SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

West Virginia Power: Game Notes (May 27)

Published on May 27, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


The Power are set to play their sixth doubleheader of the season Sunday, with first pitch of game one against Kannapolis set for 12:05 p.m. RHP Hunter Stratton (1-1, 6.23 ERA) will go for West Virginia in game one, while righty Evan Piechota (2-1, 2.08 ERA) takes the hill in game two.

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BOLTON'S STRONG DEBUT LEADS TO 5-0 WIN: Cody Bolton dominated the Kannapolis Intimidators in his South Atlantic League debut, tossing five scoreless innings en route to a four-pitcher shutout of Kannapolis, 5-0, as West Virginia took game one of a four-game series on Friday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Blake Cederlind worked around a lead-off double in the sixth to keep the Intimidators off the scoreboard, while Blake Weiman and Matt Seelinger held Kannapolis hitless over the final three frames. Calvin Mitchell provided an early jolt for the Power, driving in Chris Sharpe in the first with an opposite-field double to give West Virginia a 1-0 lead. Mitchell would later score on a sacrifice fly from Oneil Cruz to make it a 2-0 edge. In the third, Mitchell collected his second run-scoring hit of the evening, this time a single that plated Lolo Sanchez, extending the Power lead to 3-0. With the staff continuing to blank Kannapolis, West Virginia tacked on two more runs in the eighth as Cruz doubled in Mitchell and Brett Pope brought in Cruz on a grounder that forced an errant throw from Kannapolis third baseman Luis Curbelo.

MULTI-HIT MITCHELL: Mitchell's 3-for-4 showing Friday marked his 14th multi-hit game of the season. The Pirates' 15th-best prospect per MLB.com is one of two Power batters with double digit multi-hit efforts in 2018 (Cruz, 10). Mitchell has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games, and in 15 of his 20 May contests, although his May average is .289, 75 points below his torrid .364 April clip. Overall, Mitchell's .329 stroke is third-best in the SAL.

MORE ON BOLTON'S DEBUT: Bolton turned in another impressive South Atlantic League debut for the Power this week, joining Max Kranick, who tossed five shutout frames on Monday against Columbia. Bolton allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out a career-best eight batters, including every member of the Kannapolis lineup except for Tate Blackman. Bolton faced three batters above the minimum in his career-long start and used just 75 pitches.

STARTING STRONG: Over their last four games, Power starters (Bolton, Kranick, Domingo Robles and Gavin Wallace) have been lights out on the mound. The quartet has combined to throw 23 innings and surrender just four earned runs on 16 hits (1.57 ERA), lowering the starting staff's season ERA from 3.53 to 3.31 in that stretch.

HANGING ZEROES: West Virginia completed its fourth shutout of the season Friday with a 5-0 win over Kannapolis. It was the first blanking for the Power since a 2-0 win at Hagerstown on May 11, when Sergio Cubilete, Ike Schlabach and Weiman spun a seven-hit gem to finish off a three-game brooming of the Suns. West Virginia is now 4-3 in shutouts this season and is one of eight teams in the South Atlantic League with at least four shutout victories.

WILY WEIMAN: Weiman has been nothing short of exceptional in 2018 for the Power. The left-hander hurled two perfect innings in Friday's win, striking out a pair and bringing his season ERA down to 1.29 over 14 appearances. These sterling frames came one outing after he had the best relief appearance of his season, twirling a career-high four scoreless innings on Monday, where he stranded four baserunners in extras. The Kansas product has not allowed a run in his last 10.1 innings, during which he has 13 strikeouts. The Power have won the last six games Weiman has appeared in. Weiman holds the second-lowest BB/9IP in the SAL at 0.64, while his 7.71 baserunners/9IP is fourth-lowest.

BACK IN CRUZ CONTROL: Cruz went 1-for-3 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in Friday's series-opening win over Kannapolis. The Dominican native recorded his sixth multi-RBI game of the season, tied with Mitchell for the most on the team. In the month of May, Cruz is averaging a team-best .316 (25-for-79) mark, 101 points higher than his .215 April clip, while stroking three homers and 10 RBI and posting an .OPS of .901. The infielder has been clutch with RISP and two outs, boasting a .304 average with a home run and 11 of his 27 RBI, while striking out just six times.

THE PLAYOFF RACE: Delmarva blanked Lakewood, 3-0, Friday, but fell 7-3 Saturday. With 24 games to go, the Power are 3.0 games back of the Intimidators and 2.5 back of the Shorebirds. The Power are in the midst of their only first-half series with Kannapolis and will conclude the first half with a three-game set in Charleston against Delmarva.

POWER POINTS: The Power went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position Friday... Sanchez swiped multiple bases in a game for the fifth time in his career... Mason Martin is mired in a 5-for-43 (.116) slump in the month of May.

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 27, 2018


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