Game #60 Preview — Power at Augusta
Game #60 — Road Game #27
West Virginia Power (31–28) at Augusta GreenJackets (35–26)
Monday, June 11–7:05 p.m.
SRP Park (Augusta, S.C.)
FOUR-RUN SECOND FORCES SERIES SPLIT: Max Kranick toughed his way through his fourth start of the season with West Virginia, but had a rough second inning as Hickory sent eight men to the plate and scored four times in a 6–1 win in the series finale Sunday at L.P. Frans Stadium. Overall, Kranick lasted five innings for the fourth consecutive outing, allowing a career-high eight hits while walking two and striking out three. West Virginia’s only offense came in the second inning, when the Power scored first for the seventh time in their last eight games. Brett Pope provided the run-scoring blow, doubling in Chris Sharpe to give West Virginia a short-lived 1–0 lead. Following Hickory’s four-run fourth, the Crawdads tacked on a run in the sixth and the eighth against Sergio Cubilete, who spun three innings out of the bullpen and ceded two runs (one earned) on three hits. Bubba Thompson was responsible for both of those runs, contributing an RBI double and groundout to Hickory’s victory.
PITCHING MATCHUP: LHP Domingo Robles (3–4, 3.42 ERA) takes the hill for West Virginia. The southpaw tossed three scoreless innings in his last outing, ceding just two hits to Lexington at Appalachian Power Park. Augusta will counter with RHP Jason Bahr (6–3, 2.34 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Oneil Cruz — SS
Rodolfo Castro — 2B
Cal Mitchell— RF
Deon Stafford — C
John Bormann — DH
Ben Bengtson — 3B
Chris Sharpe — LF
Kyle Watson — 1B
Ryan Peurifoy — CF
Domingo Robles — LHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
STREAKING: Ben Bengtson extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his eighth-inning double Sunday against Crawdads reliever Demarcus Evans. Bengtson holds the longest active hitting streak on the Power. The infielder is averaging .316 (12-for-38) with six RBI in that span. The Concord, New Hampshire, native is one of three West Virginia sluggers to string together a hitting streak of 10 games or more in 2018 (Oneil Cruz, 10 and 14; Calvin Mitchell, 13). The Hartford product has increased his season average from .169 to .223 during this stretch (54 points).
BEST BAT AND DEON: Deon Stafford’s 2-for-4 effort Sunday gave him his fifth straight multi-hit game, tying his record for consecutive multi-hit games (also occurred from 7/24–7/31/17 with the WV Black Bears). The Saint Joseph’s product notched his 14th multi-hit game of 2018, third-most on the team (Cruz, 16; Mitchell, 19).The backstop is in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak where he is boasting a .433 (13-for-30) clip with a home run and six RBI. That .433 average is tied for the third-highest mark in the league since June 1 (Cristian Perez, .450, LEX, leads the way).
MASHING MITCHELL: Mitchell’s fourth-inning single on Saturday continued a torrid stretch for the South Atlantic League All-Star. The San Diego native has hit safely in 18 of his last 22 games, and in 26 of his last 34 contests since May 1. Overall, Mitchell’s .330 stroke is second-best in the SAL, trailing Kannapolis’ Laz Rivera (.350), and is tied for tops in the Pirates organization with Jason Martin of Double-A Altoona. His 16 doubles are tied for second in the SAL and his 71 hits are third-best. The Pirates’ 15th-best prospect’s (per MLB.com) team-leading 34 RBI are tied for second amongst all Pirates sluggers with Albert Baur of Advanced-A Bradenton. Mitchell has found more success on the road in 2018, boasting a .361 (35-for-97) clip (24 games) compared to a .305 (36-for-118) stroke at home (33 games).
NUMBERS MEAN EVERYTHING: With West Virginia’s 6–1 loss and Kannapolis’ 4–1 win Sunday over the Rome Braves, the Power’s elimination number in the first half is down to four games. Any combination of Kannapolis wins and West Virginia losses that adds up to four would eliminate the Power from postseason contention in the first half.
LAST TIME AGAINST AUGUSTA: West Virginia has not seen the Augusta GreenJackets since a three-game series in Charleston from May 1–3, during which the Power won two of three, including a pair of walk-offs from Ryan Peurifoy and Kyle Watson, with the former coming on a two-run homer in the series opener and the latter ending a marathon 15-inning affair in the finale. Following this series, the Power will not play Augusta again until early August.
HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR: Stafford and Mitchell were named South Atlantic League All-Stars Tuesday, with the pair set to represent the Power at this year’s Midsummer Classic in Greensboro, N.C., on June 19 at First National Bank Field. Stafford received his second consecutive All-Star nod, while Mitchell secured his first mid-season accolade. Stafford is the first Power catcher to garner an All-Star selection since Reese McGuire in 2014.
POWER POINTS: John Bormann has recorded a hit in each of his first four games with West Virginia in 2018… Sharpe recorded his first three-hit game of the season with the Power, and West Virginia’s 13th three-hit game overall. Sharpe is now one of four Power batters with double-digit multi-hit efforts in 2018 (Cruz, Mitchell and Stafford)… West Virginia is 4–15 when allowing an opponent to score six or more runs, and 0–6 when opponents score exactly six runs… The Power have not homered in their last four games… West Virginia went 0-for-7 with RISP, stranding 10 men.
ON THE AIR: West Virginia Power games can be heard on The Jock 1300 & 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. Monday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
