SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

WV Power Game Notes: August 21, 2015 vs. Lakewood

Published on August 21, 2015 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Lakewood BlueClaws (30-23, 63-58) at West Virginia Power (36-17, 73-49)

Game 123 | August 21, 2015 | Appalachian Power Park | Charleston, WV

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

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UP

RH Will Morris (5-0, 1.74) vs. RH Yeudy Garcia (12-5, 2.26)

Morris: Worked 7.0 shutout IP with seven hits, BB, and 2 K in 8/15 W @ DEL (8-1 BlueClaws)

Garcia: Allowed one hit over 5.0 shutout IP with BB and 3 K in 8/16 W @ HIC (3-1 Power)

THE LEADOFF: West Virginia dropped the opening game of the series to the Lakewood BlueClaws by a 6-4 final on Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park. Stephen Tarpley started slow in his outing and gave up two runs on three doubles in the first. After the Power took the lead with a three-run fourth inning to make it 4-2, Tarpley gave up a run in the fifth then surrendered a three-run home run to Deivi Grullon which gave Lakewood a 6-4 lead. The BlueClaws bullpen held the Power in check with just one hit over the final five innings. Elvis Escobar finished the game with a pair of doubles and two RBIs while Pablo Reyes had a double, two RBIs, and a pair of runs in the loss.

OH NO, IT'S THE CLAW: The Power continue their final series against Lakewood. The Power are 6-5 against the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate this season and can ensure a winning record against Lakewood with two victories. West Virginia leads the all-time series 88-72. These two teams last met from July 30 to August 2 and the Power took three of four. The BlueClaws are currently six games back in the Northern Division.

HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: West Virginia's offense has had at least nine hits in 17 of the 19 games played this month and have the league's best batting average this month at .307. The next closest team is the Lexington Legends who are hitting .302 this month. Elvis Escobar has the best batting average among everyday starters with a .398 clip. Eight different hitters are batting above .300 this month.

THE ODDS ARE IN OUR FAVOR: The Power have not lost back-to-back games since July 10-11 in Greensboro. The last time West Virginia fell in two consecutive home games was June 14 (game two) and June 15 against the Augusta Greenjackets.

WHOA OH OH, IT'S MAGIC: The Power have a magic number of 12 heading into play tonight. Any combination of 12 Power victories or Lakewood losses will guarantee a postseason berth for the Power. Hickory's elimination number is at 11. The only team in the league who has been eliminated from postseason contention are the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

KINGSMAN: Jerrick Suiter currently leads the team with a .302 batting average which also ranks seventh in the South Atlantic League. The last player to hit over .300 for West Virginia with enough at bats to win a batting title was Walker Gourley (.304) in 2013. The current batting leader in the league is Asheville's Shane Hoelscher who is hitting .320.

ON TO THE NEXT ONE: The West Virginia Power will unveil their 2016 schedule on August 25. Schedule magnets with the match-ups and dates will be given away on August 31.

PROMO UPDATE- AUGUST 22: WVU's Major Harris and Marshall's Michael Payton will be in attendance for Football Night at Appalachian Power Park tomorrow. Additionally, the first 1,000 fans will receive a backpack cooler presented by WV American Water and BirdZerk will pay a visit to Charleston to entertain the fans.

POWER POINTS: The Power have committed 104 errors this season and own the fewest errors in the league this season. The league record for the fewest errors is 107, set by Augusta in the 2013 season over 137 games... The Power have the most wins (41) at home in all of Low-A ball...West Virginia is one win shy of matching the win total from the 2006 club (74-62)

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: The Pirates shutout Arizona 4-0. Charlie Morton went 6.2 innings with eight strikeouts and Neil Walker hit a two-run home run...Indianapolis and Charlotte were postponed and will makeup the game with a doubleheader tonight...Altoona's offense shelled Portland with a six-run second to back a solid pitching effort by Steven Brault in a 7-2 victory...Bradenton mustered three hits in a 1-0 loss to Fort Myers...Kevin Kramer had four hits in the Black Bears' 6-4 victory against Auburn.

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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