Game 124 Preview: Power vs. Suns
Game #124 — Home Game #61
Hagerstown Suns (25–28, 55–68) at West Virginia Power (25–28, 62–61)
Friday, August 16–7:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.Va.)
SANDERS’ LONG BALL NOT ENOUGH IN 6–3 LOSS: Matt Sanders drilled his fourth home run with the Power, but Hagerstown was able to pull away with three runs in the eighth inning to hand West Virginia a 6–3 loss in the series opener at Appalachian Power Park Thursday evening. The Suns got on the board first in the opening frame, adding two runs to their tally on a Jacob Rhinesmith fielder’s choice and a Nic Perkins RBI double. Jackson Rutledge managed to work calmly through the first two innings, setting down all six men he faced. The Power broke through in the fourth frame on a sacrifice fly from Sanders and a wild pitch by Rutledge that tied the game at two. The Suns got a run in the sixth, undoing the tie on a groundout by Jackson Cluff, but Sanders knotted the game back up at three with his solo blast, counting for his fifth home run overall this year. Ben Onyshko fired three solid innings of relief, but Sal Biasi allowed Hagerstown to notch three runs on two hits in his lone inning of work, while Joan Adon tossed four strong for the Suns.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Josias De Los Santos (4–6, 4.67 ERA) takes the hill for West Virginia, while LHP Jackson Stoeckinger (1–2, 3.60 ERA) gets the ball for Hagerstown.
De Los Santos enters Friday’s matchup with three quality starts in his last four tries. Throughout the run for the 20-year-old hurler, he has tallied three straight wins and has not lost a decision since July 9th. In his only appearance against the Suns this season, De Los Santos allowed two runs over four innings of relief on June 14.
Stoeckinger makes just his eighth start of the season after spending the first three months of the season in the bullpen. Since moving to the rotation, the southpaw has increased his innings workload in each start and tossed quality starts in two of his last three outings. The 23-year-old hurled three innings against the Power on June 16 and surrendered one unearned run on just one hit.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Billy Cooke — CF
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Matt Sanders — SS
Austin Shenton — 2B
Onil Pena — DH
Charlie McConnell — RF
Nick Rodriguez — 1B
Manny Pazos — C
Josias De Los Santos — RHP
GAME NOTES:
IN CASE YOU WONDERED WHERE HE WENT: Prior to Thursday’s series opener with the Suns, the Mariners sent out the news that outfielder Julio Rodriguez had been promoted to Modesto. During his time in West Virginia, Rodriguez accounted for a .293 average and blasted 10 homers while collecting 50 RBI in 67 games. He was able to escape the South Atlantic League after hitting safely in 14 of his last 17 games, with eight multi-hit contests in that stretch. While he served as the team’s primary right fielder, J-Rod left with the third-highest average and RBI on the team (4th in HRs).
FEEL LIKE THIS DOESN’T GET REFERENCED ENOUGH: Bryan Pall was phenomenal last night during the only inning of work he turned in, setting down the Suns 1–2–3 and notching a strikeout. Pall is on a bit of a streak lately, racking up 10 consecutive scoreless innings while only ceding six hits and recording 10 strikeouts compared to four walks.
JUST KEEP ON DEALING: Following a very rough stretch for Onyshko when he allowed 11 earned runs over nine ominous innings of work (11.00 ERA) from July 13–27, the southpaw reliever has settled into a rather nice rhythm. He has given up just one earned run in his last 10 innings on the hill, striking out 15 men compared to one walk and narrowing his ERA to below 4.00 for the first time since July 16. Since his nice run began, the former Stetson southpaw sports a 0.90 earned run average (August 1-Current).
THIS IS WHAT AN ACTUAL ALL-STAR DOES: Dayeison Arias has really turned it on over his last few outings, issuing seven consecutive hitless innings with 11 strikeouts dating back to July 25. The right-hander’s 13 saves are nearing Nick Neumann’s Power-franchise record 17 saves in 19 opportunities in 2015. His 13 saves this year are also directly in third in the South Atlantic League (Jesus Tona, Augusta, 16) and second in the Mariners’ system, with Art Warren edging him out with 15 for Arkansas. Arias has only allowed an earned run in six of his 38 total appearances, and West Virginia really thrives when he comes into a game, winning the last nine contests he has appeared in.
EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS: Though he did not play in the entire Delmarva series, Bobby Honeyman let himself be heard back in the lineup Thursday, stroking a double and scoring a run. He has been really hot over the last six weeks, as across his last 33 games, Honeyman is boasting a .363 (49-for-135) clip, second-best in the SAL, along with two homers and 21 RBI. He also has notched a hit in 30 of those 34 contests. The former Stony Brook Seawolf still leads the team in qualified average with a .281 mark.
OH HEY, HOW YA DOIN?: The Power is in the midst of their only home series with the Suns in the 2019 season, narrowing their eight-game season series to a conclusion this weekend in Charleston, W.Va. West Virginia swept the legs out from under the Suns in their four-game series at The Muni that wrapped up the first half, with the Power posting yet another sweep, their fourth brooming of the first half, and outscoring Hagerstown by 13 runs overall.
POWER POINTS: Including the Seattle Mariners’ most recent promotion of Julio, the Power has now moved up the #1, 2 and 3 prospects in the Mariners’ system to High-A Modesto this year (Jarred Kelenic, 1; Julio, 2 and Logan Gilbert, 3)… The Power went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position Thursday, stranding seven men on base… Mike Salvatore turned West Virginia’s 83rd double play of the season, the second-lowest output in the South Atlantic League… Onil Pena recorded his 12th error of the year, and the Power’s 111th overall, though the team has the third-best fielding percentage in the SAL (.975)… Friday starter Josias De Los Santoshas tossed three quality starts over his last four trips to the mound, putting his ERA in that timeframe at 2.66 (7 ER/23.2 IP) with 20 strikeouts… Sanders now boasts a five-game hitting streak and counting after launching West Virginia’s 98th long ball in the sixth inning Thursday, third-most in the league.
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. Friday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
