Game #128 Preview — Power vs. Suns
Game #128 — Home Game #67
Hagerstown Suns (24–35, 51–76) vs. WV Power (31–30, 68–59)
Wednesday, August 29–7:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.V.)
STAFFORD’S HOMER PUSHES POWER TO WIN: Deon Stafford lofted a go-ahead solo home run in the sixth inning that put West Virginia in front for good en route to a 5–2 win Tuesday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Stafford’s blast backed another quality start from Oddy Nunez, who tossed six innings and allowed just two hits while striking out four batters. The Power got on the board in the opening frame as Robbie Glendinning drove in a pair with a single to left. Hagerstown tied the game at two in the third, but Stafford’s homer broke the deadlock before Calvin Mitchell came through for the second straight night, this time in the seventh inning. After back-to-back one-out walks issued by Carlos Pena to Travis Swaggerty and Lolo Sanchez, Mitchell blooped a single to left that scored both runners and provided some much appreciated insurance for West Virginia. Cam Alldred and Beau Sulser finished off the game, spinning three scoreless frames and allowing just one hit while striking out three batters and walking one.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: RHP Sergio Cubilete (4–5, 5.63 ERA) toes the rubber for West Virginia, while Hagerstown counters with lefty Tim Cate (0–2, 9.00 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Connor Kaiser — SS
Rodolfo Castro — 2B
Cal Mitchell — RF
Deon Stafford — DH
Raul Hernandez — 1B
Rafelin Lorenzo — C
Robbie Glendinning — 3B
Ryan Peurifoy — CF
Lolo Sanchez — LF
Sergio Cubilete — RHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
NUNEZ DELIVERS AGAIN: Nunez turned in another stellar outing with the Power, recording his third quality start in four tries and picking up his first decision with West Virginia in 2018. Since he rejoined the Power’s rotation in August, Nunez is 1–0 with a 2.25 ERA. He has struck out 17 batters compared to just seven walks over 24 innings, while holding batters to a .195 clip against him. Nunez has not allowed more than two runs in any of his four starts.
SURGING STAFFORD: Stafford has continued to impress in the season’s final full month, cranking his 11th home run of the season and sixth in August Tuesday night. Since coming off the disabled list August 4, the Pennsylvania product is averaging .265 (18-for-68) with six homers, 15 RBI, 11 extra-base hits and a .972 OPS, his highest mark of the year.
MULTI-HIT MITCHELL: Mitchell went 2-for-4 with two RBI in Tuesday’s 5–2 win against Hagerstown. The California native recorded his 31st multi-hit game of the season, surpassing Oneil Cruz for the most multi-hit games on the team. Mitchell also notched his 14th multi-RBI affair, trailing just Cruz (15) for the most on the Power in 2018.
THAT’S GOOD STUFF MATE: Glendinning went 2-for-3 with two RBI Tuesday night, tallying his eighth multi-hit game since joining the Power. The Australia native has reached base safely in his last 10 games. In that span, Glendinning is averaging .333 (12-for-36) with a homer and eight RBI. The infielder is 5-for-7 (.714) in this series with three RBI.
SHUTDOWN SULSER: Sulser locked down his team-leading eighth save of the season Tuesday after hurling a 1–2–3 ninth frame. Over his last 10 appearances, the Dartmouth product has ceded one earned run over 15 innings (0.60 ERA) with 21 strikeouts. Sulser’s eight saves are now fourth-best in the Pirates’ system (Matt Eckelman, 16, ALT).
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 Morgantown. The 2018 third-round pick is currently on a nine-game hitting streak since August 16, during which he is averaging .351 (13-for-37) with two doubles, five RBI and four multi-hit games.
THE FAB FIVE: West Virginia is riding a five-game winning streak as the team heads down the home stretch in 2018. The Power has not won more than five games in a row since they ripped off a six-game winning streak towards the end of the first half, when the club swept the Augusta GreenJackets in a four-game series and then took the first two games against the Delmarva Shorebirds from June 11–16. A win tonight would tie West Virginia’s longest winning streak of the season (six games), which they have accomplished twice (also May 7 to May 12 vs. Hickory and at Lakewood).
WINNING WAYS: With a win tonight, the Power would secure a winning record at home, on the road and in the division. West Virginia has wrapped up an above .500 road mark, sitting at 34–27 with four away contests left, while their 32–28 divisional record assures them of a winning tally against Northern Division foes. The Power has not had a winning record across all three platforms since 2015, when they finished with the best record in the SAL at 87–52.
PLAYOFF PUSH: The Intimidators defeated the Asheville Tourists in extra innings Tuesday, keeping West Virginia one game back of Kannapolis in the league’s Northern Division Wild Card race with six games remaining in the 2018 season. A Power win and an Intimidators’ loss tonight would vault West Virginia in front of Kannapolis in the standings.
POWER POINTS: The Power is 28–16 when their starter goes six innings or more in a game… West Virginia’s relief corps has secured a save in each of its last five contests… Swaggerty has one hit in his last 18 at-bats with five strikeouts.
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. Wednesday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
