Game 38 Preview: Power at RiverDogs
Game #38 — Road Game #18
West Virginia Power (20–16) at Charleston RiverDogs (20–17)
Tuesday, May 14–7:05 p.m.
Jospeh P. Riley Jr. Park (Charleston, S.C.)
PENA HOMERS AS POWER DROPS FINALE: Onil Pena crushed his third home run of the season, but West Virginia was undone by an eighth-inning grand slam and dropped the series finale to the Kannapolis Intimidators, 6–2, as the I’s completed a three-game sweep Monday afternoon at Appalachian Power Park. Josias De Los Santos worked a phenomenal first frame, striking out the side in order, all looking. However, Kannapolis got to him in the second, with Luis Curbelo lofting a sacrifice fly for a 1–0 lead. West Virginia answered in the home half of the inning, as Pena roped an RBI double to left that drove in Bobby Honeyman and tied the game at one. The Power claimed a short-lived lead on Pena’s solo blast to lead off the fourth that traveled 350 feet and just cleared the right-center field fence, but the Intimidators responded with a home run of their own in the fifth from Amado Nunez to knot the contest at two. The score stalled at 2–2 until the eighth, when Matthew Willrodt got into some trouble with two down. After striking out the first two batters, he walked a pair and gave up a base hit to load the bases. Curbelo promptly unloaded them with a grand slam, vaulting Kannapolis in front, 6–2. Victor Arobio tossed the final 2.2 innings, not allowing a hit to grab the win.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Clay Chandler (4–1, 0.84 ERA) makes his third start for West Virginia, while Charleston goes with RHP Jio Orozco (3–2, 1.83 ERA).
Chandler continues to be one of the most impressive pitchers in the South Atlantic League. Over his first seven starts, the Power ace had allowed just four earned runs and struck out a total of 39 batters in 43 innings. In his last three starts, Chandler has lasted seven innings each and thrown a quality start, and he has not walked a batter since April 16th.
Orozco has been an impressive top-of-the-rotation starter for Charleston, as he has also posted two straight quality starts of at least seven innings. The former Seattle farmhand is coming off a strong start against Columbia, where he struck out a career-high eight batters and walked one.
POWER LINEUP:
Johnny Slater — RF
J.R. Davis — 2B
Jarred Kelenic — CF
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Onil Pena — 1B
Joseph Rosa — SS
Jake Anchia — C
Nick Rodriguez — DH
Clay Chandler— RHP
GAME NOTES:
ALMIGHTY ANCHIA: Jake Anchia had quite the homestand against the Augusta GreenJackets and Kannapolis Intimidators, averaging .421 (8-for-19) in his five games with three homers and eight RBI. The backstop recorded his first career multi-home run game in Thursday’s twin bill opener, becoming the third Power batter to do so this season (Dean Nevarez, April 26 vs. ASH andJarred Kelenic, April 27 vs. ASH). Anchia is the first batter to homer in back-to-back at-bats since Trae Arbet on April 12, 2017, vs. ASH. The Nova Southeastern product collected a career-best five RBI Thursday, the first West Virginia slugger to accomplish that feat since Deon Stafford’s six-RBI night August 11, 2018, at ROM.
PILING UP THE STRIKEOUTS: West Virginia’s pitching staff compiled 12 strikeouts Sunday afternoon, fanning double-digit batters for the 20th time. Their season-high in strikeouts is 19, which they have accomplished twice (April 6 at Greenville and April 15 vs. Lakewood). The Power’s 368 total strikeouts are third-most in the South Atlantic League.
HOT START: J.R. Davis posted a solid showing in his first homestand with the Power, finishing it off with a 1-for-4 effort Monday afternoon. Overall, he went 8-for-28 (.286) with a double, four RBI and four runs scored during the homestand. He reached base in each of his seven games since joining the Power. The Oklahoma State product was added to West Virginia’s roster May 7 after playing in one game with Triple-A Tacoma.
FLOURISHING FLORIDO: Deivy Florido has been an immediate bright spot for West Virginia since joining the Power May 6 from Extended Spring Training. In his spot start May 9 against the Augusta GreenJackets in game two of a twin bill, Florido dazzled for 5.1 innings, giving up just one run on five hits while striking out five batters. The 18-year-old made his first relief appearance with the Power Monday, twirling a scoreless sixth frame and ceding just one hit. Overall, Florido is 1–0 with a 1.42 ERA, six strikeouts and no walks in two games with West Virginia.
A PACKED HOUSE: West Virginia’s Monday afternoon tilt against the Kannapolis Intimidators was in front of a raucous 6,027 fans, the biggest crowd at Appalachian Power Park this season. The Power has not hosted a crowd larger than 6,027 since August 26, 2017, when 6,638 attendees witnessed a 13–2 thumping at the hands of the Hagerstown Suns.
THE LONG BALL: Pena’s home run was West Virginia’s 29th of the season as a team, and their 20th long ball at Appalachian Power Park in their first 20 home games. The Power hit six home runs during their recent seven-game homestand, with Anchia posting three of them and Honeyman and Cesar Trejo each notching a roundtripper. West Virginia’s 29 home runs are the third-most in the league, with Greensboro and Hickory leading the way with 42 dingers.
STRUGGLING TO CONVERT: The Power has continued to struggle with runners in scoring position this season. The offense went 0-for-9 with RISP Monday afternoon, stranding six men on base. Overall, West Virginia averaged .230 (14-for-61) in this key situation during the homestand. The Power holds the fourth-worst RISP average in the SAL (.220).
NOT FOND OF KANNAPOLIS: The Intimidators have enjoyed a ton of success against West Virginia over the past two seasons. Kannapolis just completed its second straight sweep of the Power, following up a four-game brooming in North Carolina from July 25–26 in 2018. Overall, the Intimidators have taken the last 10 meetings against West Virginia.
POWER POINT: Kannapolis posted a +8 run differential against West Virginia across their three-game series brooming.
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. Tuesday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
