Game 74 Preview: Power at BlueClaws
Game #74— Road Game #39
West Virginia Power (2–1, 39–34) vs. Lakewood BlueClaws (1–2, 30–43)
Sunday, June 23–1:05 p.m.
FirstEnergy Park (Lakewood, N.J.)
DAVIS DELIVERS PIVOTAL KNOCK IN 3–2 WIN: J.R. Davis provided the game-changing single in the eighth, snapping a 2–2 tie with a base hit up the middle to plate the go-ahead run for West Virginia, who claimed a 3–2 win Saturday night against the Lakewood BlueClaws at FirstEnergy Park. Lakewood secured an early 2–0 lead on an RBI single from Seth Lancaster in the first and a home run from Abrahan Gutierrez in the third, but Steven Moyers settled in after that to hurl another quality start, allowing just the two runs over six innings while striking out nine and not issuing a walk. The Power responded in the fifth, as Charlie McConnell singled to start the inning while James McArthur plunked Jake Anchia with a pitch to put runners at first and second with nobody out. The next batter, Nick Rodriguez, smacked a two-run double to straightaway center, plating McConnell and Anchia to knot the game at two. In the eighth, Bobby Honeyman started the rally with a two-out, wall-scraping double to right-field before Davis vaulted West Virginia in front with his run-scoring single. Kyle Hill and Bryan Pall locked down the final three innings for the Power.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Josias De Los Santos (0–4, 4.95 ERA) toes the rubber for West Virginia, while Lakewood counters with LHP Manuel Silva (1–2, 6.21 ERA).
De Los Santos makes his sixth start of the season and tenth appearance overall for the West Virginia Power. The righty has had his ups and downs as a part of the rotation, as he was roughed up in his last start June 8 vs. Greenville, when the Drive tallied six runs on six hits over four innings. In his debut against Lakewood May 2, De Los Santos issued three runs on five hits over four innings while striking out two and walking two.
Silva heads to the bump for Lakewood for the 10th time this year (fifth start). His BlueClaws debut came against West Virginia April 30, as he hurled four scoreless innings out of the bullpen and ceded just one hit. Last time out against Asheville, the southpaw spun three innings and ceded two runs on three hits while punching out five batters.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz — LF
Manny Pazos — C
Julio Rodriguez — CF
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
David Sheaffer — RF
Onil Pena — 1B
Joseph Rosa— 2B
Charlie McConnell — DH
Utah Jones — SS
Josias De Los Santos — RHP
GAME NOTES:
WHAT A QUALITY GUY: Moyers turned in his fifth consecutive quality start for the Power Saturday evening, as well as his seventh in his last eight outings. With that quality outing, Moyers posted his 10th quality start of the year, the most quality starts among the Power’s pitching staff. In his last five starts, the left-hander has given up nine earned runs over 33.2 innings of work, good for a 2.41 ERA, with 29 strikeouts. The University of Rhode Island product has hurled at least six innings in 11 of his 14 starts this season, and has only ceded more than three runs in four of them. Moyers now leads the South Atlantic League in innings pitched (85.2) and strikeouts (88).
SWEET AS HONEY: Honeyman has been on a tear recently, reaching base safely in his last 14 games (June 6-current) and recording a hit in all but two of them (June 11 and 20). After going 2-for-4 with a double Saturday evening, he upped his average since June 6 to a blistering .340 (18-for-53), the 12th-best qualified mark in the South Atlantic League in this stretch. In fact, the Stony Brook product has hit safely in 29 of his last 35 games, going back to May 13. Across that elongated span, Honeyman boasts a .308 (41-for-133) clip, the eighth-highest qualified average among SAL sluggers, along with two homers, 18 RBI and only 18 strikeouts. Honeyman recorded his 14th multi-hit game of the year Saturday.
BY THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: With their 3–2 win Saturday over Lakewood, the Power snagged their 17th one-run victory of the season, improving their overall record in one-run contests to 17–9. West Virginia’s .654 winning percentage is second-best in the league, only behind Delmarva (.680), while their 26 one-run games played are fifth-most (Lakewood, 33). With their 1–0 win Friday, West Virginia has won four 1–0 decisions this year (June 11–12 vs. Delmarva and April 4 at Greenville). The Power has never claimed more than four 1–0 games in the same year in Power history.
HILL HOLDLING IT DOWN: Hill looked very strong in his second career MiLB appearance, picking up the win with two scoreless innings of relief in which he surrendered just two hits while fanning four batters. The Mariners 10th-rounder this year, Hill is coming off one of the best collegiate years in NCAA history, not allowing an earned run in 23 appearances as the closer for the Baylor Bears. The Baton Rouge, La., native ranks in the top five in career Ks for Baylor.
BULLPEN BULLY BRYAN: Pall shut the door again last night, posting a 1–2–3 ninth inning with two strikeouts to snag his fourth MiLB save in as many opportunities. The University of Michigan product has not surrendered a run over his last four appearances, spanning three innings, during which he has struck out six and conceded just one hit. With his hitless performance Saturday, Pall dropped his season ERA back below 3.00 for the first time since May 19.
GOOD GRIEF, THAT’S SOME RELIEF: West Virginia’s bullpen has been untouchable during the first three of games of the second half. In those three affairs, the Power’s relief corps has not allowed an earned run while only giving up three hits over 11.2 innings and collecting all three decisions. The staff’s second half ERA overall is a slim 1.88.
ALL-STAR ARIAS: After securing the final out Friday, Dayeison Arias stretched his streak of not allowing an earned run to 20.1 innings across 16 appearances. In this stretch, the South Atlantic League Midseason All-Star has finished 10 games and picked up one hold and three saves. He has fanned 26 batters compared to six walks while only surrendering three unearned runs on eight hits and holding opposing hitters to a .119 average against him. No other pitcher in the South Atlantic League who has thrown as many innings as Arias has holds a spotless ERA during this time frame.
POWER POINT: Six of the Power’s nine contests with Lakewood this season have been decided by one run (WV, 5–1).
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. Sunday’s pregame coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
