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SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (June 5)

June 5, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The Power opens up their series against the Lexington Legends with a doubleheader tonight at Appalachian Power Park. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m., with RHP Max Kranick (0-1, 1.74 ERA) on the mound in game one and LHP Ike Schlabach (2-1, 3.12 ERA) toeing the rubber in game two.

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SHARPE HOMERS IN 5-2 FINALE LOSS TO GRASSHOPPERS: Chris Sharpe stroked his third home run of the season with an opposite-field shot in the sixth, but that was all the Power could muster against Greensboro starter Brandon Miller, who held West Virginia's offense in check over six innings, allowing just three hits and striking out seven to lead the Grasshoppers to a 5-2 victory Sunday afternoon at First National Bank Field. Hunter Stratton struggled for the third straight start, surrendering five runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings. Greensboro posted a pair of runs in the first on a wild pitch and a single by Marcos Rivera before tacking on three more runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach. In the loss, Drew Fischer spun 1.1 scoreless innings on his 22nd birthday, giving up one hit and striking out two, while Sergio Cubilete kept the Grasshoppers off the scoreboard over his two innings of work. Mason Martin drove in the Power's final run in the ninth on a groundout, plating Brett Pope, who walked earlier in the frame.

MASHING MITCHELL: Calvin Mitchell his 16 multi-hit games in 2018, the most of any West Virginia batter. The Pirates' 15th-best prospect per MLB.com is one of two Power batters with double digit multi-hit efforts in 2018 (Cruz, 13). Mitchell has hit safely in 12 of his last 15 games, and in 20 of his last 27 contests since May 1. Overall, Mitchell's .319 stroke is fifth-best in the SAL, while his 14 doubles are tied for second-most with Kannapolis' Luis Gonzalez and Charleston's Steven Sensley. His .319 average also ranks tied for second in the Pirates system (Albert Baur, .333 with Bradenton). Mitchell has found more success on the road in 2018, boasting a .356 (31-for-87) clip (21 games) compared to a .288 (30-for-104) stroke at home (29 games). Mitchell was also recently tabbed as the 99th-best prospect in baseball in Baseball America's newly-minted Top 100 rankings.

CRUZIN FOR A BRUISIN: Oneil Cruz went 1-for-3 with a triple in Sunday's series finale. Cruz posted his fifth triple of the season, tied for third-most in the SAL with Columbia's Edgardo Fermin and Lexington's MJ Melendez. Cruz is also riding a six-game hitting streak, his second streak of six games or longer in 2018. During this span, he is hitting .478 (11-for-23) with a pair of RBI. Since May 1, the Dominican native is averaging .333 (35-for-105) with three home runs, 12 RBI and 13 extra-base hits. Cruz has been a first-inning catalyst for the Power, boasting a .393 stroke (11-for-28) with two of his team-leading seven homers and five RBI. The infielder's .283 season average is 10th-best in the Pirates organization, while his seven long balls are tied for third in the system with Mitchell and Jason Martin of Double-A Altoona.

HOLY HOMERS: Sharpe's sixth-inning homer was West Virginia's 47th long ball of the season, which is third-most in the South Atlantic League behind Asheville (56) and Lexington (58). Every Power batter has at least one homer this season except for Raul Hernandez, who is on the disabled list.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Tuesday's twin bill with Lexington will be West Virginia's seventh of the season. The Power are 6-6 in doubleheader games and have one more scheduled twin bill during the team's final road trip on June 8 in Hickory.

A TURN FOR THE WORSE: On May 15, the Power sat at 22-14, winners of seven of their last eight games and just 2.5 games back in the first half Northern Division standings. Since then, West Virginia has dropped 11 of its last 15 games, including five straight series to Lexington, Columbia, Kannapolis and Greensboro, and are now 7.0 games back. During this stretch, the Power are hitting .242 (114-for-471) while the pitching staff has a 4.20 ERA (58 ER/124.1 IP). 

AGAINST THE LEGENDS: The Power are 3-5 against Lexington in 2018, and are playing their final series against the Legends in the first half. West Virginia has dropped its last four games against Lexington, with a run differential of -15 in that span. Mitchell has enjoyed the most success against the Legends amongst the Power's offense, with the former second rounder boasting a .345 (10-for-29) average over seven games with a home run and three RBI. Ike Schlabach, tonight's game two starter, is sporting a 1.86 ERA (2 ER/9.2 IP) in three games against Lexington.

POWER POINTS: Martin is mired in a 6-for-56 (.107) slump with 26 strikeouts... The Power went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position Sunday, stranding five men on the basepaths... Sharpe hit his first homer since May 3rd... John Bormann was added to the Power's active roster. Yoel Gonzalez was released as the corresponding move.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on The Jock 1300 & 1340 AM in the Kanawha Valley, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. David Kahn and John Kocsis will handle play-by-play duties in 2018.

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