West Virginia Power: Game Notes (May 11)
May 11, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
The Power go for their league-best fifth win in a row and a series sweep of Hagerstown on Friday evening at Historic Municipal Stadium, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. RHP Sergio Cubilete (0-2, 15.43 ERA) returns to the mound for West Virginia.
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OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION LEADS TO 13-2 WIN: Dylan Busby continued his torrid stretch in this series, as the Power third baseman went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and three runs scored to lead West Virginia to a 13-2 win over Hagerstown on Thursday evening at Historic Municipal Stadium. Besides Busby's dinger, Kyle Watson and Calvin Mitchell each left the yard on Thursday, with Watson hammering a two-run shot in the fifth and Mitchell slugging one out in the sixth. That trio of long balls, along with a 4-for-6 effort and three doubles from Oneil Cruz, was more than enough for Power starter Domingo Robles, who spun his second consecutive quality start with six innings of two-run ball while fanning a pair to pick up his second victory of the season. Beau Sulser and Joel Cesar tossed the final three frames out of the pen and surrendered just three hits.
BOMBS AWAY FOR BUSBY: Following his first career two-homer game in Wednesday's series opener, Busby crushed a grand slam over the right-center field wall in the third inning on Thursday for his fourth home run of the season and first career grand slam. Busby's bases-clearing roundtripper was the first grand slam a West Virginia batter had hit since Clark Eagan connected for one on May 21, 2017, at Columbia. With their three bombs yesterday, the Power have a league-best 34 home runs, three more than second-place Asheville and Lexington. Every offensive member of West Virginia's roster has at least one home run except for Raul Hernandez, who has only played in three games for the Power in 2018.
BEYOND THE LONG BALLS: To go along with Busby's first career grand slam, the infielder set a career-high three hits in yesterday's win, as did Watson, who hit his first home run since April 14 at Hickory in the Power's seven-run ninth inning. Meanwhile, Mitchell homered for the first time since April 19 against Asheville. Busby also posted four RBI in a game for the second consecutive day, becoming the first player in the Power era (2005-present) to put up back-to-back four-RBI efforts.
CRUZIN FOR A BRUISIN: Cruz has started to find a more consistent stroke in the Power lineup of late. The former Dodger is riding a 11-game hitting streak and a 13-game on-base streak, with the latter dating back to April 25 in game two of a doubleheader against Rome. Following game one, Cruz's average sat at .197, but he has boosted that mark to .257 with this 11-game stride where he is averaging .326 (15-for-46) with a home run and seven RBI. Cruz has the longest active hitting streak on the team, and the second-longest of the year (Mitchell, 13). The Dominican native also holds the second-longest active hitting streak in the SAL (Shael Mendoza, 17, ASH). Cruz registered the first three-double effort for the Power since Trae Arbet accomplished the feat on July 22, 2017, vs. Lexington.
A BROKEN SHARPENER: With his 0-for-6 effort yesterday, Chris Sharpe saw his 18-game on-base streak that began on April 18 come to an end. Despite its conclusion, the outfielder has the longest on-base streak of the season for West Virginia. During that stretch, Sharpe averaged .271 (16-for-59) with five RBI and 13 runs scored. Sharpe also snapped his six-game hitting streak on Thursday, during which he boasted a .304 (7-for-23) clip with a home run and two RBI. On the season, The Boston native's .359 on-base percentage is third-best on the team, while his .739 OPS is sixth-best. Sharpe has reached in 25 of the 30 games he has suited up for this season.
DEON AT THE DISH: Deon Stafford has reached base safely in his last 11 games, dating back to the Power's doubleheader on April 25 against Rome. Over that stretch, Stafford is hitting .267 (12-for-45) with two homers, seven RBI and eight runs scored. The backstop's .298 average is second-highest on the team, while his .806 OPS is fourth-best.
POWER POINTS: The bullpen has allowed just eight earned runs over their last 51.2 innings (1.39 ERA), while striking out 51 batters... The Power are 15-4 when they hit a home run... West Virginia is 4-0 in games that Sulser has pitched in... The Power went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position last night... Rodolfo Castro has reached base safely in his last 10 games... West Virginia set a season high with six doubles in Thursday's victory... Robles has surrendered three earned runs or less in six of his seven starts this season... Over their four-game winning streak, the Power have not given up more than three runs in any game to their opponent... West Virginia's four-game winning streak is the longest active streak in the SAL... The Power close out the first half with 22 of their final 36 games on the road.
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.
South Atlantic League Stories from May 11, 2018
- Drive Top Intimidators in Series Finale - Greenville Drive
- 'Moms Strikeout 13 Batters in Loss to Columbia - Hickory Crawdads
- Raquet Shines in Suns 2-0 Loss on Friday - Hagerstown Suns
- I's drop last game of series to Drive, 6-4 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Power Surge Lifts 'Birds to Series Win - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Sweeping in Style, Tourists Best Grasshoppers 10-5 - Asheville Tourists
- Lexington Drops Series to Delmarva in Game - Lexington Legends
- Braves Top GreenJackets - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Gut out 8-3 Win in Series Finale - Columbia Fireflies
- Power Complete Sweep with 2-0 Shutout of Suns - Charleston Dirty Birds
- RiverDogs Swept by Lakewood as Whitlock's Scoreless Streak Ends at 26 - Charleston RiverDogs
- BlueClaws Blank Dogs 1-0, Complete Three-Game Sweep - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- West Virginia Power: Game Notes (May 11) - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Fireflies Game Notes: May 11 at Hickory (Game 34) - Columbia Fireflies
- Hoppers Fan 13 But Tourists Earn Victory - Greensboro Grasshoppers
- Fuentes Ks Seven in Relief, Suns Fall 13-2 - Hagerstown Suns
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