SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (July 4)

Published on July 4, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia begins a six-game homestand tonight with the first game of a three-game set against the Lexington Legends. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. with LHP Domingo Robles (6-4, 3.20 ERA) on the slab.

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HAILING AT TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING: Calvin Mitchell's three-run homer headlined a five-run seventh inning for West Virginia, lifting the Power to an 8-3 win over the Hagerstown Suns in the series finale Tuesday evening at Historic Municipal Stadium. With Oneil Cruz and Fabricio Macias aboard, Mitchell unloaded on a pitch from Carlos Pena and deposited it over the right-center field fence to give West Virginia its first lead of the night at 6-3. Later in the inning, Kyle Watson and Lolo Sanchez added a pair of RBI singles to cap the five-run frame. Travis MacGregor looked solid in his return from the disabled list, tossing five innings and allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out six and walking one. Ike Schlabach earned the win in relief with two scoreless innings, while Matt Seelinger spun the final two frames and fanned three while ceding just one hit. The Power plated their first run in the third on Macias' RBI single to left, cutting the then-deficit in half at 2-1. West Virginia would tie the ballgame at three in the sixth with a pair of runs on Ben Bengtson's run-scoring single and a bases-loaded walk to Watson.

BROAD STRIPES, BRIGHT STARS: With his seventh-inning single Tuesday, Sanchez extended his on-base streak to 11 games. Sanchez's streak dates back to June 21, the first day of the second half. During this span, Sanchez is averaging .353 (12-for-34) with a home run, seven RBI and a .950 OPS. The Dominican native has a new career-high in stolen bases after swiping 14 bags a year ago with the GCL Pirates. His 16 stolen bases are tied for sixth-best in the South Atlantic League. Over 161 career MiLB games, Sanchez has 34 stolen bases in 56 tries (61 percent success rate).

FIREWORKS: Mitchell crushed his eighth home run of the season Tuesday, second-most on the team to Cruz (10). He had not homered since June 1 at Greensboro. The Rancho Bernardo High School product also tallied his 20th multi-hit game and eighth multi-RBI effort of the season, both sitting behind just Cruz for most on the team (24 multi-hit games, 12 multi-RBI contests). Mitchell recorded his fifth game with three RBI or more in his professional career.

BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR: Mitchell's homer was West Virginia's 58th of the season, tied with Lakewood for sixth-most in the South Atlantic League. Only Asheville (87), Lexington (85), Hickory (70), Augusta (62) and Delmarva (59) have more homers than the Power and BlueClaws in 2018. Every active Power batter has at least one home run this season except for Jesse Medrano, Macias and Raul Siri, all of whom joined the team within the month of June.

HAPPY 4TH: Watson worked four walks in Tuesday's series finale with Hagerstown and still managed to go 1-for-1 with two RBI and a stolen base. With those four walks, Watson became the first Power batter to register four free passes in a game since Mitchell Tolman accomplished the feat on August 25, 2016, against Lexington at Appalachian Power Park. Tolman did not record an at-bat, but did notch an RBI in the effort. Watson's four walks also helped West Virginia set a new season-high in walks with nine. The Power is 3-9 overall on Independence Day, including a 3-4 mark at home. West Virginia and Lexington have squared off four times on America's birthday, with Lexington holding a 3-1 advantage (WV won 9-5 in 2005 at home). The Power's last July 4 win came in a 5-1 triumph over Delmarva in 2015.

BROTHERS IN ARMS: Prior to Tuesday's game, Gavin Wallace earned a promotion to the Class A-Advanced Bradenton Marauders for the first time in his career. Gavin joins his brother, Mike Wallace, on the same team for the first time since 2015, when Gavin was a freshman at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Wallace leaves West Virginia as one of the most consistent pitchers in the Power's rotation, going 6-2 over 14 starts, with seven of them registering as quality outings, while posting a 3.69 ERA across 75.2 innings pitched. Wallace spun six innings or more in nine of his 14 trips to the hill and allowed more than three earned runs just twice (6/12 at Augusta and 7/2 at Hagerstown).

PROOF THROUGH THE NIGHT: With six more solid innings last Friday against Hickory, Wednesday starter Domingo Robles notched his team-leading eighth quality start of the season. The Dominican native has seven quality starts in his last 10 outings, including four consecutive in May and back-to-back efforts in June. Robles retired the last 11 men he faced in Friday's outing. The lefty leads the team in ERA (3.20), which is fourth-best in the Pirates system, and strikeouts (63). Robles is 1-2 with a 2.81 ERA in four starts against Lexington, striking out 13 over 16 innings.

OUR FLAG IS STILL THERE: With their win the series opener Saturday against Hagerstown, the Power finished the month of June with a 19-8 record, the best June record in Power history (2005-present). West Virginia's previous best record in June was 18-9 in both 2007 and 2008. The Power sat atop or near the top of the SAL in a few categories in June (Saves: 12, 1st; ERA: 3.21, 3rd; Stolen Bases: 22, T-2nd; Runs Per Game: 5.0, 3rd).

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