Game #78 Preview — Power at Suns
Game #78 — Road Game #37
West Virginia Power (7–7, 44–33) at Hagerstown Suns (3–8, 30–49)
Tuesday, July 3–7:05 p.m.
Historic Municipal Stadium (Hagerstown, Md.)
POWER OFFENSE SUBDUED IN 5–3 LOSS: West Virginia’s offense was held to a season-low two hits as Hagerstown got to Gavin Wallace early and rode a strong start from Jackson Tetreault to a 5–3 win Monday evening at Historic Municipal Stadium. The Suns plated two in the first and one in the second to snag an early 3–1 lead, ultimately tagging Wallace for five runs on a career-high nine hits over seven innings. Meanwhile, Tetreault rebounded after giving up a run in the top of the first, when Oneil Cruz reached on an error and Rodolfo Castro ripped an RBI triple to put the Power in front, 1–0. After that, Tetreault allowed just one additional hit to BenBengtson, tossing a career-high tying seven innings and striking out a career-best nine batters. West Virginia rallied in the eighth thanks to four walks and two wild pitches from Hagerstown reliever Andrew Lee, which allowed Cruz to loft a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to plate the Power’s second run. After Lee was lifted for Sam Held, West Virginia stole another run as Held hit Deon Stafford with his first pitch. Following that though, Held settled down and recorded his first save of the season.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: RHP Travis MacGregor (1–1, 3.10 ERA) gets the nod for West Virginia, while Hagerstown counters with LHP Seth Romero (0–1, 4.91 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Oneil Cruz — SS
Fabricio Macias— LF
Cal Mitchell — RF
Deon Stafford — C
Ben Bengtson — 3B
Chris Sharpe — DH
Raul Siri — 2B
Kyle Watson — 1B
Lolo Sanchez — CF
Travis MacGregor— 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 .360 (40-for-111) clip since June 1, Cruz has raised his season average to .307 and increased his team-high RBI total to 48, second-best in the Pirates system to Will Craig (58, Double-A Altoona). His season average is fifth-best in the SAL and his RBI are fourth-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 .429 (12-for-28) clip in six games with five extra-base hits, six RBI and six runs scored.
SOARING SANCHEZ: Despite going 0-for-2 Monday, Lolo Sanchez extended his on-base streak to 10 games with a walk in the eighth inning. Sanchez’s streak dates back to June 21, the first day of the second half. During this streak, Sanchez is averaging .379 (11-for-29) with a home run, six RBI and a 1.037 OPS. The Dominican native 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 two others for fifth-best in the South Atlantic League. Over 160 career MiLB games, Sanchez has 34 stolen bases in 56 tries, good for a 61 percent success rate.
WALKLESS NO MORE: Though Beau Sulser spun a scoreless eighth frame Monday, he issued his first walk of the season to Alex Flores. Prior to that free pass, Sulser had recorded 33 strikeouts with zero walks and was the only remaining pitcher in all of professional baseball (including Major League Baseball) to have no walks through a minimum of 20 innings pitched. The Dartmouth product is 3–3 with a 2.37 ERA through 18 appearances with 30.1 innings pitched. Since his worst outing of the season May 23 in Columbia, when he allowed four runs on six hits in an inning of work, the reliever has surrendered just 11 hits and three runs (two earned) over 15 innings (11 appearances) with 18 strikeouts, lowering his ERA from 3.52 to 2.37, a difference of 125 points.
MACGREGOR RETURNS: Travis MacGregor makes his return to the mound for West Virginia this evening in the series finale against Hagerstown. MacGregor has been sidelined since May 16 after leaving his May 14 start against Lakewood after 1.2 innings due to an injury. He recently completed a two-start rehab assignment in the GCL, where he tossed seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits while striking out six and posting a 2.57 ERA. With West Virginia, MacGregor is 1–1 with a 3.10 ERA through seven starts, recording 43 strikeouts to just seven walks over 29 innings pitched. The East Lake High School product started 2018 on a high note, fanning a career-best 12 batters in a six-inning outing against the Greenville Drive on April 6. He has never faced the Hagerstown Suns in his career.
POWER OUTAGE: West Virginia was held to a season-low two hits Monday evening. The Power have not mustered less than two hits since April 7, 2017, when Rome one-hit the Power in the season opener (a seven-inning doubleheader opener) en route to a 3–0 win. West Virginia’s previous low for hits in 2018 was three, which occurred three times.
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).
POWER POINTS: Chris Sharpe picked up his 10th outfield assist. Through 71 games, he has not committed an error.
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. Tuesday’s pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
