West Virginia Power (1-7) at Lexington Legends (3-5)
Game 9 | April 14, 2017 | Whitaker Bank Ballpark | Lexington, KY
Radio: The Jock 1300 & 1340 - wvpower.com      Airtime: 6:45 P.M.

PITCHING MATCH-UP
RH Luis Escobar (0-0, 1.80) vs. RH Travis Eckert (0-0, 27.00)
Escobar: Allowed 1 R on 5 H over 5.0 IP in SAL Debut on 4/09 w/ 12 K & 1 BB (2-1 ROM in 11)
Eckert: Surrendered 5 R on 5 H over 1.0 relief IP w/ 1 K on 4/09 @ CSC (12-4 RiverDogs)

  

LEADING OFF: West Virginia lost 14-5 on Thursday night at Lexington. The Power opened the scoring in the first on a walk, two steals and an error, but the Legends responded with one run in the first and four in the second. West Virginia climbed within one in the third, scoring three on a Logan Ratledge home run, a double and an error. Lexington extended their lead with one run in the third and a six spot in the fourth. Sandy Santo homered in the seventh, but again, the Legends countered with two runs of their own. Oddy Nunez was charged with the loss after allowing the first six, though only two were earned.

 

WRONG WAY: Entering play on Thursday, the Power had the South Atlantic League’s fifth best earned run average at 3.80. After 10 earned runs last night, the staff ERA has climbed to 4.63, falling six spots to 11th in the league. Through eight games, the club’s starters are 0-2 with a 3.97 ERA over 34 innings pitched. The bullpen has gone 1-5 with a 5.45 earned run average over 38 innings.

ON IT: Logan Ratledge is only batting .231, but has reached base in seven straight games and carries a .375 on-base percentage into play tonight. Only Trae Arbet’s OBP is higher at .400, as Arbet has reach safely in all six games he has played this season.

 

COMING AROUND: Sandy Santos recorded his first multi-hit game of the season on Thursday, going 3-4 with his first home run of the year. The outfielder had 17 multi-hit games foe the Black Bears in 2016, including six three-hit games and two nights with four hits.

 

K-DAY: Luis Escobar makes his second start of the season this evening. On Sunday, the right-hander struck out a career-high 12 over five innings. Prior to Sunday, Escobar had not stuck out more than eight batters in any one game, having accomplished that on his third-to-last start in 2016.

 

RIVALRY RENEWED: The Power play the Lexington Legends 25 times in 2017, accounting for 18% of West Virginia’s full 140 game schedule. The Power are 129-105 since 2005 against Lexington, including a 69-51 mark on the road. The two teams are also starting a joint promotion paying tribute to the Hatfield and McCoy feud, featuring custom jerseys and a golden pig trophy for the winner of the full season series.

 

TRENDING SOUTH: West Virginia plays 59 games against fellow South Atlantic League Northern Division opponents this season and 81 against teams from the Southern Division. The Power will travel to Hickory next week for their first of seven straight games against Northern Division teams; the only seven this month. West Virginia only plays 24 of 70 first half games against teams from their own division.

 

TWO-FER: Trae Arbet homered twice on Wednesday, becoming the first Power player to hit two home runs in a game this season. Arbet had a career total of four home runs entering this year, spanning 139 games over four professional seasons. Logan Hill was the last player to hit two out in a single game, accomplishing the feat on August 16 at Lexington.

 

POWER POINTS: Entering the 2017 season, 57 former Power players have gone on to play in the Majors... Hunter Owen and Kevin Mahala are the only Power players who have seen action in all eight games this season...

 

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh had a 3-1 lead at Fenway, but lost 4-3 to Boston. Juan Nicasio allowed three runs in the bottom of the eighth in the loss... Indianapolis topped Toledo 5-1, led by two hits including a home run for Eric Wood... Altoona eked past Akron 3-2. Kevin Kramer homered twice in the win... Bradenton is now 8-0 after a 4-1 win over Tampa. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 2-3 with his second triple of the season and drove in two.

 

PROMO PREVIEW: On Saturday, April 22, the first 1,000 fans through the gate at Appalachian Power Park will receive a 97.5 WQBE Rabbit bobblehead giveaway. Gates will open at 1:00 P.M. for the 2:05 game.

 

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.