Game 39 Preview: Power at RiverDogs
Game #39 — Road Game #19
West Virginia Power (20–17) at Charleston RiverDogs (21–17)
Wednesday, May 15–7:05 p.m.
Jospeh P. Riley Jr. Park (Charleston, S.C.)
RIVERDOGS WALK IT OFF IN OPENER: Jake Anchia and Onil Pena smacked a pair of fourth-inning homers, but West Virginia fell in walk-off fashion, 6–5, to the Charleston RiverDogs Tuesday evening at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. The RiverDogs tagged Clay Chandler for an early 1–0 lead on a lead-off home run from Brandon Lockridge in the bottom of the first, but the Power responded right back in the top of the second. Ryan Ramiz and Bobby Honeyman started the frame with back-to-back doubles against Jio Orozco, with Honeyman’s two-bagger plating Ramiz to tie the game at one. Honeyman would come around to score later in the frame on a wild pitch and a throwing error by catcher Mickey Gasper, vaulting West Virginia ahead, 2–1. Charleston answered with three runs in the third, capped by a two-run homer from former Mariners’ prospect Josh Stowers, his first of the season, to give the RiverDogs a 4–2 edge. However, Pena unleashed on the first pitch he saw in the fourth for a solo bomb, while Anchia snuck one inside the left-field foul pole two batters later to tie the game at four. The Power took a short-lived lead at 5–4 in the fifth on Ramiz’s second double of the evening, scoring Jarred Kelenic all the way from first, but Charleston wasted no time getting it back in the home half of the frame. Jefry Valdez and David Ellingson kept both teams at bay until the bottom of the ninth, when the RiverDogs managed to load the bases with one out. Ellingson then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Lockridge to score the winning run. Orozco and Valdez set down the final 14 West Virginia batters following Ramiz’s fifth-inning double.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Ryne Inman (4–2, 3.38 ERA) makes his third start for West Virginia, while Charleston goes with RHP Daniel Bies (2–1, 3.99 ERA).
Inman makes his eighth start for West Virginia after winning his last outing at Appalachian Power Park against the Augusta GreenJackets. Despite securing the win, Inman lasted just five innings and allowed three earned runs.
Bies is a seventh-round pick in 2018 out of Gonzaga stepping up for his seventh appearance and third start of the season. The righty gave up just two runs on six hits over five innings of work against Columbia his last time out.
POWER LINEUP:
Charlie McConnell — LF
J.R. Davis — CF
Jarred Kelenic — RF
Ryan Ramiz — DH
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Onil Pena — 1B
Dean Nevarez— C
Nick Rodriguez — 2B
Cesar Izturis Jr. — SS
Ryne Inman — RHP
GAME NOTES:
ALMIGHTY ANCHIA: Anchia had been on quite the tear recently, averaging .391 (9-for-23) in his last six games with four homers and nine 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. Asheville and Kelenic, April 27 vs. Asheville). Anchia is the first batter to homer in back-to-back at-bats since Trae Arbet on April 12, 2017, vs. Asheville. The Nova Southeastern product collected a career-best five RBI Thursday, the first West Virginia slugger to accomplish the feat since Deon Stafford’s six-RBI effort August 11, 2018, at ROM.
OH MY ONIL: Pena drilled his fourth home run of the season in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 6–5 loss to Charleston. That blast marked the second straight game that Pena has led off the fourth inning with a home run. The first baseman is the second Power batter to homer in consecutive games this season (Kelenic, April 26 and 27 against Asheville). With Anchia and Pena’s dingers, West Virginia now has 31 home runs as a team, tied with Charleston for the third-most in the league, with the Greensboro Grasshoppers and Hickory Crawdads leading the way with 42 home runs each.
PILING UP THE STRIKEOUTS: West Virginia’s pitching staff compiled 12 strikeouts Tuesday evening, fanning double-digit batters for the 21st 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 380 total strikeouts are third-most in the South Atlantic League.
A CRACKED MOLD: Chandler did not have his best stuff Tuesday evening, but still managed to grit his way through six innings for the fourth straight start. Though he did not register a quality start for the fourth straight outing, he still struck out at least five batters for the fourth consecutive game. Chandler also saw his no-walk streak broken in the fifth, snapping a span of 32.1 innings where the Kentucky native did not issue a free pass (dating back to April 16 vs. LWD).
BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: West Virginia dropped its sixth game by one run this season, moving their record to 7–6 in one-run contests in 2019. The Power has played the sixth-most one-run games in the South Atlantic League (Greenville, 19, 8–11). However, West Virginia does hold the fifth-best winning percentage in one-run affairs at .538.
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.
ROAD WOES: West Virginia has dropped its last six games on the road, dating back to May 2 in Lakewood, when the BlueClaws thumped the Power, 10–0. West Virginia now holds a 6–11 road mark, the fifth-worst winning percentage away from their friendly confines. The Power has not lost more than six road games since an eight-game stretch 7/13–7/26/18.
POWER POINTS: Chandler allowed a career-high nine hits Tuesday… West Virginia went 1-for-4 with RISP Tuesday.
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 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
