SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (July 5)

Published on July 5, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia continues its three-game series with the Lexington Legends tonight, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. at Appalachian Power Park. RHP Max Kranick (1-3, 3.51 ERA) is on the hill.

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POWER BLANKED BY LEGENDS ON INDEPENDENCE DAY: Lexington starter Carlos Hernandez continued his dominance at Appalachian Power Park, tossing seven scoreless innings and holding West Virginia to just three hits while fanning five batters en route to a 6-0 shutout win for the Legends Wednesday evening at Appalachian Power Park in front of a season-best 5,252 fans. Garrett Suchey and Jacob Condra-Bogan completed the shutout for Lexington with a scoreless inning each. Domingo Robles countered with a quality start of his own, despite allowing a career-high 11 hits, surrendering two earned runs over six innings while striking out six batters and walking one. The Power were only able to move three runners in scoring position, with Rodolfo Castro the lone runner to reach third on the night.

SOARING SANCHEZ: With his sixth-inning single Wednesday, Lolo Sanchez extended his on-base streak to 12 games. Sanchez's streak dates back to June 21, the first day of the second half. During this span, Sanchez is averaging .351 (13-for-37) with a home run, seven RBI and a .928 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 162 career MiLB games, Sanchez has 34 stolen bases in 56 tries (61 percent success rate).

MASHING MITCHELL: Calvin Mitchell went 2-for-4 Wednesday, the only Power batter with a multi-hit effort in the series opener against Lexington. The Rancho Bernardo High School product tallied his 21st multi-hit game, trailing only Oneil Cruz (24) for most multi-hit games on the team. Mitchell's .308 season average is third-best in the Pirates system and tied for fourth in the South Atlantic League with Delmarva's Zach Jarrett and Asheville's Chad Spanberger.

ROLLING ROBLES: Despite Wednesday's loss, Robles notched his team-leading ninth quality start of the season. The Dominican native has eight quality starts in his last 11 outings, including four consecutive in May and three straight efforts dating back to June 22. The lefty still leads the team in ERA (3.19), which is fourth-best in the Pirates system, and strikeouts (69). Robles is now 1-3 with a 2.86 ERA in five starts against Lexington, striking out 19 over 22 innings. West Virginia is 19-7 when their starter goes six innings or more in an outing.

SPOILING THE HOLIDAY: The Power is now 3-10 overall on Independence Day, including a 3-5 mark at home. West Virginia and Lexington have squared off five times on America's birthday, with Lexington holding a 4-1 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).

404 ERROR MESSAGE: The Power tied a season-high with five errors committed yesterday, the fourth time they have made five miscues in a single game. West Virginia has been charged with 103 errors, fourth-most in the South Atlantic League, while their .964 fielding percentage is third-lowest. Cruz leads the league in errors with 25.

FINDING SUCCESS ON THE MOUND: Elvis Escobar spun a 1-2-3 ninth inning Wednesday, his third scoreless inning since joining West Virginia as a reliever in late June. Escobar is currently making the conversion from outfielder to relief pitcher after beginning the season with Double-A Altoona and hitting .151 over 40 games before going on the disabled list June 1. Escobar made one appearance for Altoona as well, but did not record an out and gave up three runs.

HANGING ZEROS: West Virginia was blanked for the sixth time this season Wednesday, dropping its record to 7-6 in shutout affairs in 2018. That mark is tied for sixth-best in the South Atlantic League with Kannapolis in terms of winning percentage at .538.

POWER POINTS: The Power went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position Wednesday, stranding five men on base... Deon Stafford is averaging .158 (6-for-38) in the second half through 10 games after posting a .286 clip that earned him Mid-Season All-Star honors... Drew Fischer is boasting a 0.90 ERA at home versus a 4.74 mark in nine away contests.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 5, 2018


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