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Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (June 14)

June 14, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia goes for the series sweep against the Augusta GreenJackets tonight, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. from SRP Park. RHP Hunter Stratton (1-3, 6.62 ERA) is on the mound and below.

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LATE MISCUES HELP POWER EKE OUT WIN: A pair of throwing errors in the ninth led to Kyle Watson coming around to score the eventual winning run for West Virginia as the Power eked by the Augusta GreenJackets, 3-2, Wednesday evening at SRP Park to snag their third straight win and hand Augusta its ninth straight loss. With Watson aboard at first after drawing a two-out walk, GreenJackets reliever Frank Rubio picked off to first two times. On the second attempt, the ball sailed past first baseman Ryan Kirby and into right field, allowing Watson to motor around to third base. As Watson was heading towards third, right fielder Aaron Bond one-hopped the ball towards third, but it skidded off Jacob Gonzalez's glove and down the left field line, letting Watson come home and give West Virginia the lead. Samuel Reyes came on for the bottom of the inning and locked it down with a 1-2-3 frame, striking out the first two batters before inducing a line out from Kirby to end it as Reyes notched his first save with the Power. West Virginia got on the board first thanks to Rodolfo Castro's RBI single off John Gavin in the third, while Cody Bolton shut down the GreenJackets over the first four innings. In the fifth, however, Gonzalez led off with a home run to left-center that tied the game at one. Kirby then smoked a double before scoring on Bond's single to give Augusta the lead. The Power stormed back to tie the game in the eighth on Calvin Mitchell's sacrifice fly that plated Oneil Cruz, who hit a two-batter to open the inning. Joel Cesar earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief.

STREAKING: Bengtson extended his hitting streak to 14 games with his ninth-inning single Wednesday against Rubio. Bengtson's streak is tied with Cruz for the longest hitting streak by a Power slugger in 2018. The infielder is averaging .306 (15-for-49) with eight RBI in that span. The Concord, New Hampshire, native is one of three West Virginia sluggers to string together a hitting streak of 10 games or more in 2018 (Cruz, 10 and 14; Mitchell, 13). The Hartford product has increased his season average from .169 to .228 during this stretch (59 points).

BOLTON SCORELESS NO MORE: Bolton pushed his scoreless streak start with West Virginia to 19.1 innings after breezing through the first four frames Wednesday against Augusta. However, Gonzalez's lead-off homer in the fifth snapped that stretch as he tagged Bolton for his first run allowed since his promotion to the South Atlantic League. In total, the right-hander has a 2-0 record with a 0.89 ERA in four starts for the Power, while striking out 20 batters in 20.1 innings. He has held opposing sluggers to a .153 clip against him.

HAIL CESAR: Since coming off the disabled list May 30, Cesar has been lights out for West Virginia. The righty spun three brilliant frames Wednesday, allowing just two hits and striking out five batters, tied for his career-high, while earning his first win of the season. In his four appearances since his return, Cesar has spun seven innings while surrendering three hits and walking one compared to 10 strikeouts.

SAVE ME: Reyes secured the fourth save of the road trip for West Virginia with his perfect ninth inning Wednesday. The Power have recorded a save in each of the first three games of their series against Augusta, with Beau Sulser and Matt Seelinger registering saves Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

CUTTING IT CLOSE: West Virginia secured its 13th comeback win of the season Wednesday after trailing by one in the fifth and coming back to win by the same margin. The Power are now 11-10 in one-run affairs, as well as 11-9 in games decided in the last at-bat. West Virginia earned its fourth win of the season (4-14) when trailing after six innings in scheduled nine-inning contests.

ON THE BRINK: Despite West Virginia's 3-2 win , Kannapolis' and Delmarva's cancellation moved the Power's elimination number in the first half down to one. One win for Kannapolis or one loss by West Virginia would eliminate the Power from postseason contention in the first half.

HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR: Stafford and Mitchell were named South Atlantic League All-Stars last Tuesday, with the pair set to represent the Power at this year's Midsummer Classic in Greensboro, N.C., on June 19 at First National Bank Field. Stafford received his second consecutive All-Star nod, while Mitchell secured his first mid-season accolade. Stafford is the first Power catcher to garner an All-Star selection since Reese McGuire in 2014.

POWER POINTS: The Power have not homered in their last eight games... West Virginia scored first for the ninth time in their last 10 games. The Power are 24-12 when scoring first (10-16 when they allow the first run).

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