Game #127 Preview — Power vs. Suns
Game #127 — Home Game #66
Hagerstown Suns (24–34, 51–75) vs. WV Power (30–30, 67–59)
Tuesday, August 28–7:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.V.)
FIVE-RUN SECOND GUIDES POWER TO 7–2 WIN: West Virginia’s offense came alive early to back a quality start from Ike Schlabach as the Power cruised to a 7–2 win over the Hagerstown Suns in the series opener Monday evening at Appalachian Power Park. West Virginia posted a big second frame as all nine men came to the plate, with Calvin Mitchell providing the huge knock with a three-run double to left after two runs scored earlier in the inning on two bases-loaded walks. Hagerstown tacked on a run in the fourth inning against Schlabach, but the Power stormed back for two more in the sixth on Raul Hernandez’s RBI double and Robbie Glendinning’s run-scoring single to make it 7–1 West Virginia after five. Schlabach minimized the damage over six innings of work, allowing two runs on six hits for his second quality start of the season. He struck out five and walked three over a career-high 95 pitches. Newcomer Ryan Valdes took over from there, tossing the final three innings and ceding just two hits to pick up the save.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: LHP Oddy Nunez (0–0, 1.88 ERA) gets the nod for West Virginia, while Hagerstown counters with lefty Jackson Stoeckinger (2–5, 7.16 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Travis Swaggerty — CF
Connor Kaiser — SS
Cal Mitchell — RF
Deon Stafford — C
Raul Hernandez — DH
Robbie Glendinning — 2B
Jesse Medrano — 3B
Luke Mangieri — 1B
Lolo Sanchez — LF
Oddy Nunez— LHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
THE BIG INNING: With its five-run second inning Monday evening, West Virginia tallied its 11th “big inning” (scoring five or more runs in a frame) of the 2018 campaign. 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 the 9th at Hickory and April 21, 7 in the 8th vs. Asheville). West Virginia has now posted three big innings in the month of August (August 3 vs. Augusta and August 20 vs. Charleston), as well as three big innings against Hagerstown (June 30 and July 3 at Hagerstown).
STREAKING SANCHEZ: Lolo Sanchez has really picked up his average in August. After going 1-for-3 in the series opener against Hagerstown, Sanchez’s August clip is at .333 (22-for-66) with six RBI over 20 games, his best monthly average of the season by 35 points. The outfielder swiped his team-leading 29th stolen base of the season Monday evening. Sanchez has now stolen more bases than any Power player over the last three seasons. The last Power player to steal more than 29 bases in a season was Tito Polo in 2015, when he took 46 bases over 102 games.
VALDES SHINES IN DEBUT: Valdes was excellent in his South Atlantic League debut Monday night, picking up his first save in the SAL, and the third of his career, after spinning three scoreless frames to finish off the Power’s 7–2 win. Valdes came just one-third of an inning shy of tying his career-high in innings that he set June 28 with the Black Bears.
MULTI-HIT MITCHELL: Mitchell went 2-for-4 with three RBI in Monday’s series opener against Hagerstown. The California native recorded his 30th multi-hit game of the season, which is tied with Oneil Cruz for the most on the team. Mitchell also notched his 13th multi-RBI affair, trailing just Cruz (15) for the most on the Power in 2018.
THAT’S GOOD STUFF MATE: Glendinning went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored Monday night, tallying his 7th multi-hit game, and fourth three-hit game, since joining the Power. The Australia native has also reached base safely in each of his last nine games. In that span, Glendinning is averaging .303 (10-for-33) with a homer and six RBI.
CRUZ AND MITCHELL HONORED: Cruz and Mitchell have been named South Atlantic League Annual All-Stars, the league announced Tuesday afternoon. Cruz was tabbed as the league’s Most Outstanding Major League prospect and best shortstop, while Mitchell was selected as the top designated hitter in the SAL. The last Power player to be crowned the league’s Most Outstanding Major League prospect was Gregory Polanco in 2012, while Jacoby Joneswas the club’s last Annual All-Star shortstop in 2014. Cruz continues to pace the team in all three Triple Crown categories, while Mitchell sits close behind him with a .279 average, nine homers and 57 RBI over 112 games.
YOU CAN COUNT ON CONNOR: Connor Kaiser has been a very consistent member of West Virginia’s line-up after joining the Power August 15 from the Black Bears. The 2018 third-round pick is riding an eight-game hitting streak since August 16, during which he is averaging .364 (12-for-33) with two doubles, five RBI and four multi-hit games.
PLAYOFF PUSH: The Intimidators dropped their opener against the Asheville Tourists in extra innings Monday, allowing West Virginia to pull within one game of Kannapolis in the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division Wild Card race with seven games remaining in the 2018 regular season. A Power win and an Intimidators’ loss tonight would vault West Virginia in front of Kannapolis by a mere thousandth of a percentage point.
POWER POINTS: West Virginia is 31–1 when scoring seven or more runs in 2018… The Power is 27–16 when their starter goes six innings or more… West Virginia is 10–6 when both teams have the same number of hits in a contest.
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. Tuesday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
