Game #77 Preview — Power at Suns
Game #77 — Road Game #36
West Virginia Power (7–3, 44–32) at Hagerstown Suns (2–8, 29–49)
Monday, July 2–7:05 p.m.
Historic Municipal Stadium (Hagerstown, Md.)
HAGERSTOWN TURNS TIDE SUNDAY: Hagerstown jumped out to an early lead and continued to pile it on over the first five innings as they cruised to an 11–4 win Sunday afternoon at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns plated three runs in the first and second against Cody Bolton to chase him from the game, and then tacked on five more runs against Sergio Cubilete. West Virginia was only able to score in two frames, tallying two in the second on back-to-back RBI singles from Lolo Sanchez and Oneil Cruz, and two in the seventh on a run-scoring knock from Kyle Watson and a ground out by Rodolfo Castro. The Power allowed a season-high tying 14 hits for the third time this season, with the previous time coming on April 14 against the Hickory Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium. In the loss, Samuel Reyes and Joel Cesar tossed three scoreless frames while allowing just one hit and striking out three.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: RHP Gavin Wallace (6–1, 3.54 ERA) takes the mound for West Virginia, while Hagerstown counters with RHP Jackson Tetreault (1–7, 5.23 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Oneil Cruz — SS
Rodolfo Castro — 2B
Deon Stafford — C
Ben Bengtson — 3B
Chris Sharpe — LF
Fabricio Macias — RF
Ryan Peurifoy — DH
Kyle Watson — 1B
Lolo Sanchez — CF
Gavin Wallace — RHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
CRUZ ENJOYS THE SUMMER SUN(S): Since the turn of the calendar to June, Cruz has really started to find his stroke offensively. In June, he led the Power in average (.375), home runs (3) and RBI (19). Boasting a .370 (40-for-108) clip since June 1, Cruz has raised his season average to .311 and increased his team-high RBI total to 47, second-best in the Pirates system to Will Craig (57, Double-A Altoona). His season average is fourth-best in the SAL and his RBI are tied for third-best in the league. The Dominican native put together his best statistical month of the season in June, posting a 1.025 OPS in 25 games. Cruz has also thoroughly enjoyed his time at Historic Municipal Stadium in 2018, registering a ridiculous .480 (12-for-25) clip in five games with five extra-base hits, five RBI and five runs scored.
ROAD WARRIORS DEFEATED: The Power had their eight-game road winning streak snapped Sunday. West Virginia had won eight straight road games courtesy of back-to-back sweeps of the Augusta GreenJackets and Hickory Crawdads at SRP Park and L.P. Frans Stadium and Saturday’s series-opening win over Hagerstown. The club claimed eight games in a row on the road for the first time since a 12-game road winning streak from July 20-August 25, 2009, the longest stretch in club history.
TOUGH DAY FOR BOLTON: Bolton lasted just two innings in a start for the second time in his career, tied for his shortest start in professional baseball (July 11, 2017, against the GCL Braves). He also allowed a career-high six runs on seven hits, which is one shy of his career-high in hits that he surrendered in his last start against the Lakewood BlueClaws on June 25 in game one of a doubleheader (6 IP, 1R, Win, 2nd QS).
SWIPING SANCHEZ: Besides recording his 14th multi-hit game of the season Sunday, Sanchez stole his team-leading 16th base of the year. The Dominican native now has a new career-high in stolen bases after swiping 14 bags a year ago with the GCL Pirates. His 16 stolen bases are tied with three others for fifth-best in the South Atlantic League. Over 159 career MiLB games, Sanchez has 34 stolen bases in 55 tries, good for a 62 percent success rate. The outfielder is also riding a season-best nine-game on-base streak dating back to June 21, the first day of the second half. During this streak, Sanchez is averaging .407 (11-for-27) with a home run, six RBI and a 1.093 OPS.
QUALITY WALLY: Monday starter Gavin Wallace twirled his seventh quality start with West Virginia June 27 against the Hickory Crawdads, second-most on the Power behind Domingo Robles (8). Since July 16, 2017, Wallace has allowed more than three earned runs just twice in his 22 starts (23 appearances), and has worked five innings-plus in all but four of those outings (two rain-affected in 2018, one relief appearance with the Black Bears). West Virginia is 18–6 when its starter goes six innings or more in a game.
A JUNE TO REMEMBER: With their win the series opener Saturday against Hagerstown, the Power finished the month of June with a 19–8 record, the best June record in Power history (2005-present). West Virginia’s previous best record in June was 18–9 in both 2007 and 2008. The Power sat atop or near the top of the SAL in a few categories in June (SV: 12, 1st; ERA: 3.21, 3rd; SB: 22, T-2nd; RPG: 5.0, 3rd).
MITCHELL RETURNS: Calvin Mitchell returned to West Virginia’s lineup after missing seven games on the disabled list since June 23. Though he went 0-for-4 in his first game back Sunday, Mitchell still boasts the team’s second-highest batting average at .303 with seven home runs and 36 RBI in 66 games. The Power also announced Sunday that Travis MacGregor’s rehab assignment in the GCL has been completed, while Jacob Webb started one June 29.
POWER POINTS: West Virginia is 5–13 in day games… Cesar boasts a miniscule 0.75 ERA (1 ER/12 IP) since June 1.
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.
