 dingers. Hernandez, Fabricio Macias and Glendinning are the only three active Power batters without a home run this season.
404 ERROR MESSAGE: West Virginia's defense committed four errors across both games Saturday, upping its season total to 125, the fourth-highest total in the South Atlantic League (Rome, 134; Lexington and Greenville, 127). The Power has a .963 fielding percentage, the lowest mark in the league. Oneil Cruz leads the league in errors with 29.
TOUGH MONTH: It's been a rough month of July for West Virginia, with the team posting a 6-13 record thus far. The Power has dropped five of their last six games and were dealt their first series sweep (of three games or more) this season after falling in the first three games of their series against the Lexington Legends before Sunday's cancelled finale. As a team, West Virginia has notched a .215 mark this month, the worst average in the league, while its 4.73 ERA is second-highest on the circuit, sitting behind just Asheville, who holds a 4.95 mark. Cruz and Calvin Mitchell are really struggling in July, with Cruz boasting a .190 clip and Mitchell averaging only .186 in the month. The two have a combined nine hits in their last 67 at-bats (.134) with 21 strikeouts.
BRIGHTER OUTLOOK?: The Power had similar issues in July 2017, going 13-15 in the month before ripping off a 19-10 August record and winning 22 of their final 34 games to put themselves in postseason contention. Over its first 14 games in July 2017, West Virginia was 5-9 before claiming seven of its next eight contests and putting together a franchise-record 13-game home winning streak. The Power missed the playoffs last year by .002 percentage points.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: West Virginia is in the midst of their longest road trip of the season, spanning seven games in eight days between Lexington, Kentucky, and Kannapolis, North Carolina, with the Power playing its final series against the Legends and the Intimidators in each of these four-game sets. West Virginia will play 15 of their next 21 contests away from Appalachian Power Park before closing out the season with 11 of their last 19 games at home.
POWER POINTS: The Power are 28-23 (.550) in games decided by two runs or less this season, tied with Rome for the third-highest winning percentage in the South Atlantic League (Lakewood, .577; Greensboro, .558)... West Virginia is 10-10 in doubleheader contests, tied with Augusta and Delmarva for sixth-best in terms of winning percentage in the SAL. The Power is set for their 11th twin bill Wednesday. Only Lakewood has played more doubleheaders (12) in 2018.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 25, 2018
- Power Drops Fifth Straight in Twin Bill Sweep - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Drive and Crawdads Split Wednesday's Doubleheader - Greenville Drive
- Legends on Eight Game Win Streak with Sweep of Doubleheader - Lexington Legends
- Asheville Swept in Critical Double-Header - Asheville Tourists
- Garcia Strikes out a Dozen in RiverDogs Victory - Charleston RiverDogs
- Ziegler Returns to GreenJackets Lineup - Augusta GreenJackets
- Alfonzo Smacks Two Doubles on Wednesday Afternoon - Columbia Fireflies
- Five Run Eighth Gives Rome a 7-2 Victory - Rome Emperors
- Pompey Homers But Hoppers Fall - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- 'Birds Doubleheader at Suns Cancelled - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Rivero Double Keys BlueClaws Comeback Win, 7-5 over Greensboro - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- West Virginia Power: Game Notes (July 25) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Night Is Monday at Fluor Field - Greenville Drive
- Fireflies Game Notes: July 25 at Rome (Game 99) - Columbia Fireflies
- Preview: Rise, Shine & Play Ball - Greensboro Grasshoppers
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