Game 100 Preview: Power vs. Shorebirds
Game #100 — Home Game #51
Delmarva Shorebirds (20–9, 68–30) at West Virginia Power (14–15, 51–48)
Saturday, July 20–6:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.Va.)
DELMARVA RALLIES LATE AGAIN TO SINK POWER: West Virginia jumped out to another early lead, but the Delmarva Shorebirds scored six runs over the final three frames to down the Power, 9–5, Saturday evening at Appalachian Power Park. For the second straight night, West Virginia struck in the opening frame, as Bobby Honeyman laced an RBI single to score Julio Rodriguezwith two down for a 1–0 lead. Mike Salvatore kept the offense rolling in the second, launching his first professional home run with two down to double the Power’s lead to 2–0. Meanwhile, Josias De Los Santos continued his hot streak against Delmarva, shutting them down over the first four innings. However, the Shorebirds got to him in the fifth, striking for three runs on an RBI single from Robert Neustrom and a two-run double by Seamus Curran to snag a 3–2 lead. West Virginia responded immediately though, with Matt Sanders doubling in a pair in the home half of the inning to knock Drew Rom out of the ballgame, who finished with a career-high nine strikeouts. The Power extended their lead back to two in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Salvatore, but then Delmarva went to work against the bullpen. The Shorebirds tagged Ben Onyshko with five runs on six hits across the seventh and the eighth innings, taking a commanding 9–5 lead, while Felix Bautista slammed the door on West Virginia with two hitless frames. Travis Kuhn spun the final 1.1 innings for the Power and ceded just one hit while striking out three.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
LHP Nate Fisher makes his Low-A debut for West Virginia, while Delmarva opposes with RHP Grayson Rodriguez (7–2, 2.15 ERA).
Fisher, a former Nebraska Cornhusker, is making just his second career Minor League start after going undrafted in June. Through 16.1 innings pitched with Everett, the southpaw fanned 23 hitters and walked just two. He allowed just one unearned run in his first pro start July 8 against Vancouver.
Rodriguez, the top prospect in the Orioles organization, takes the mound for the Shorebirds. The №52 prospect in baseball enters with just two earned runs against him in his last four starts. This outing is his second start of the season against the Power after he tossed four scoreless innings and struck out six batters back on June 10 in a no-decision.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz — DH
Matt Sanders — 2B
Julio Rodriguez — RF
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Austin Shenton — LF
Dean Nevarez — C
Onil Pena — 1B
Mike Salvatore — SS
Charlie McConnell — CF
Nate Fisher — LHP
GAME NOTES:
GOING STREAKING: Thanks to his first-inning single that brought in the Power’s first run, Honeyman extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest active streak on the team. In this span, the infielder is averaging .349 (22-for-63) with a home run, eight RBI and nine runs scored, and has only struck out seven times. In fact, Honeyman has only fanned seven times over his last 19 games, stretching across 82 at-bats (9%). His strikeout last night snapped a streak of six consecutive games where he did not go down via the K. Honeyman is in the midst of his third hitting streak of eight games or more this season (May 13–20 and May 24-June 2 with identical .344 averages). The Stony Brook product is one of two batters with a hitting streak of 15 games or more this year (Jarred Kelenic, 18 games, April 11-May 2). Honeyman also collected his 21st multi-hit game of the season, second-most among all Power players (Joseph Rosa, 23).
RAH-RAH-RAH-RAMIZ: Ryan Ramiz has continued to uptick his offense over the last few weeks, hitting safely in 14 of his last 17 games dating back to June 30. In that stretch, the New Jersey native is averaging .319 (23-for-72) with four homers, 13 RBI, 11 runs scored and eight walks. With his base knock yesterday, Ramiz pushed his hitting streak to eight games, riding the eighth hitting streak of eight games or more by a Power player this season. Across this eight-game stretch (dating back to July 12), the Seton Hall product is averaging .387 (12-for-31) with two homers and six RBI.
THE LONG BALL: Salvatore’s first professional home run notched West Virginia’s 83rd long ball of the season, third-most in the South Atlantic League (Greensboro, 102 and Hickory, 112). The former Florida State Seminole is the 20th Power player to leave the yard this year. As a team, West Virginia has thrived with the deep shot at Appalachian Power Park, crushing 47 bombs in 50 home games this season, also the third-best mark in the league (Greensboro, 59 and Hickory, 68).
FISHER SET FOR LOW-A DEBUT SATURDAY: For the second time this homestand, the Power will send a Mariners’ 2019 free agent signee to the bump for their Low-A debut, with LHP Nate Fisher getting the ball Saturday night. The former Cornhusker was elevated to West Virginia after RHP Clay Chandler was promoted to High-A Modesto Wednesday night, the third starting pitcher for the Power this season to move up (Logan Gilbert and Steven Moyers). Fisher was 0–1 with a 2.20 ERA in seven games (one start) with Short-Season Everett before his promotion, and made his first pro start last time out July 8, holding Vancouver to one unearned run on five hits with four strikeouts.
CHANDLER PROMOTED: Following the Power’s series finale with Columbia, the Seattle Mariners announced that RHP Clay Chandler had been promoted to High-A Modesto. The Kentucky native leaves the South Atlantic League with an 8–5 record and a 3.89 ERA in 19 starts, while compiling 104 strikeouts compared to 18 walks in 111.0 innings of work. The SAL Midseason All-Star was tied for the second-most wins in the league, while his strikeouts were tied for sixth-highest and his innings were third-most.
POWER POINTS: Charlie McConnell has not committed an error in 48 consecutive games (May 15 at Charleston)… Kyle Hillpicked up his first professional hold after allowing only one hit in 1.1 innings Friday… Jake Anchia is currently mired in a 2-for-27 (.074) slump, notching just one RBI since July 7 while striking out 16 times… Onil Pena is hitless in his last 12 at-bats with nine strikeouts… Onyshko coughed up a career-high five earned runs and six hits Friday night.
ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on The Jock 1300 and 1340 AM in the Kanawha Valley, online at wvpower.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. David Kahn and Kyle Youmans will handle play-by-play duties in 2019. Saturday’s pregame coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
