West Virginia Power: Game Notes (May 4)
May 4, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
After a marathon 15-inning win on Thursday, the Power begin a four-game series with Hickory tonight at Appalachian Power Park, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. LHP Domingo Robles (1-2, 3.86 ERA) is on the slab.
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WATSON'S SINGLE GIVES POWER MARATHON WIN: In a game that lasted 15 innings and 4:44, Kyle Watson was able to send everyone home happy with a walk-off single in the 15th inning to drive in Oneil Cruz and give West Virginia an 8-7 win over the Augusta GreenJackets on Thursday evening at Appalachian Power Park, as well as a series win, two games to one. Ryan Peurifoy ended up securing the victory after tossing the 15th inning in his second appearance of the year. Over the first five innings, Rodolfo Castro, Cruz and Chris Sharpe all homered to push the Power out to an early 4-2 lead, but a two-run jack from Rob Calabrese in the ninth off Blake Weiman spoiled that edge. Each team plated a single tally in the 10th, 11th and 14th frames before West Virginia decided things for good in the 15th. Ike Schlabach spun his first Low-A quality start with six innings of two-run ball, while Drew Fischer was solid for two innings in his second outing and Joel Cesar stemmed the tide from the 11th to the 14th, allowing just one hit and two unearned runs over a season-high four innings.
IN A GAME THAT TOOK A LONG, LONG TIME: The Power's 15-inning, 4:44 affair against the GreenJackets found its way into the club record books in multiple categories. The 4:44 time of game marked the seventh-longest game in the Power era (2005-present), while the 15 innings played are tied for the sixth-longest contest in team history. The last time West Virginia played more than 15 innings in a single game was June 7, 2016, against Delmarva, as the Power fell 8-4 in a 16-inning battle that lasted 4:29. This game came one day after the Shorebirds beat West Virginia 9-5 in a 13-inning, 4:51 tilt, which is the last time the Power played a game that took longer than 4:44 to complete.
PUNCH IT (OUT OF THE PARK), CHEWIE!: After Castro, Cruz and Sharpe all went yard in Thursday's series finale, West Virginia now has 29 home runs on the year, the most in the South Atlantic League. Every batter on the roster for West Virginia now possesses at least one homer except for Hernandez, who has only played two games. West Virginia is 13-4 when they hit a home run. Castro homered for the third time in his last four games, while Cruz launched his first big fly since April 20 against Asheville and Sharpe went deep for the first time since April 8 against Greenville.
RETURN OF THE PEURIFOY: Since starting the season 0-for-13 through his first four games, Peurifoy has reached base safely in 11 of his last 12 games, while registering a hit in nine of those contests. Beginning on April 14, the Georgia Tech product is averaging .261 (12-for-46) with three home runs and seven RBI. The outfielder surrendered just one hit and struck out a batter to earned his first MiLB victory in just his second outing on the mound since high school.
ON THE BASEPATHS, A CHRIS SHARPE STORY: Since April 18, Sharpe has reached base safely in all 14 games he has played for the Power. The outfielder holds the second-longest on-base streak on the team behind Calvin Mitchell, who reached base in 15 consecutive contests before seeing his streak end on April 28 in Lexington. During this stretch, Sharpe is averaging .261 (12-for-46) with four RBI and nine runs. On the season, the Boston native's .372 on-base percentage is second on the team, while his .777 OPS is fifth-best. Sharpe has reached in 22 of the 25 games he has suited up for this season.
THESE ARE NOT THE K'S YOU'RE LOOKING FOR: West Virginia batters struck out 21 times last night against Augusta's quartet of pitchers, led by Castro, who went down four times via the K. The Power's 21 strikeouts are the most the club has had in a single game in the Power era, dating back to 2005.
THE ALLIANCE VS. THE EMPIRE: LHP Domingo Robles (1-2, 3.86 ERA) takes the mound in the series opener against Hickory looking to rebound from the shortest start of his career. On April 29, the southpaw lasted just 0.2 innings after giving up seven unearned runs in the first inning in a loss to Lexington. The Crawdads counter with RHP A.J. Alexy (0-2, 9.64 ERA), who allowed six runs on five hits over four innings in a no-decision against West Virginia on April 14. The Pennsylvania native lasted just 2.2 innings in his last start against Delmarva on April 27.
BOBA BITS: Power relievers have held the first batters they have faced in an appearance to a .154 (8-for-52) stroke, with 18 strikeouts... The bullpen has allowed six earned runs over their last 36.1 innings (1.49 ERA), while striking out 41 batters... The Power are 11-0 when scoring six or more runs, as well as 7-1 when their starter lasts six innings.
THE TRANSMISSION: 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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