Game #82 Preview — Power vs. Suns
Game #82 — Home Game #45
West Virginia Power (9–6, 46–35) vs. Hagerstown Suns (4–11, 31–52)
Saturday, July 7–6:05 p.m.
Appalachian Power Park (Charleston, WV)
LEXINGTON CLAIMS BACK AND FORTH AFFAIR: After resuming Thursday’s suspended game in the top of the fourth inning with runners on the corners and nobody out, Lexington capitalized on every opportunity they had, tallying runs in five of the six remaining innings to hang on for a 7–6 win. Elvis Escobar allowed both inherited runners from Max Kranick to score, who therefore saw his scoreless streak end at 19 innings, falling one out shy of tying Cody Bolton for the longest scoreless streak on the Power in 2018. West Virginia responded with three in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI groundout from Chris Sharpe and run-scoring knocks from Raul Siri and Ryan Peurifoy to take a 3–2 lead. Matt Morales tied it in the fifth with a solo home run before the Legends jumped in front in the sixth on a two-run single by Marten Gasparini. Jesse Medrano knotted the game at five in the home half of the frame with an RBI double to right-center that plated Sharpe and Siri. Both teams also scored a run in the seventh, but Lexington tacked on a run in the eighth on a balk from Beau Sulser to claim the lead for good.
CRUZ DELIVERS IN SERIES FINALE WALK-OFF WIN: In Friday’s regularly scheduled game at Appalachian Power Park, West Virginia and Lexington went back-and-forth again, this time taking 10 innings to decide the series finale, which the Power ultimately won, 8–7, on a walk-off single from Oneil Cruz in the bottom of the 10th inning. With West Virginia trailing 7–6 and Ben Bengtson starting the inning on second base, Raul Hernandez connected for his second RBI single of extra frames to tie the game at seven. Peurifoy then singled and Kyle Watson walked to load the bases. Lolo Sanchez grounded into a fielder’s choice at the plate to set the stage for Cruz, who socked a 2–1 pitch into left to win the ballgame. The Power jumped out to an early lead in this contest thanks to a two-run homer by Rodolfo Castro and a passed ball that scored Sharpe in the first, but Lexington would claw back to tie it at four in the fifth when Seuly Matias clubbed his South Atlantic League-leading 25th home run of the season. Both teams would score their inherited runners in the first two extra innings before West Virginia walked it off in the bottom of the tenth. Joel Cesar earned the win after spinning all three extra frames, despite allowing all three placed on runners to score.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: RHP Cody Bolton (3–1, 2.86 ERA) gets the nod for West Virginia, while Hagerstown counters with RHP Jackson Tetreault (2–7, 4.73 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Oneil Cruz — SS
Rodolfo Castro — 2B
Cal Mitchell — RF
Deon Stafford — C
Chris Sharpe — LF
Ryan Peurifoy — CF
Jesse Medrano— 3B
Kyle Watson — 1B
Fabricio Macias — DH
Cody Bolton — RHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
CRUZ CONTROL: Cruz was electric in Friday’s regularly scheduled game, going 3-for-6 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. He registered his team-leading 13th multi-RBI game of the season and upped his season RBI total to 50, second-most in the Pirates system behind Will Craig (Double-A Altoona) and fourth-best in the South Atlantic League. The Dominican native also has the sixth-best batting average in the SAL at .304 and delivered West Virginia’s sixth walk-off win of the season, as well as their first since a pair of game-enders in a May 7 doubleheader against Hickory.
SOARING SANCHEZ: With his three hits across both games Friday, Sanchez extended his on-base streak to 14 games. Sanchez’s streak dates back to June 21, the first day of the second half. During this span, Sanchez is batting .356 (16-for-45) with a home run, seven RBI and a .920 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 for sixth-best in the South Atlantic League. Over 164 career games, Sanchez has 34 stolen bases in 56 tries (61 percent).
HOLY HOMERS: Castro’s homer was West Virginia’s 59th home run of the season as a team, tied with Delmarva for seventh-highest in the South Atlantic League (Asheville, 93; Lexington, 87; Hickory, 71; Augusta, 62; Rome and Lakewood, 61). Every active Power batter has at least one homer except for Fabricio Macias, Medrano and Hernandez
HANRAHAN TABBED TO LEAD U.S. TEAM BULLPEN IN FUTURES GAME: Power pitching coach Joel Hanrahan has been selected as the Bullpen Coach for the United States team at the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, taking place on Sunday, July 15, at 4 p.m. at Nationals Park during All-Star Weekend. Hanrahan will man the relief corps for the U.S. squad and is joined on the roster by former Power players RHP Mitch Keller and INF Ke’Bryan Hayes.
ROSTER MOVES: Before Friday’s scheduled affair, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced a flurry of roster moves affecting the West Virginia Power:
- C Rafelin Lorenzo begins MiLB rehab assignment in the GCL
- C Raul Hernandez activated off the disabled list and placed on the Power’s active roster
- RHP Jacob Webb completes MiLB rehab assignment in the GCL and is transferred to the GCL from the Power’s DL
- LHP Angel Martinez promoted to the Power from the GCL and placed on the disabled list with a left shoulder strain
- INF Raul Siri assigned to the West Virginia Black Bears from the West Virginia Power
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. Saturday’s pregame coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the West Virginia Power Baseball Network.
