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SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (May 18)

May 18, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Winners of eight of their last nine games, West Virginia continues its four-game homestand against the Lexington Legends with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch at Appalachian Power Park on Friday. RHP Sergio Cubilete (0-2, 4.91 ERA) is on the bump.

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ROBLES, TIMELY HOMERS HELP POWER OUTLAST LEXINGTON: Domingo Robles was dominant in his third start in the month of May, tossing a career high-tying seven innings while allowing five hits and two runs (both unearned) and striking out six while not walking a batter. Blake Weiman and Matt Seelinger made sure Robles' gem would not go to waste, each tossing a scoreless inning in relief to pick up the hold and the save, respectively, and finish off a 3-2 series-opening win for the Power over Lexington on Thursday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Calvin Mitchell jumpstarted the offense in the first with a two-out solo homer to right off Nolan Watson, and Dylan Busby provided the difference maker in the sixth with a sky-scraping blast to left that put West Virginia ahead for good. In the win, Deon Stafford and Lolo Sanchez posted multi-hit efforts, with Stafford going 2-for-4 and Sanchez 2-for-3.

ROLLING ROBLES: Robles has been outstanding in the month of May for the Power, spinning three quality starts in as many outings. Since his April 29 scuffle against Lexington, the Dominican native is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA over 19 innings pitched, during which he has struck out 12 batters and walked just four. Robles now has four quality starts on the season, the most of any West Virginia starter in 2018. Despite ceding two runs to Lexington on a pair of errors yesterday, Robles sports a spotless career ERA against the Legends, as all nine runs he has allowed have been unearned.

BASHING BUSBY: Busby hit his fifth home run of the season on Thursday in the Power's 3-2 victory over Lexington. After drilling the first pitch he saw from Watson well beyond the left-field wall in the sixth, the Florida State product now has four home runs and 11 RBI in the month of May through 10 games, both tops on the team. The infielder is also hitting .308 with an OPS of 1.000, with only Oneil Cruz posting a better May average (.353).

HOLY HOMERS: With Mitchell and Busby both leaving the yard yesterday, West Virginia has 38 homers as a team in 2018, third-best in the South Atlantic League behind Asheville (40) and Lexington (41). Every member of the Power offense has at least one home run this season except Hernandez, who has only played five games with West Virginia.

ONE RUN FUN: The Power are now 8-4 in one-run games in 2018, posting a .667 winning percentage that is tied with Greensboro for the top spot in the league. In games decided by two runs or less, West Virginia is 14-7 (.667), the best record among all South Atlantic League teams.

GOOD GRIEF, THAT'S SOME RELIEF: Over its last 10 games, the West Virginia bullpen has been exceptional, giving up just five earned runs over their last 29.2 innings (1.52 ERA) in the midst of an 8-2 stretch for the Power. Seelinger has really shined since his promotion to West Virginia, as the New York native has a 0.82 ERA in eight appearances with three saves in as many opportunities, only ceding one run in his first 11 innings in a Power uniform. Overall, the bullpen has allowed 11 earned runs over their last 66.0 innings (1.50 ERA), while striking out 65 batters.

THINKING LONG-TERM: On the hells of their 3-2 win over Lexington yesterday, the Power have now won of their last nine games. Overall, West Virginia has claimed eight series victories in its last nine matchups, and have not dropped a series since Rome took three of four from the Power from April 24-26 at Appalachian Power Park. Lakewood is the only other team to have taken a series from West Virginia, claiming two of three from April 10-11. Since that series loss in early April, the club is 20-10, including a 10-3 May record. The Power are one of three teams in the SAL with 10 wins in May, joining Kannapolis (11-4) and Rome (10-6) in the double-digit wins column.

MEADOWS PROMOTED: Austin Meadows, the Pirates' second-best prospect per MLB.com, has been promoted to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the parent club announced Friday. Meadows, a 2013 first round pick by Pittsburgh, earned his first big-league call-up after averaging .294 with a home run and 15 RBI in 32 games with Triple-A Indianapolis in 2018. Meadows played with the Power in 38 games in 2014 and posted a .322 average while clubbing three homers and driving in 15 runs. When he makes his MLB debut, Meadows will be the 69th former Power player to play in the majors.

POWER POINTS: The Power have won the last four games Weiman has appeared in... West Virginia closes out the first half with 13 of their final 31 games at home... Rodolfo Castro saw his 14-game on base streak snapped Thursday.

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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