SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (May 20)

Published on May 20, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The Power will continue Saturday's suspended game at 12:05 p.m. today, with Sunday's regularly scheduled game set to follow. RHP Hunter Stratton (1-1, 5.09 ERA) will take the hill in game two.

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LEXINGTON BLANKS WEST VIRGINIA FRIDAY: MJ Melendez went 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBI on a pair of home runs and a double, and Lexington used three pitchers to hand the Power their third shutout loss of the season, as they fell 6-0 on Friday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Carlos Hernandez spun five hitless innings before turning it over to the pen, where Holden Capps and Sal Biasi scattered three hits over the final four frames to complete the blanking of West Virginia. Sergio Cubilete took the loss in his fourth start of the year, allowing five runs on six hits through five innings, despite striking out a season-best six batters. Ike Schlabach was stellar in relief, twirling three scoreless innings and fanning three, while Drew Fischer tossed the ninth and ceded an unearned tally. Calvin Mitchell broke up the no-hit bid in the sixth with a double to right, but he and Oneil Cruz were the only Power batters to muster hits against the Legends on Friday, as Mitchell went 2-for-3 and Cruz posted a 1-for-4 effort.

HEAVY RAIN SUSPENDS SATURDAY'S GAME: West Virginia got off to a hot start in Saturday's contest, as Deon Stafford clubbed a two-run homer to dead center field, his fourth of the season, that put the Power up 2-0. However, after West Virginia starter Gavin Wallace allowed a leadoff walk to Brewer Hicklen in the second, the rain made it too difficult for play to continue, and the game was suspended in the top of the second with no outs and a runner on first.

MULTI-HIT MITCHELL: Mitchell's 2-for-3 showing in Friday's loss marked his 10th multi-hit game of the season. The Pirates' 15th-best prospect per MLB.com is the first Power batter to crack double digits in multi-hit efforts in 2018. Mitchell has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, and in 10 of his 12 May contests, although his May average sits at .231, 133 points below his torrid .364 April clip.

GOOD GRIEF, THAT'S SOME RELIEF: Over its last 11 games, the West Virginia bullpen has been exceptional, giving up just five earned runs over their last 33.2 innings (1.34 ERA) in the midst of an 8-3 stretch for the Power. Schlabach turned in another solid outing for West Virginia out of the pen yesterday, lowering his season ERA to 2.84. The southpaw has given up just one earned run in his last 11 innings pitched. As a reliever in 2018, Schlabach boasts a 1.54 ERA in five appearances compared to his 3.60 mark as a starter. Overall, the bullpen has allowed 11 earned runs over their last 70.0 innings (1.41 ERA), while striking out 69 batters.

THINKING LONG-TERM: 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 20-11, including a 10-4 May record. The Power are one of four teams in the SAL with 10 wins in May, joining Columbia (10-7), Kannapolis (12-4) and Rome (12-6) in the double-digit wins column.

ROSTER MOVES: The Pittsburgh Pirates announced a flurry of roster moves affecting the West Virginia Power over the last few days:

- RHP Max Kranick promoted to the Power from the rookie-level Bristol Pirates

- INF Brett Pope promoted to the Power from the GCL Pirates

- RHP Travis MacGregor placed on the seven-day disabled list (retroactive to 5/16)

- RHP Joel Cesar placed on the seven-day disabled list (retroactive to 5/16)

MEADOWS MAKES DEBUT: Austin Meadows, the Pirates' second-best prospect per MLB.com, made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday evening, going 2-for-4 with two singles and a stolen base. Meadows collected his first big league hit in the bottom of the fourth when he singled to right off Tyson Ross. 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. Meadows is the 69th former Power player to play in the majors.

POWER POINTS: West Virginia closes out the first half with 12 of its final 30 games at home... The Power tied their season-low of three hits in Friday's loss, matching the offensive output West Virginia had on April 5 against Greenville.

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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South Atlantic League Stories from May 20, 2018


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