Game #131 Preview — Power at RiverDogs
Game #131 — Road Game #63
WV Power (33–31, 70–60) at Charleston RiverDogs (29–36, 62–71)
Saturday, September 1–6:05 p.m.
Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park (Charleston, S.C.)
POWER FALLS IN EXTRA INNINGS: West Virginia stormed back from a 2–0 deficit to force extra innings, but the RiverDogs were able to walk it off with two runs in the bottom of the 10th to claim the series opener, 4–3, at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Hunter Stratton spun another quality start, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks over six innings. In the seventh with the Power down 2–0, Jesse Medrano came through with two down in the frame, blooping a two-run single to left to tie the game up. Ryan Valdes then came on and fired three scoreless innings for West Virginia, striking out five batters and ceding just one hit to send the game to extras. In the top of the 10th, Medrano struck again, bounding a ground ball over the drawn-in infield to score Chris Sharpe, the placed on runner at second base, and give the Power their first lead of the game, 3–2. The RiverDogs responded in the bottom of the frame, however. After Cam Alldred induced a pop out bunt for the first out of the inning, Carlos Vidal, Oswaldo Cabrera and Dermis Garcia stroked three straight singles to score two runs and walk off with the victory.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: LHP Ike Schlabach (7–4, 3.81 ERA) takes the hill for West Virginia, while Charleston counters with righty Nolan Martinez (0–3, 5.49 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Travis Swaggerty — CF
Connor Kaiser — SS
Cal Mitchell — RF
Deon Stafford — DH
Rodolfo Castro — 2B
Raul Hernandez — 1B
Robbie Glendinning — 3B
Rafelin Lorenzo — C
Lolo Sanchez — LF
Ike Schlabach — LHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
QUALITY STUFF: West Virginia’s rotation has turned in five consecutive quality starts. In their 30 innings pitched, Ike Schlabach, Oddy Nunez, Sergio Cubilete, Samuel Reyes and Stratton have allowed just five earned runs on 21 hits while totaling 24 strikeouts, good for a 1.50 ERA. Here’s each of their lines in their most recent starts:
8/27 vs. Hagerstown; Schlabach: 6 IP, 6H, 2R, 3BB, 5K
8/28 vs. Hagerstown; Nunez: 6 IP, 2H, 2R, 3BB, 4K
8/29 vs. Hagerstown; Cubilete: 6 IP, 3H, 0R, 5BB, 5K
8/30 vs. Hagerstown; Reyes: 6 IP, 4H, 1R (unearned), 0BB, 7K
8/31 at Charleston; Stratton: 6 IP, 6H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 3K
GOOD GRIEF, THAT’S SOME RELIEF: The Power’s bullpen has been stellar over the team’s last five games. Over these five contests, the relief corps has surrendered just two earned runs over 16 innings of work, ceding only 10 hits and four walks while striking out 14 batters and posting a 1.13 ERA in that stretch. West Virginia’s bullpen capped a streak of six straight games with a save with three consecutive in the first three games of the series against Hagerstown. Valdes fired his second consecutive outing of three scoreless innings Friday, tying his career-best with five strikeouts.
STRATTON STRUTTING HIS STUFF: Stratton has become a very reliable member of the Power’s rotation over the last month. The Walters State (TN) Community College product has hurled at least five innings in each of his last eight starts while allowing two earned runs or less. In that span, Stratton is sporting a 2.40 ERA (12 ER/45 IP) with 25 strikeouts. The Bristol, Tennessee, native also leads the team with 82 strikeouts and 101.2 innings on the season.
MASHING MEDRANO: Medrano tied with his career-high with three RBI Friday night, driving in three runs for the first time in more than a calendar year (August 29, 2017, with the GCL Pirates against the GCL Braves). The Fresno State product recorded his sixth multi-hit and multi-RBI games of the season with his 2-for-4, three RBI evening.
AUGUST TURNAROUND: After going 10–18 in the month of July, West Virginia finished August with a 16–11 mark, putting themselves in position for a playoff spot. As a team, the Power only hit .239, but managed to score 4.9 runs per game, the third-highest mark in the league. The club’s 17 home runs were eighth-best in the SAL, while their 19 stolen bases tied Greenville for the sixth-highest mark. The pitching staff put together its best monthly mark of the campaign, boasting a 2.83 August ERA, the fourth-lowest earned run average in the South Atlantic League, while the bullpen recorded 12 saves in 14 opportunities, second-most only to Hickory (13 saves in 14 opportunities).
SWAGGERTY ON THE UPSWING?: Following a seven-game stretch (August 21–30) where Travis Swaggerty went 1-for-26 with nine strikeouts, the Pirates’ 2018 first-rounder started to find his groove Friday night. Swaggerty cracked a single and a double in a 2-for-4 night at the plate, his first multi-hit game since August 20 (second with the Power).
CLOSING IN ON THE PLAYOFFS: Kannapolis defeated Hagerstown Friday, 6–3, keeping West Virginia’s magic number at three in the Northern Division Wild Card race with three games remaining. The Power still control their own destiny, as they could clinch a playoff berth simply by winning their last three contests against the Charleston RiverDogs.
POWER POINTS: The Power is 30–17 when their starter goes six innings… West Virginia went 2-for-7 with RISP Friday night.
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 John Kocsis will handle play-by-play duties in 2018. Saturday’s pregame coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
