Game #107 Preview — Power vs. Augusta
Game #107 — Home Game #57
Augusta GreenJackets (16–24, 53–55) vs. WV Power (18–22, 55–51)
Saturday, August 4–6:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.V.)
FIVE-RUN SIXTH SURGES POWER TO 6–2 WIN: West Virginia’s offense came to life in the sixth inning to support another stellar outing from Max Kranick as the Power cruised to a 6–2 win over the Augusta GreenJackets. Kranick set down the first 12 men he faced before allowing a leadoff double to Manuel Geraldo in the fifth. Augusta later brought in Geraldo on a sacrifice fly by Orlando Garcia to take a short-lived 1–0 lead. West Virginia responded in the bottom of the sixth, sending eight men to the plate against new GreenJackets reliever Tyler Schimpf. The first four men to the dish, Lolo Sanchez, Calvin Mitchell, Raul Hernandez and Robbie Glendinning, all singled, with Hernandez’s knock tying the game at one. The next batter, Rafelin Lorenzo, lofted a sacrifice fly that sent in Mitchell before Hernandez came in on a sacrifice bunt and a fielding error to make it 3–1 Power. Rob Calabrese then airmailed a throw into center trying to catch Fabricio Macias stealing second, which allowed Glendinning to trot home, while Macias scored on a wild pitch a few moments later to cap the frame. Oneil Cruz added an insurance run with a solo homer in the seventh, while Oddy Nunez finished off Augusta with three relief innings, fanning two and ceding one run.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: LHP Domingo Robles (8–6, 3.11 ERA) heads to the mound for West Virginia, while Augusta counters with lefty Caleb Baragar (0–1, 3.61 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Oneil Cruz — SS
Lolo Sanchez — CF
Cal Mitchell — RF
Deon Stafford — C
Raul Hernandez — DH
Robbie Glendinning — 2B
Jesse Medrano — 3B
Ben Bengtson — 1B
Fabricio Macias — LF
Domingo Robles — LHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
JUST LIKE A PERFECT 36 ON THE ACT: Over West Virginia’s last six games, every starter has gone at least five innings and allowed no more than two runs or six hits. In these last six starts, the Power’s starting staff has allowed a total of six runs on 20 hits over 36 innings pitched with 25 strikeouts, good for a 1.50 ERA. West Virginia’s starters have tossed five quality starts over their last six outings. Here’s a look at their recent performances:
Sunday, July 29 vs. Asheville: Kranick — 6 IP, 1H, 0R, 6K
Monday, July 30 at Columbia: Domingo Robles — 7 IP, 4H, 1R, 2K
Tuesday, July 31 at Columbia: Hunter Stratton — 5 IP, 3H, 1R, 3K
Wednesday, August 1 at Columbia: Sergio Cubilete — 6 IP, 3H, 1R, 3K
Thursday, August 2 vs. Augusta: Travis MacGregor — 6 IP, 6H, 2R, 3K
Friday, August 3 vs. Augusta: Kranick — 6 IP, 3H, 1R, 8K
THIS IS A+ WORK, MAX: Kranick turned in another phenomenal performance Friday, taking a perfect game into the fifth inning one start after working five perfect frames against Asheville July 29 at Appalachian Power Park. Over his last two starts, the Pennsylvania native has allowed one run on four hits over 12 innings of work (0.75 ERA) while striking out 14 batters. Kranick has now thrown back-to-back quality starts for the first time in his professional career.
NEAR THE TOP OF HIS CLASS: Cruz mashed his team-leading 14th home run of the season Friday night with a missile to left-center field in the seventh. Cruz’s 14th dinger tied him with Advanced-A Bradenton’s Hunter Owen for the second-most home runs in the Pirates’ system (Will Craig, 18, Double-A Altoona). The last Power batter to hit more than 14 home runs in a season was former shortstop JaCoby Jones, who stroked 23 long balls in 2014. Over his last 11 games, Cruz has registered six multi-hit affairs, including three straight from July 28 to July 30. In those 11 contests, the Dominican native is batting .333 (14-for-42) with three home runs, six RBI and seven runs scored. He was also recently tabbed as the 10th-best shortstop in all of Minor League Baseball according to MLB.com.
ON “BASE” TO GRADUATE: After slumping for a majority of July, Mitchell has started to find his stroke again. The Pirates’ 10th-best prospect per MLB.com has reached safely in each of his last 15 games, tying his season-high, while recording a hit in 10 of his last 12. Over those last 15 games, Mitchell is averaging .300 (15-for-50) with three RBI. West Virginia’s longest on-base streak of the season is Chris Sharpe’s 18-game stretch from April 18 to May 9.
SAVED BY THE BELL: Nunez locked down the second save of his professional career last night with his three-inning relief stint. Since joining the Power July 23 from Advanced-A Bradenton, Nunez has spun six innings and given up one run on six hits while striking out three. With the Marauders, Nunez was 4–9 with a 4.70 ERA in 19 games (17 starts).
“BIG”GER THAN PROM NIGHT: With its five-run sixth inning Friday, West Virginia tallied its ninth “big inning” (scoring five or more runs in a frame) of the season. The most runs the Power have scored in a single inning this season is seven, which the team has accomplished twice (April 14, 7 in 9th at Hickory and April 21, 7 in 8th vs. Asheville).
FINAL EXAMS: Macias swiped his second stolen base in affiliated Minor League Baseball… West Virginia went 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position… Sanchez registered his 19th multi-hit game, while Hernandez posted his sixth.
ON THE AIR: West Virginia 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. Saturday’s pregame coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
