Game #95 Preview — Power at Intimidators
Game #95 — Road Game #44
WV Power (13–15, 50–44) at Kannapolis Intimidators(14–15, 53–43)
Monday, July 23–7:05 p.m.
Intimidators Stadium (Kannapolis, N.C.)
POWER SWEPT IN TWIN BILL SATURDAY: Ben Bengtson hit a two-run homer to cap a three-run first inning for West Virginia, but the Legends pulled ahead in the fourth and never looked back, taking the doubleheader opener, 6–4, Saturday evening at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. West Virginia took another first-inning lead in game two, plating two in the opening frame on a two-run single from Raul Hernandez, but the Legends were able to mount another comeback and finish off a doubleheader sweep with a 4–2 win in game two. In game one, Deon Stafford lofted a sacrifice fly to start the Power’s scoring in the first before Bengtson plopped his home run just above the right-field fence to make it 3–0 West Virginia. Lexington responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first, but Ryan Peurifoy singled in Stafford in the fourth to extend the Power’s lead to 4–2. The Legends answered in the home half on Manny Olloque’s second home run of the series to pull even at four. With two down in the sixth against Beau Sulser, Ricky Aracena grounded one to Robbie Glendinning at shortstop, but he could not field it cleanly, letting both runners come in to score and pushing the Legends ahead for good, 6–4. In game two, Ike Schlabach held Lexington’s bats quiet for the first and second innings, but they broke through in the third and knotted the game at two before jumping ahead for the rest of the night in the fourth on Matias’ MiLB-leading 27th home run of the season.
PITCHING MATCH-UP: LHP Domingo Robles (7–6, 3.38 ERA) gets the nod for West Virginia, while Kannapolis counters with southpaw Drew Harrington (3–1, 2.86 ERA).
POWER LINEUP:
Lolo Sanchez — CF
Cal Mitchell — RF
Oneil Cruz — SS
Deon Stafford — C
Raul Hernandez — DH
Jesse Medrano — 3B
Rodolfo Castro — 2B
Kyle Watson — 1B
Ryan Puerifoy — LF
Domingo Robles — LHP
ODDS AND ENDS:
SERIES FINALE CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN: Due to a heavy rain storm in the Lexington area, Sunday’s season series finale against the Lexington Legends was cancelled due to inclement weather. The two teams will not make the game up as they do not play again for the rest of the season. Lexington won the season series, 11–7. Sunday’s cancellation marked the 30th weather-affected game this season for the Power, the most in club history (2005-present).
HOLY HOMERS: Bengtson’s home run was his fourth of the season and third at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in 2018. All four of Bengtson’s home runs have come away from Appalachian Power Park. Bengtson recorded his first long ball since July 11 at Hickory. The Power infielder posted West Virginia’s 65th home run of the season, ninth-most in the South Atlantic League, with Asheville leading the way with 114 dingers. Hernandez, Fabricio Macias and Glendinning are the only three active Power batters without a home run this season.
404 ERROR MESSAGE: West Virginia’s defense committed four errors across both games Saturday, upping its season total to 125, tied with Lexington for the second-highest total in the South Atlantic League (Rome, 132). The Power has a .963 fielding percentage, the lowest mark in the league. Oneil Cruz leads the league in errors with 29.
TOUGH MONTH: It’s been a rough month of July for West Virginia, with the team posting a 6–13 record thus far. The Power has dropped five of their last six games and were dealt their first series sweep (of three games or more) this season after falling in the first three games of their series against the Lexington Legends before Sunday’s cancelled finale. As a team, West Virginia has notched a .215 mark this month, the worst average in the league, while its 4.73 ERA is second-highest on the circuit, sitting behind just Asheville, who holds a 5.06 mark. Cruz and Calvin Mitchell are really struggling in July, with Cruz boasting a .190 clip and Mitchell averaging only .186 in the month. The two have a combined nine hits in their last 67 at-bats (.134) with 21 strikeouts.
BRIGHTER OUTLOOK?: The Power had similar issues in July 2017, going 13–15 in the month before ripping off a 19–10 August record and winning 22 of their final 34 games to put themselves in postseason contention. Over its first 14 games in July 2017, West Virginia was 5–9 before claiming seven of its next eight contests and putting together a franchise-record 13-game home winning streak. The Power missed the playoffs last year by .002 percentage points.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: West Virginia is in the midst of their longest road trip of the season, spanning seven games in eight days between Lexington, Kentucky, and Kannapolis, North Carolina, with the Power playing its final series against the Legends and the Intimidators in each of these four-game sets. West Virginia will play 15 of their next 21 contests away from Appalachian Power Park before closing out the season with 11 of their last 19 games at home.
POWER POINTS: The Power are 28–23 (.550) in games decided by two runs or less this season, the fourth-highest winning-percentage in the South Atlantic League (Greensboro and Lakewood, .569; Rome, .564)… West Virginia is 10–10 in doubleheader contests, tied with Augusta and Delmarva for sixth-best in terms of winning percentage in the SAL… Tuesday starter Max Kranick celebrated his 21st birthday Saturday… This four-game series is the only trip the Power are making to Intimidators Stadium in 2018. West Virginia holds a 42–34 all-time record in Kannapolis, N.C.
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.
