Game 121 Preview: Power at Shorebirds
Game #121 — Road Game #62
West Virginia Power (25–25, 62–58) at Delmarva Shorebirds (31–18, 79–39)
Tuesday, August 13–7:05 p.m.
Arthur W. Perdue Stadium (Salisbury, Md.)
FOUR-RUN SEVENTH SPURS 4–2 WIN: Julio Rodriguez laced a go-ahead two-run double to cap a four-run seventh frame that vaulted the Power in front for good in a 4–2 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds Monday evening at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. Delmarva got on the board first against Nate Fisher in the third, as J.C. Encarnacion and Johnny Rizer stroked back-to-back singles for a 1–0 lead. Nick Horvath extended that lead in the fourth with a solo shot to left, making it 2–0 Shorebirds. Fisher avoided the big mistakes, however, and left after five innings with just two runs allowed on six hits. Sal Biasi entered in the sixth and retired the side in order in his first game back off the injured list, while West Virginia’s offense went to work in the seventh. With one down in the frame, Onil Pena reached on a fielding error and Mike Salvatore singled to put two on. Charlie McConnell moved them both into scoring position with a fly out to right, ending the night for Hector Guance. Ruben Garcia came on and immediately let up three straight hits, a pair of RBI singles to Ryan Ramiz and Matt Sanders, as well as Julio’s momentum-shifting double. Reeves Martin and Dayeison Arias took control from there, firing three scoreless innings to seal the come-from-behind win.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Ryne Inman (8–7, 4.39 ERA) heads to the hill for West Virginia, while RHP Dallas Litscher (2–0, 0.00 ERA) counters for Delmarva.
Inman is coming off arguably the greatest individual pitching performance in Power history with his nine-inning complete game shutout against Lakewood last week. In that outing, the righty tallied a career-high 12 strikeouts, which is tied for second-most in a single game by a starter in team history. The last time that Inman faced Delmarva, he tallied six innings of work and struck out nine in a quality start on July 21.
West Virginia sees a new face on the mound with Litscher, a 23-year-old will make his third start of the season for the Shorebirds and his fourth appearance overall. The righty has not surrendered an earned run in his 14.1 innings of work so far in the South Atlantic League. Litscher was the winning pitcher in each of his last two appearances, including a five-inning relief gig his last time out.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Matt Sanders — 3B
Julio Rodriguez — RF
Austin Shenton — DH
Onil Pena — 1B
Mike Salvatore — SS
Nick Rodriguez — 2B
Charlie McConnell — CF
Manny Pazos — C
Ryne Inman — RHP
GAME NOTES:
JULIOOOOOOOO: Julio went 1-for-4 with his two-run double Monday, notching his 12th multi-RBI game of the year, tied with Ramiz for the most on the ballclub. Over his last 15 games (going back to July 27), Julio is averaging .361 (22-for-61), the fourth-highest mark in the SAL, (Bobby Honeyman is first, .415) with three homers and 11 RBI, and has a hit in 13 of those 15 games, including seven straight from August 1–8. The Mariners’ second-best prospect per MLB.com has seven multi-hit games during this run, as well as 24 overall with West Virginia, third-most on the team.
BRILLIANT BULLPEN: West Virginia’s bullpen has been marvelous over the first five games of their road trip in Lakewood and Delmarva, recording a 1.04 ERA over 17.1 innings of work, during which they ceded just two earned runs while scattering 15 hits and striking out 14 batters while issuing just one walk. The Power’s second-half bullpen ERA has dropped 37 points during this road trip.
DOMINANT DAYEISON: Arias has really turned it on over his last few outings, spinning seven consecutive hitless innings with 11 strikeouts dating back to July 25. The right-hander’s 13 saves are the most by a West Virginia reliever since Nick Neumann recorded a Power-franchise record 17 saves in 19 opportunities in 2015. His 13 saves are also third-most in the South Atlantic League (Jesus Tona, Augusta, 16) and in the Mariners’ system (Art Warren, Double-A Arkansas, 15). Arias has only allowed an earned run in six of his 38 total appearances, and the Power have won the last nine games he has appeared in. The righty has recorded the last six saves for West Virginia.
INMAN NAMED SAL PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Prior to Monday’s series opener with Delmarva, the South Atlantic League announced that Tuesday starter Ryne Inman had been tabbed as the league’s Pitcher of the Week after hurling the Power’s first-ever nine-inning complete game shutout in team history. In that game back on August 8, Inman ceded just three hits and struck out a career-best 12 batters, tied for the most by a West Virginia starter this year (Devin Sweet, July 28 at Rome). Inman is the second Power pitcher to win the league’s weekly honor (Clay Chandler, April 22–28).
HONEY BUNCHES OF HITS: Honeyman went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored Sunday, collecting his 30th multi-hit game of the season, which leads all Power sluggers. Over his last 33 games, Honeyman is boasting a .366 (48-for-131) clip, third-best in the SAL, with two homers and 21 RBI. He also has notched a hit in 29 of those 33 contests.
FINALLY BACK ON THE SHORE: For this first time in nearly two years, West Virginia has made the trip to Salisbury, Maryland, to face the Delmarva Shorebirds at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The last time the Power was in Salisbury, they took three of four from September 1–4, 2017, to close out the 2017 campaign, yet barely missed the playoffs. West Virginia has posted a winning record in Delmarva in every year they have played a series there since 2014. The Power will need to sweep the Shorebirds this week to secure their third consecutive overall winning record against Delmarva.
DOWN THE DIVISION-HEAVY STRETCH: West Virginia is in the midst of a division-heavy run to start the month of August, playing 14 of 18 games against the Northern Division. Following this stretch, which concludes after a four-game set with Hagerstown this weekend in Charleston, the Power will play seven of their final 14 games against divisional foes. West Virginia is 5–3 during this division gauntlet, but 29–33 overall and 16–19 in the second half.
POWER POINT: McConnell has not committed an error in 64 consecutive games (dating back to May 15 at Charleston).
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. Tuesday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
