Game 25 Preview: Power at BlueClaws
Game #25 — Road Game #12
West Virginia Power (16–7) at Lakewood BlueClaws (8–17)
Wednesday, May 1–6:35 p.m.
FirstEnergy Park (Lakewood, N.J.)
KELENIC GOES DEEP IN 2–0 SHUTOUT WIN: Jarred Kelenic cranked a solo home run in the top of the first inning, while four West Virginia hurlers combined to toss the Power’s fifth shutout win of the season in a 2–0 blanking of the Lakewood BlueClaws Tuesday night at FirstEnergy Park. West Virginia would tack on its only other run later in the first, as BlueClaws starter James McArthur walked four straight batters with two away, ultimately issuing a free pass to Cesar Trejo that plated Ryan Ramizand gave the Power a 2–0 edge. Damon Casetta-Stubbs took over from there, twirling five scoreless innings before handing it off to Sal Biasi, who punched in another two zeroes on the scoreboard. Dayeison Arias fired a 1–2–3 eighth with two strikeouts, while Nolan Hoffman set down Lakewood in order in the ninth.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
LHP Steven Moyers (2–1, 4.43 ERA) heads to the slab for West Virginia, while Lakewood goes with LHP Ethan Lindow (1–1, 3.66 ERA).
Moyers will be making his fifth start of the 2019 campaign and his first against the BlueClaws. Moyers has secured a win in two of his last three starts, tossing at least six scoreless innings in each of his two victories. In his last start, Moyers hurled six shutout frames at Appalachian Power Park against the Asheville Tourists and fanned four batters.
Lindow is a 2017 fifth-round pick making his third start for Lakewood in 2019 and his sixth appearance overall. With the piggy-back pitching of the Lakewood staff, Lindow has alternated between starting and long-relief duty. In his last outing, the Georgia product spun 3.1 scoreless innings against Hickory, allowing just one hit and striking out a season-high seven hitters.
POWER LINEUP:
Nick Rodriguez — DH
Jarred Kelenic — CF
Onil Pena — 1B
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Joseph Rosa — SS
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Jake Anchia — C
Cesar Trejo — DH
Connor Hoover— 2B
Steven Moyers— LHP
GAME NOTES:
A MONTH TO REMEMBER: Kelenic launched his fourth home run in four games in Tuesday’s series opener (one Friday, two Saturday). The outfielder now has six home runs (including the one he hit in the Power’s suspended game against Asheville April 20 in game two of a twin bill that has yet to be recorded), which leads all West Virginia sluggers and is tied with Curtis Terry (Hickory) and former Power players Rodolfo Castro (Greensboro) and Mason Martin (Greensboro) for the third-most bombs in the league. Kelenic’s six home runs in April are the second-most hit by a Power batter in the season’s first month, trailing Stetson Allie (8, 2013), while his 17 RBI are tied for fifth-most all time (Josh Bell, 28, 2013). Kelenic and Dean Nevarez, who went deep twice Friday, are the first pair of Power batters to record separate multi-homer games on consecutive days in team history (2005-present).
THE STREAK CONTINUES: Kelenic currently possesses the longest active hitting streak in Minor League Baseball at 16 games (dating back to April 11), during which he is 29-for-64 (.453) with six home runs, nine doubles and 17 RBI. He has also reached base safely in his last 17 games (dating back to April 10). The only other player to record a longer hitting streak in MiLB is Jesus Fabela, who posted a 17-gamer from April 5–25 in the Triple-A Mexican League. The outfielder is the first Power player to post a 15-game streak since Ben Bengtson strung one together from 5/29 to 6/14 last season.
SOLID START FOR THE STAFF: Casetta-Stubbs capped a very solid month for West Virginia’s pitching staff Tuesday night, recording his second consecutive five-inning scoreless outing in a Power uniform. Combined with the bullpen’s four shutout frames behind him, West Virginia whittled their ERA down to 2.59, second-best in the league by a razor thin margin (2.58, Hickory). The Power are also among the top five in the league in saves (6, 4th) and strikeouts (249, 5th). Individually, current SAL Pitcher of the Week Clay Chandler leads the league in ERA at 0.31 and is tied for second in innings pitched (29.0), while Ryne Inman has the second-most strikeouts in the SAL (37) and Logan Gilbert holds the fourth-lowest batting average against mark (.134) and fifth-lowest WHIP (0.74).
BANNER BULLPEN: The Power bullpen locked down another win Tuesday night, combining to toss four scoreless innings in relief of Casetta-Stubbs. Biasi was the lone member to allow a baserunner, as he gave up a leadoff single to Rafael Marchan to start the sixth. From there, Biasi, Arias and Hoffman set down the final 12 men they faced in order. Arias turned in his fourth consecutive scoreless inning, while West Virginia moved to 5–0 in games Biasi has appeared in. Arias also appeared in his 10th game of the season last night, tied for the third-most outings in the league.
THE HOFF: Hoffman has really settled into the closer role for the Power, picking up his fourth save in as many opportunities Tuesday night with a 1–2–3 ninth inning. The Texas A&M product is tied for the most saves in the South Atlantic League with Rio Gomez (Greenville), Tim Naughton (Delmarva) and Jesus Tona (Augusta). The right-hander has recorded a save in each of his last three outings. West Virginia has won the last seven games that Hoffman has pitched in.
DIVISIONAL CLASHES: After playing just three games against Northern Division foes in the season’s first 23 games, West Virginia now faces a division-heavy stretch starting with this road trip. The Power will play 9 of their next 13 games against members of their own division, including six straight against Lakewood and Greensboro before finishing up their next homestand with a three-game set against the Kannapolis Intimidators. West Virginia is 4–0 against the Northern Division in 2019 after sweeping Lakewood from 4/15–4/17 at Appalachian Power Park and winning the opener Tuesday.
POWER POINTS: With a 16–7 record through 23 games, West Virginia has posted its second-best start in team history through that many contests (18–5 in 2007)… The Power recorded its fifth shutout win of the season last night, the most in the South Atlantic League. West Virginia’s five blankings are tied with five other teams for the most shutouts across all of Minor League Baseball… The Power played error-free baseball for the 10th time this season (.974 FLD %, 4th in SAL).
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. Wednesday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
