Game 131 Preview: Power vs. BlueClaws
Game #131 — Home Game #65
West Virginia Power (28–32, 65–65) vs Lakewood BlueClaws (26–32, 55–73)
Saturday, August 24–6:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.Va.)
MARTIN, RINEHART BLANK ‘CLAWS IN 1–0 WIN: Matt Martin dazzled the Lakewood BlueClaws over six shutout innings, hurling his second consecutive quality start and combining with Logan Rinehart to hold Lakewood to five hits in a 1–0 Power win Friday evening at Appalachian Power Park. Martin did not allow a baserunner until the third, when Cole Stobbe ripped a one-out double into the left-field corner. Martin worked around a couple more baserunners, ultimately scattering four hits, did not walk a man and struck out three in his second start with West Virginia. Meanwhile, the Power’s offense got going in the opening frame, as Billy Cooke laced the first pitch he saw from Manuel Silva to the wall in left-center for a ground-rule double, and, two batters later, Matt Sanders smoked a single to center through the drawn-in infield to give West Virginia a 1–0 lead they would not relinquish. Rinehart set down the first seven batters he faced before allowing a single to Malvin Matos in the ninth, but he retired the ensuing two BlueClaws to seal the win.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Ryne Inman (8–7, 4.59 ERA) toes the rubber for West Virginia, while RHP Kevin Gowdy (0–5, 4.83 ERA) takes the hill for Lakewood.
Since Inman’s last home start, the right-hander has put together the best start of his professional career, as well as his worst. On August 8 against Lakewood at FirstEnergy Park, Inman tossed nine scoreless innings and fanned 12 in the first nine-inning complete game shutout in Power history. In his following start, the 23-year-old lasted just 0.2 innings against Delmarva and surrendered three runs on one hit with five walks.
Gowdy makes his 23rd appearance and his 16th start of the 2019 season. He is still searching for his first professional win in 27 tries. The righty allowed one run over three innings against West Virginia on August 8. Last time out, he gave up three runs over just 2.2 innings this past Sunday in a loss against Delmarva.
POWER LINEUP:
Billy Cooke — CF
Caleb Ricca — SS
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Matt Sanders — 3B
Dean Nevarez — DH
Anthony Lepre — C
Charlie McConnell — RF
Nick Rodriguez — 2B
Manny Pazos—1B
Ryne Inman— RHP
GAME NOTES:
MAGIC MARTIN: Martin was brilliant yet again in his second Low-A start for West Virginia, stretching his scoreless innings streak to 12 with the Power. He turned in a pair 1–2–3 innings, giving him five total across his two outings, and needed just 79 pitches to get through his six innings of work, five less than last time, to record his second pro quality start. Across his time between Everett and the Power, the Florida Southern College product has fanned 42 batters compared to just 16 walks over 52 innings of work.
GOOD GRIEF, THAT’S SOME RELIEF!: West Virginia’s bullpen was impressive throughout the entire Charleston series and carried their momentum into Friday’s opener with Lakewood. The Power relief corps has surrendered just one earned run in their last 16.1 innings of work (0.55 ERA) on five hits over the last four games.
SURGING SANDERS: Sanders continued his consistent month of August for West Virginia Friday night, notching the only run-scoring knock for the Power with his first-inning single. The infielder has hit safely in 21 of his last 24 contests and is boasting a .313 (30-for-96) clip, the 11th-best batting average in the SAL in that span (July 28-current), with three homers and 10 RBI. Sanders is tied for the team lead with three homers (Onil Pena) and leads the squad with nine RBI in the month of August. He is one of three active Power hitters to have an average above .300 (.317) in the season’s penultimate month.
BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: With their 1–0 win Friday over Lakewood, the Power snagged their 25th one-run victory of the season, improving their overall record in one-run contests to 25–17. West Virginia’s .595 winning percentage is second-best in the league (Delmarva, .625), while their 42 one-run games played are seventh-most in the SAL. West Virginia has now won six 1–0 decisions, the most 1–0 wins in a single season in Power history (2005-present).
HANGING ZEROES: Thanks to their 1–0 win yesterday, West Virginia recorded its 12th shutout victory of the season, surpassing the Greensboro Grasshoppers for the most shutout wins in the South Atlantic League. In fact, the Power is tied with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers for the fifth-most blankings across all of Low-A baseball. With two more shutouts, the 2019 club would have the most shutouts by a team in Power history (13, 2016 and 2011).
SWEET PROMOTED: During the Power’s middle match against the RiverDogs Wednesday evening, the Seattle Mariners announced that RHP Devin Sweet had been promoted to the High-A Modesto Nuts. Sweet leaves the South Atlantic League with a 7–5 record and a 3.06 ERA, fourth-best in the SAL, as well as 131 strikeouts in 108.2 innings of work. He is one of four Power pitchers with more than 100 strikeouts and innings pitched in a single season (Clay Chandler, Ryne Inman and Steven Moyers), the most by a Power pitching staff in team history. Sweet etched his way into the West Virginia record books July 28, becoming the first pitcher to hurl a nine-inning complete game in Power history when he held the Rome Braves to one run and struck out a career-best 12 men at State Mutual Stadium. Sweet fired a quality start in his High-A debut last night, allowing one unearned run over six innings while fanning six men.
POWER POINTS: Charlie McConnell has not committed an error in 74 consecutive games (dating back to May 15 at Charleston)… West Virginia’s elimination number stands at one with 10 games to go, with six against Northern Division opponents… Bobby Honeyman is hitless over his last 15 at-bats… Prior to Friday’s opener, the Seattle Mariners promoted C Anthony Lepre to the Power’s active roster from the AZL Mariners. The 2019 draftee was selected in the 28th round out of The Master’s University and averaged .156 between the AZL and Modesto in 37 games before his call-up.
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. Friday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
