SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

WV Power Game Notes

Published on June 29, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Lakewood BlueClaws (1-9, 28-51) at West Virginia Power (8-2, 28-50)

Game 79 | June 29, 2014 | Appalachian Power Park | Charleston, WV

Radio: Charleston's ESPN 104.5 & 1490 - wvpower.com Airtime: 1:45 pm

TODAY'S MATCH-UP

RH Julio Reyes (1-2, 3.28) vs. RH Justin Topa (3-4, 6.34)

Reyes: Allowed 1 R on 3 H over 2.1 IP in 6/24 ND @ GBO with 0 K and 0 BB (11-3 GBO)

Topa: Allowed 7 R on 7 H over 0.0 IP in 6/26 ND @ DEL with 0 K and 1 BB (8-7 Power)

THE LEAD OFF: West Virginia clinched at least a series split on Saturday night at Appalachian Power Park with a 4-3 win over the Lakewood BlueClaws. The 'Claws jumped out to the early advantage in the second when Jose Mayorga brought home a run with a sacrifice fly. West Virginia responded with a pair of tallies in the third behind a Harold Ramirez RBI triple. Lakewood took the lead back with one in the fourth and sixth. The Power, however, would answer again when Ashley Ponce doubled in JaCoby Jones and Jeff Roy's RBI base knock brought home Ponce. Power hurler Dovydas Neverauskas picked up his team-best fourth win and Isaac Sanchez notched his fifth save.

ON TO THE NEXT ONE: Harold Ramirez collected three hits with a run batted in on Saturday and extended his hitting streak to 20 consecutive games. The outfielder has raised his average from .269 to .303 during the streak. Ramirez has now passed Reese McGuire's May streak as the longest by a Power player this year. Ramirez is two hits shy of tying Asheville's Pat Valaika's South Atlantic League season-best hit streak at 22 games.

UNLEASH THE CRACKIN': West Virginia is 81-65 against Lakewood all-time after taking three out of four from the BlueClaws over the opening weekend of the second half and opening a four-game series with a pair of wins. The Power have won or split each series at Lakewood since the 2010 season and do not return to FirstEnergy Park this season. West Virginia is 47-37 at home against Lakewood since 2005.

WINNING WAYS: The Power captured their season best fifth-win in a row with a victory over Lakewood on Saturday. The Power had also not won at home since May 25 against the BlueClaws (7-1) when West Virginia won on Friday night. West Virginia posted their second straight win at home for the second time this season on Saturday.

GOOD AND BAD NEWS: Pittsburgh placed Wyatt Mathisen on the Disabled List prior to Saturday's game with a leg injury. The third baseman is batting .263 over 74 games with three home runs and 24 RBIs. JaCoby Jones was activated from the Power Disabled List prior to Saturday's game. Jones was placed on the DL retroactive to June 21 with a left knee injury. The shortstop, a third round pick in 2013, is hitting .259 with a team best 8 home runs this season while playing in 68 games.

TOPA BACK: Justin Topa will make his return to the rotation on Sunday afternoon. Topa last started on June 8 before heading to the Disabled list. Topa was activated on Thursday and made his return to the team from the bullpen, retiring no batters and allowing seven runs on seven hits against Delmarva.

BETTER TOGETHER: The West Virginia Power had two double-digit hit streaks heading into Saturday night's matchup in a Chris Diaz 10-game hit streak and Harold Ramirez 19-game. Diaz had his streak snapped going 0-for-3 while Ramirez extended to 20 games. Edwin Espinal did keep his streak alive at 9 games with a single.

PROMO UPDATE- JULY 3: The West Virginia Power will wrap up the homestand on Thursday, July 3, at Appalachian Power Park with a special 6:05 first pitch. Post-game will feature Independence Day themed fireworks as well as a concert by Red Wanting Blue.

POWER POINTS: West Virginia is 10-18 in one-run games this season. No other club in the league has played as many one-run games as West Virginia has this year... Jeff Roy stole his second and third bags of the season on Friday night while posting his first two-hit performance with the Power.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh dropped a 5-3 final to the New York Mets at PNC Park. Gerrit Cole was charged with the loss in his return to the Pirate rotation, allowing five runs on seven hits in four innings... Indianapolis was edged by Louisville 2-1... Altoona fell to Binghampton 8-7... Dilson Herrera homered in the game for the Mets while Elias Diaz went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI... Bradenton was ousted by St. Lucie 4-3. Jordan Steranka blasted his fifth home run of the season in the loss... Jamestown toppled Mahoning Valley 12-5. Michael Fransoso brought home three with an RBI triple in the Jammer 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.

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 29, 2014


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