Game 60 Preview: Power vs. Drive
Game #60 — Home Game #29
West Virginia Power (29–30) vs. Greenville Drive (25–34)
Thursday, June 6–7:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.Va.)
SLATER HOMERS IN 5–1 LOSS: Johnny Slater launched his first home run of the season, but West Virginia’s offense was otherwise subdued in a 5–1 loss in the series finale against the Hickory Crawdads Wednesday morning at L.P. Frans Stadium. Ryne Inman and Tyree Thompson each hurled four shutout frames before the offenses got going in the fifth, as Slater led off the inning with his dinger. Hickory responded in the home half with a pair of homers from Jose Almonte and Kole Enright to make it 2–1 Crawdads. They would tack on three runs of insurance in the seventh, knocking Inman out of the game. Overall, Inman notched a career-best 6.1 innings while allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits and picking up five strikeouts in his fourth quality start of the year. Devin Sweet relieved Inman in the seventh and fired the final 1.2 innings, only ceding a double to the first batter he faced before settling in. Grant Anderson, who was on the Power’s Opening Day roster before being traded to the Texas Rangers April 2, collected a three-inning save, his fifth of the season in nine opportunities.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Damon Casetta-Stubbs (2–4, 8.15 ERA) toes the slab for West Virginia, while the Drive sends RHP Thad Ward (4–2, 2.02 ERA) to the bump.
Casetta-Stubbs makes his ninth start with West Virginia this evening. Since earning the win in his first two starts, the Vancouver, Wash., native has dropped four straight decisions, the longest consecutive losing streak of his career. In that stretch, the right-hander has surrendered 32 earned runs over 25.1 innings, equating to an 11.39 ERA.
Ward has dominated West Virginia in his two starts against them this season. He has given up just two runs on nine hits over 12 innings of work with 13 strikeouts against the Power. In his last outing, Ward held Delmarva to two unearned runs on four hits over five innings June 1 in a no-decision.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Manny Pazos — C
Keegan McGovern — DH
Onil Pena — 1B
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Joseph Rosa — 2B
Charlie McConnell — CF
Johnny Slater — RF
Cesar Izturis Jr. — SS
Damon Casetta-Stubbs — RHP
GAME NOTES:
THE LONG BALL: Slater’s home run is the Power’s 50th of the season, fourth-most in the South Atlantic League behind Charleston (51), Greensboro (63) and Hickory (68). Only 19 of West Virginia’s homers have come on the road this season, which is surprisingly seventh-most in the league. Slater had not homered since August 3, 2017, after missing the entire 2018 season due to a torn left Achilles tendon. The Michigan product now has six career MiLB long balls.
PENA POWER: Onil Pena had a very solid road trip with the Power, hitting safely in four of the seven games he played in. On the road swing, he averaged .286 (6-for-21) with two homers, four RBI and four runs scored. The first baseman’s eight dingers are tied with Jake Anchia for the most on the current roster, with five of them coming on the road.
QUALITY ROTATION: Following back-to-back double-digit drubbings at the hands of the Asheville Tourists on May 31 and June 1, West Virginia’s rotation has really turned things around. Three of the last four starters have hurled quality outings, including South Atlantic League Midseason All-Star Clay Chandler, who tossed the second-longest start in Power history Tuesday night with an 8.1-inning gem against Hickory. In those three games (June 2, 4–5), Chandler, Inman and Steven Moyers have combined to concede eight earned runs over 22.1 innings, good for a 3.22 ERA, with 13 Ks. Inman now has three quality starts in his last four outings, while Moyers has four in his last five and is tied with Chandler for the most on the team this season with seven each.
MIRED IN A TOUGH STRETCH: After posting the second-best record in team history through 24 games in April (17–7), the Power has gone 12–23 and been one of the worst teams, statistically speaking, across all of Minor League Baseball. Since May 1, West Virginia’s team ERA is 5.52, the worst mark in MiLB from the Double-A level down, while their 23 losses are tied for fifth-most and are the most in the SAL and their 12 wins are the lowest in the league. The Power’s .224 average in this span is tied with Hagerstown for second-lowest in the Sally League during this murky stretch.
CHECKING THEM OFF ONE BY ONE: Once West Virginia concludes its four-game set with the Greenville Drive Sunday afternoon, they will be finished with their season series with the Drive. By the end of the first half, the Power will have completed their season series with three Southern Division foes, as they have already wrapped up their seven games with Augusta and 10 contests against Asheville. The Power played 21 of their first 24 games outside of their division.
ALL-STAR ARIAS KEEPS DOMINATING: Dayeison Arias has been the best bullpen arm for West Virginia in 2019. The reliever secured the Power’s 11th save of the season Tuesday night with his two-thirds of an inning in relief of Chandler. Currently, Arias has not allowed an earned run in his last 12 appearances (April 25-present), during which he has thrown 17.2 innings, ceded just seven hits and struck out 21 batters compared to four walks. No other SAL pitcher currently holds a spotless ERA with that many innings pitched over this stretch. Overall, Arias is 0–1 with a 1.46 ERA over a team-high 19 appearances with 32 strikeouts in 24.2 innings and a .161 batting average against him.
DIVISIONAL STRETCH TO FINISH: Despite not being in the playoff hunt, the Power has the chance to play spoiler for those teams still fighting for the first half Northern Division playoff spot. West Virginia closes out the first half playing seven of their final 11 games against Northern Division foes, with all of those contests coming against teams the Power has not faced yet this season (Hagerstown and Delmarva).
POWER POINTS: The Power did not walk a batter for the seventh time this season… Sweet has not allowed a run in six of his last eight games.
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. Thursday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
