SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

WV Power Game Notes: August 1, 2015 vs. Lakewood

Published on August 1, 2015 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Lakewood BlueClaws (19-15, 52-50) at West Virginia Power (24-10, 61-42)

Game 104 | August 1, 2015 | Appalachian Power Park | Charleston, WV

Radio: Charleston's ESPN 104.5 & 1490 - wvpower.com Airtime: 6:45 pm

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UP

RH Shane Watson (1-2, 4.58) vs. RH Alex McRae (4-7, 4.71)

Watson: Gave up one run on six hits over 6.0 IP with 2 K in 7/25 W vs. KAN (5-1 BlueClaws)

McRae: Surrendered four runs on three hits over 4.1 IP with 4 K and 2 BB in 7/26 L @ HAG (8-4 Suns)

THE LEADOFF: A fantastic pitching effort by Yeudy Garcia mixed with a season-best 18 hits propelled West Virginia to a 9-2 win over Lakewood on Friday night. Garcia took a perfect game into the fifth inning before he walked the leadoff man to end the bid. However, the all-star retired each of the next three batters he faced but had to leave the game due to an innings limit. The no-hitter was ultimately broken up in the seventh inning with a leadoff single by Cord Sandberg. Offensively, Connor Joe launched his first career home run with two outs in the fourth to make it a 2-0 game and the Power offense broke the game open with six runs between the fifth and sixth. All ten batters for West Virginia had at least one hit with Tyler Filliben leading the charge with a 3-for-5 including two doubles and two RBIs.

VIEW FROM THE TOP: With Thursday's win, the Power have extended their division lead to five games over the BlueClaws who fell to third place. West Virginia is5-3 over the first eight games of the season series against Lakewood, including six games played at FirstEnergy Park. The Power will host the final six games of the season set.

TRACE AND ERIK UP: Prior to last night's game the Pittsburgh Pirates promoted Power infielder Trace Tam Sing to the Bradenton Marauders. Tam Sing was hit .210 with the Power in 28 games with 21 RBIs. In a corresponding roster move, Erik Forgione was promoted from the West Virginia Black Bears. Forgione played one game with the Power in early April and hit .171 in 14 games in Morgantown. Forgione picked up an infield single in the eighth inning of Friday's win.

JONESING FOR RELIEF: Former Power shortstop JaCoby Jones was traded to the Detroit Tigers on Thursday for closer Joakim Soria. Jones, an end of year All-Star for West Virginia in 2014, had just been promoted to Double-A Altoona. The shortstop hit .288 for the Power last year with 23 home runs, second most by a West Virginia player in any single season. Jones went 0-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in his debut with the Tigers organization on Friday.

HOME SWEET HOME: West Virginia has more home wins and fewer home losses than any other club in the South Atlantic League this season. The Power are 35-18 at home and average 4.8 runs per game at Appalachian Power Park this season. West Virginia is 26-24 on the road and averages 4.3 runs per game on the road.

STILL GOING: Jordan Luplow and Tito Polo are each riding 17-game on-base streaks. These on-base streaks are season-bests for both players. Luplow's on-base streak began on July 12 while Polo's started prior to his participation in the Pan-Am games on June 25.

LITHUANIAN LIGHTING: Dovydas Neverauskas continues to excel as a member of the Power bullpen, having earned his second career save on Monday, one month to the day after he earned his first. The Lithuanian native has made 12 relief appearances and has a 1.24 earned run average since shifting to the bullpen. Neverauskas has also strung together 14 consecutive scoreless innings, having last allowed two runs in an inning on June 30 at Kannapolis.

PROMO UPDATE- AUGUST 4: Tuesday's game features a guest appearance by NASCAR Infinity drive and West Virginia native Cale Conley. Conley will be signing autographs and throwing out the first pitch on a Tailgate Tuesday.

POWER POINTS: Nick Neumann is three saves away from passing Nathan Kilcrease's franchise mark of 15 set during the 2012 season... .West Virginia hit 61 wins this season faster than any other club during the Pirates-affiliated era...The 18 hits by the Power on Friday night were the most in a game since August 16 at Lexington in 2014.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Starling Marte's two defensive gems in the ninth inning preserved Pittsburgh's 5-4 win over Cincinnati...Dan Gamache scored a run in his Triple-A debut, helping Indianapolis to a 5-1 win over Charlotte...Matt Benedict was tagged for 12 runs over 4.2 innings in Altoona's loss against Akron...Austin Meadows hit a two-run blast in the first inning to lead the Marauders to a 5-4 win over Tampa in game one of the doubleheader and Harold Ramirez drove in two and scored twice in the nightcap of a 5-3 Bradenton victory.

ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on Charleston's ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. Adam Marco will call the action once again and will be joined by Mike Baggerman when the team plays at Appalachian Power Park.

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