Game 8 Preview: Power vs. Augusta
Game #8 — Road Game #8
Augusta GreenJackets (3–3) at West Virginia Power (3–4)
Thursday, April 11–7:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, W.Va.)
CHANDLER HURLS QUALITY START IN LOSS: Clay Chandler tossed six quality innings in his second start with the Power, but West Virginia’s offense was held to a season-low three hits in a 2–1 loss in the series finale to the Lexington Legends Wednesday morning at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Chandler mowed through the first four innings on the bump, but ceded a leadoff single to Juan Carlos Negret to begin the fifth. He retired the next two men he faced, but Matt Morales stung an RBI triple into the right-field corner, giving Lexington a 1–0 edge. West Virginia wasted no time in responding though, as Onil Pena reached on an error by Morales to start the sixth. After moving to third on a pair of wild pitches by Jon Heasley, Pena scored on a sacrifice fly from Joseph Rosa, knotting the game at one. Jamal Wade relieved Chandler in the seventh and worked his way around a leadoff walk, but the Legends were able to get to him in the eighth. Jeison Guzman started things with an infield single, and Eric Cole doubled to left-center, plating Guzman and vaulting Lexington ahead, 2–1. Heasley closed out the final four innings for the Legends to pick up the win.
PITCHING MATCH-UP:
RHP Ryne Inman (0–0, 9.00 ERA) gets the ball for West Virginia, while Augusta sends RHP Gregory Santos to the slab (0–0, 9.00 ERA).
Inman made his first start in the Power’s 6–5 win over Greenville last week. He lasted four innings, allowed four runs on four hits and struck out seven batters in his West Virginia Power debut.
Santos has been a familiar name to baseball fans ever since he was traded from the Red Sox to the Giants for Eduardo Nunez back in 2017. The 19-year-old out of the Dominican Republic threw just three innings and allowed three runs in his first start of 2019.
POWER LINEUP:
Ryan Ramiz— LF
Jarred Kelenic — CF
Julio Rodriguez — RF
Onil Pena — 1B
Cesar Trejo — DH
Joseph Rosa — 2B
Jake Anchia — C
Bobby Honeyman — 3B
Ryne Ogren — SS
Ryne Inman— RHP
GAME NOTES:
JULIOOOOO: Despite having his six-game hitting streak snapped yesterday, Julio Rodriguez extended his season-opening on-base streak to seven games by working a walk in the first inning. Rodriguez is the team’s average leader at .423, as well as tied for the team lead in RBI with three. The 18-year-old is the second player in Power history to start the season with at least a six-game hitting streak. Tito Polo had the longest stretch in 2016, posting a 10-game hitting streak from April 7–18 with a .348 (16-for-46) clip, a home run and six RBI.
QUALITY CLAY: Chandler spun the Power’s first quality start of the season Wednesday morning, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts over six innings of work. The Paducah, Kentucky, native hurled eight quality starts in 2018 with the Clinton LumberKings, including five in the second half. West Virginia had 46 quality starts in 2018.
PILING UP THE STRIKEOUTS: The Power struck out eight more batters in Wednesday’s series finale, upping their total to 78, which leads the South Atlantic League by four (Hickory Crawdads). With his nine-strikeout performance Tuesday, Logan Gilbert sits in second place in the South Atlantic League with 14 total strikeouts.
KEEPING THE GAME ON LOCKDOWN: West Virginia’s bullpen has been quite stellar to start the year. After seven games, the Power’s bullpen boasts a 1.19 mark (30.1 IP/4 ER), with six relievers still possessing spotless ERAs. Elias Espino and Wade, who gave up an earned run in 1.2 innings Wednesday, are the only ones to give up earned runs.
IN NEED OF AN ADJUSTMENT: Of the six offensive Power players that are making their full-season debuts in 2019, only two of them are averaging above the Mendoza Line (.200) to start the year (Rodriguez and Ryan Ramiz). The other four seem to be experiencing a bit of growing pains when it comes to facing South Atlantic League pitching, especially Jarred Kelenic. The Mariners’ second-best prospect was 0-for-11 in the three-game series against the Legends, and is only 2-for-25 with 11 strikeouts in 2019. Among the others, Charlie McConnell collected his first hit of the year (1-for-17) Wednesday, roping a double to right, while Jake Anchia is 1-for-15 (.077) and Cesar Trejo is 3-for-15 (.200), though he did club his first career home run Tuesday night, a three-run bomb to left-center in the sixth.
THE SLIMMEST OF MARGINS: West Virginia dropped its third one-run decision across its first seven games in 2019 Wednesday. Overall, the Power has had five games decided by one run this season (2–3), with each of their first four games against Greenville coming down to a single tally.
A TRADITION UNLIKE ANY OTHER: The Power welcomes the Augusta GreenJackets to town on Masters Weekend, beginning a four-game series Thursday night at Appalachian Power Park. Last season, West Virginia played some of its most thrilling games against Augusta, including a pair of walk-off winners during their first encounter in early May. Ryan Peurifoy smacked the Power’s only walk-off home run of the season May 1 as part of a three-run ninth, while Kyle Watson ended Minor League Baseball’s longest game of the season with a base hit in the 15th inning May 3.
POWER POINTS: Through their first seven games, West Virginia has struggled mightily with runners in scoring position. After stranding eight men on base and going 0-for-8 with RISP Wednesday, the Power is averaging .108 (7-for-65), second-worst in the SAL (Columbia, .094)… Kelenic committed the Power’s ninth error of the season, lowering West Virginia’s fielding percentage to .964, tied for fifth-worst in the league… Rodriguez grounded into the Power’s seventh and eighth double plays of the season. Conversely, West Virginia has only turned five double plays in the field.
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.
