Game 126 Preview: Power vs. Suns
Game #126— Home Game #63
Hagerstown Suns (27–28, 57–68) at West Virginia Power (25–30, 62–63)
Sunday, August 18–2:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.Va.)
MARTIN SHINES IN DEBUT DESPITE LOSS: Matt Martin hurled a quality start in his Low-A debut, but Hagerstown rallied late to hand the Power a 4–1 loss for the second straight game Saturday night at Appalachian Power Park. Martin held the Suns to two hits over his six innings of work, while West Virginia mustered just one run against Tomas Alastre, when Austin Shenton smashed a ball to the right-center field wall that took an awkward carom and allowed him to come around for an inside-the-park home run in the fourth. However, the Suns’ bullpen silenced the Power, with Alex Troop firing 3.1 innings of one-hit baseball and striking out a pair. Meanwhile, Brendan McGuigan looked sharper in his second pro outing, but was tabbed with four unearned runs in part due to a pair of fielding errors by Bobby Honeyman and Shenton that extended the seventh and ninth innings. Hagerstown ultimately charged ahead for good with three two-out runs in the ninth to take the game and the series.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Bernie Martinez makes his Low-A debut for West Virginia, while RHP Jake Irvin (6–7, 4.04 ERA) toes the rubber for Hagerstown.
Martinez posted a 2–0 record with a 0.59 ERA in 13 outings with Everett this season. In 30.1 innings, Martinez conceded just two earned runs on 15 hits and struck out 39 batters while walking just two.
Irvin makes his 23rd start for the Suns and his first start against the Power this season. The 22-year-old has lasted at least five innings through each of his starts in the second half. Last time out, the righty tossed five innings and gave up one earned run on five hits in a no-decision against the Lakewood BlueClaws.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Billy Cooke — CF
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Matt Sanders — 2B
Austin Shenton — DH
Dean Nevarez — C
Charlie McConnell — RF
Mike Salvatore — SS
Nick Rodriguez — 1B
Bernie Martinez — RHP
GAME NOTES:
ALL-STAR NUMBERS: Though he did not play in the entire Delmarva series, Honeyman has picked up right where he left off over the first three 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 36 games, Honeyman is boasting a .359 (51-for-142) clip, tied for the best average in the South Atlantic League during this span, along with two homers and 21 RBI. He also has notched a hit in 32 of those 36 contests.
MAGIC MARTIN: Martin was brilliant in his Low-A debut for West Virginia, only allowing three total baserunners on two hits and a walk while striking out four men. He turned in three 1–2–3 innings and needed just 84 pitches to get through his six innings of work and record his first pro quality start. Across his time between Everett and the Power, the Florida Southern College product has now fanned 39 batters compared to just 16 walks over 46 innings of work.
A SOMEWHAT RARE FEAT: Shenton’s trip around the bases marked the Power’s first inside-the-park homer this season, and their first since Lolo Sanchez sped around the pathways April 10, 2018, against the Lakewood BlueClaws. Though inside-the-park home runs are rather rare, West Virginia has had quite a few of them recently, with Shenton’s marking the fourth for the Power in the last four years (Casey Hughston, July 14, 2016, vs. Augusta and John Bormann, June 18, 2016 vs. Charleston). West Virginia now has seven inside-the-park home runs in Power history, all coming in 2014 or later, and all occurring at Appalachian Power Park.
THE LONG BALL: Shenton’s homer is West Virginia’s 100th of the season, making the 2019 club the fourth team in Power history to reach the 100-homer plateau (2007, 128; 2010, 105; and 2012, 102). West Virginia’s 100 home runs are third-best in the South Atlantic League, trailing Greensboro (136) and Hickory (117). The Power has now hit 57 homers in 62 games at Appalachian Power Park, the fourth-highest home long ball mark in the league (Hickory, 79).
ARIAS PROMOTED: Following Saturday’s game, the Seattle Mariners announced reliever Dayeison Arias had been promoted to the High-A Modesto Nuts. The West Virginia closer really turned it on over his last few outings with the Power, issuing eight consecutive scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts dating back to July 25. The right-hander’s 13 saves are the most by a West Virginia reliever since Nick Neumann’s Power-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 only allowed an earned run in six of his 39 total appearances.
WELCOME TO WEST VIRGINIA: In corresponding moves to Arias’ promotion, as well as RHP Ryne Inman being placed on the seven day injured list, RHPs Bernie Martinez and Juan Then were added to the Power’s active roster last night. Martinez will make his Low-A debut this afternoon, while Then is slated to start the middle match of the team’s series in Charleston, S.C. Martinez is a 2019 non-drafted free agent signee that has spent his entire pro career in the bullpen between the AZL and Everett, posting a 2–0 record and a miniscule 0.59 ERA in 13 games. Then, meanwhile, is 0–3 with a 3.34 ERA in eight games (six starts) between the AZL and Everett. Then was dealt back to Seattle in June of this year in the deal for Edwin Encarnacion after the Mariners traded him back in 2017 to the Yankees.
POWER POINTS: West Virginia went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight men on base… Charlie McConnell has not committed an error in 69 consecutive games (May 15 at Charleston)… McConnell picked up his 18th multi-hit game of the season Saturday… Matt Sanders saw his six-game hitting streak snapped after going 0-for-3.
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. Sunday’s pregame coverage begins at 1:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
