Game 125 Preview: Power vs. Suns
Game #125 — Home Game #62
Hagerstown Suns (26–28, 56–68) at West Virginia Power (25–29, 62–62)
Saturday, August 17–6:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.Va.)
DE LOS SANTOS UPSTAGED IN 4–1 LOSS: Josias De Los Santos spun his third consecutive quality start, but West Virginia’s offense could not string anything together, falling 4–1 to the Hagerstown Suns Friday evening at Appalachian Power Park. De Los Santos and Jackson Stoeckinger each tossed a pair of scoreless innings to begin their night, but the Suns managed to work a two-out rally on a walk and a two-run homer by Drew Mendoza that gave Hagerstown a 2–0 lead. The Power responded in the fourth, asBobby Honeyman led off the frame with a double, and, three batters later, Onil Pena tripled him in to bring West Virginia within one. De Los Santos buckled down and retired the last seven men he faced through the sixth, and Reeves Martin backed him up with a scoreless seventh. However, the Suns managed to snap his scoreless streak with two outs in the eighth, plating two more on a pair of RBI singles by Jacob Rhinesmith and Israel Pineda along with a throwing error by Nick Rodriguez. Pearson McMahan worked the Suns out of an eighth-inning jam that saw the tying run come to the plate, and twirled a perfect ninth to snag his second save.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Matt Martin makes his Low-A debut for West Virginia, while Hagerstown goes with RHP Tomas Alastre (4–12, 5.97 ERA).
Matt Martin makes his Power debut and first start at the Low-A level Saturday night. The right hander appeared in 11 games for Everett, all out of the bullpen, and posted a 4–2 record with a 4.28 ERA. The undrafted signee out of Florida Southern College has struck out 35 and walked 15 over 40 innings of work in his professional career.
Alastre makes his 23rd start for the Hagerstown Suns this season and his second against the Power. After a rocky start to the year, Alastre has not allowed more than three runs in each of his last four outings. In his lone start against the Power, he was tabbed for seven runs on nine hits over four innings and was handed the loss back on June 15.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz — DH
Billy Cooke — CF
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Matt Sanders — SS
Austin Shenton — 2B
Onil Pena — 1B
Charlie McConnell — RF
Manny Pazos — C
DeAires Moses — LF
Matt Martin— RHP
GAME NOTES:
THE LONGEST ROAD: Though he did not play in the entire Delmarva series, Honeyman has picked up right where he left off over the first two games of the Hagerstown set, stroking two doubles and scoring two runs. He has been really hot over the last six weeks, as across his last 35 games, Honeyman is boasting a .362 (50-for-138) clip, second-best in the South Atlantic League, along with two homers and 21 RBI. He also has notched a hit in 31 of those 35 contests.
BUILDING A CITY: Matt Sanders has continued to produce down the stretch for West Virginia, putting together a six-game hitting streak that dates back to August 11, during which he is averaging .400 (10-for-25) with a home run and four RBI. His three-hit night Friday was the fourth three-hit effort of his career (third with West Virginia), as well as his ninth multi-hit game since joining the Power. The infielder has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games (11-game hitting streak, July 28-August 9), boasting a .312 stroke, the 11th-best mark in the SAL, with three homers and 19 RBI.
DEALING OUT THE HEXES: De Los Santos has turned into one of the premier pitchers in West Virginia’s rotation, hurling his fourth quality start in his last five outings. After spiraling a six-inning start Friday night, De Los Santos holds a 2.73 ERA (9 ER/29.2 IP), the 10th-lowest ERA in the league in that span (July 25-Current), over his last five outings with 24 strikeouts compared to seven walks.
A SOLID EXPANSION PACK: Billy Cooke shined in his first game with the Power Friday night, going 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and a stolen base. Both of Cooke’s singles came on the first pitch he saw, one a sizzling base hit to right and another an infield single on a line drive to short. Cooke rejoined West Virginia August 15 after spending four days with the High-A Modesto Nuts and getting just two at-bats (0-for-2).
WHO IS THIS NEW SEAFARER?: RHP Matt Martin makes his Low-A debut for the Power Saturday night against the Hagerstown Suns after getting called up from Short-Season Everett August 15. A non-drafted free agent signee by the Mariners back on June 10 out of Florida Southern College, Martin appeared in 11 games for the AquaSox, all in relief, and went 4–2 with a 4.28 ERA. He struck out 35 batters compared to just 15 walks over 40 innings of work and locked down two of his three save opportunities.
DRAWING THE WINNING VICTORY POINT: Dayeison Arias has really turned it on over his last few outings, issuing eight consecutive scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts dating back to July 25. The right-hander’s 13 saves are nearing Nick Neumann’sPower-franchise record 17 saves in 19 opportunities in 2015. His 13 saves this year are also third-best 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 39 total appearances.
KNIGHTS VS. ROBBERS: 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: West Virginia went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight men on base… Pena recorded his second triple of the season, and the ninth of his career… De Los Santos and Arias’ errors were the first two miscues by a Power pitcher since July 13 (30 games)… Charlie McConnell has not committed an error in 68 games.
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.
