West Virginia was unable to sweep the Lakewood BlueClaws today on the road, losing 8-5 and snapping a seven game winning streak against Lakewood. Tyler Glasnow got the start and had some trouble, giving up three runs, but he still looked very impressive on the mound. For the seventh straight start, he allowed two hits or less and he had his fastball working, reaching 97 MPH and striking out eight batters. Stetson Allie finished off his series with his third homer in four games; all three were impressive shots. The Power were up 4-3 after Glasnow left, but the bullpen let them down, leading to the loss. They pounded out eight hits and drew four walks, but couldn’t make a comeback.
We will have a recap of the players to watch today, then recap the series early next week. Also a full summary of Glasnow and Jake Burnette, plus some game notes below.
Shortstop Max Moroff led off the game, hitting the second pitch over the left field wall. The BlueClaws had lefty Yoel Mecias on the mound, who left a 90 MPH fastball up and Moroff turned on it, lining it about 20 feet over the wall. Moroff led off the third inning with a walk on a seven pitch AB. In his third plate appearance, he walked on four pitches. He led off the seventh, drawing his third straight walk. Moroff finished his series with a 3-2 groundout to second base.
Right fielder Josh Bell hit a hard grounder that ate up the shortstop and was scored for a hit in his first AB. The ball was hit solid and off to the side of the shortstop. In his second plate appearance, he came up with runners on first and second and flew out to right field. Bell flew out to left field on a 2-2 pitch in his third AB. He lined a hard 1-0 single to right-center in his fourth AB, scoring Walker Gourley to tie the game at five apiece. Bell came up again in the ninth and struck out swinging to end the game.
Designated hitter Stetson Allie hit his third impressive homer of the series. This one was a line shot to left-center that hit an outfield ad sign at least 80 feet past the wall on the fly. He worked a full count in his second AB and drew a walk to load the bases. He saw a lot of off-speed pitches in his third AB, striking out on a curve, but he did foul a couple fastballs straight back, so he just missed on them. Allie grounded out to third base in his fourth at bat.
Third baseman Eric Wood struck out swinging following the Allie homer. He then batted with the bases loaded and one out in the third, and made the pitcher work hard. Wood fouled off a ton of pitches before finally striking out looking on a ball on the outside corner. He had a soft groundball to shortstop in his third AB, followed by an easy grounder to second base next time up.
Center fielder Raul Fortunato flew out to left field in his first AB. He looked bad on the first two pitches of his second AB, swinging and missing badly. He ended up hitting a slow grounder to shortstop that was scored a hit. The shortstop (Roman Quinn) couldn’t get the ball out of his glove running in on it and Fortunato hustles down the line more than anyone, so it would have been a close play. He ended up driving in the fourth run of the game for the Power. In his third AB, he hit a soft comebacker to the pitcher for an easy out. In his last AB, he hit a sharp grounder right at the third baseman for an easy out.
Glasnow Gives Up Runs, But Ends Strong
Tyler Glasnow came into this game not allowing more than two hits in any of his last six starts. Top prospect Roman Quinn led off the game with a hard grounder down the first base line for a single. He got the second batter to line out to center field, moving Quinn to third base, then walked the next batter. With Art Charles up, the BlueClaws pulled off a double steal, scoring their first run. Glasnow struck out Charles looking for the second out. Glasnow hit 96 six times in the first inning and hit 97 twice.
In the second inning, Glasnow walked the lead-off hitter on a 3-2 pitch. He struck out the next batter swinging. Glasnow then battled Justin Dalles, before giving up a long homer to left field. He then went 3-0 on the next hitter, coming back to strike him out on the next three pitches. Roman Quinn lined out to first base on the next pitch to end the inning. The velocity was 93-95 MPH in the second and he mixed in breaking balls, a couple of which were hit hard, including a change-up to Quinn.
He worked hard to the first batter in the third, throwing a couple nice curveballs, before getting a shallow fly ball to right field. The 6’8″ righty then struck out the next batter looking on a 94 MPH fastball. Glasnow retired the side in order, again getting a strike out looking. He hit 96 and 97 once each this inning.
In the fourth, he struck out the first batter looking on a 95 MPH fastball. The next batter popped up to second base on the second pitch of the AB. He worked the count full to the third batter, who grounded out to third base. Eric Wood made a nice play to his left and made the throw while on the ground to record the out.
Glasnow struck out the first batter of the fifth, swinging on a 96 MPH fastball. He recorded his eighth strikeout, getting the next batter looking on a 79 MPH curveball. Roman Quinn flew out to center field to end his outing. He gave up three runs on two hits, two walks and had those eight strikeouts.
Jake Burnette Moved To Bullpen
Jake Burnette followed Glasnow, moving up a day in the rotation after a rough start on Wednesday that lasted just eight batters and one out. He struck out the first batter, then got a groundout to shortstop. Burnette walked the cleanup hitter, then gave up a bloop double that scored a run to tie the game. It wasn’t hit hard, but it was a lefty batter who put it right down the left field line. The next batter did hit it hard, a single into right field that scored the fifth run for Lakewood. After walking a batter, Burnette got a pop up to second base to end the inning. He was throwing 90-92 MPH.
He got a pop out to third base to start his second inning, then walked Quinn, putting a very quick runner on base. Burnette paid close attention to him, but ended up hitting the next batter. With one out and two men on, he struck out the next batter on a high fastball. Art Charles then doubled off the right field wall to bring home both runners, giving Lakewood a 7-5 lead. Thomas Harlan came in to replace Burnette. Charles scored on a single to the next batter, closing the books on Burnette. He gave up five earned runs in 1.2 innings, allowing three hits and three walks.
Game Notes
** Jonathan Schwind made the play of the game, a spectacular diving catch to end the eighth inning.
** Walker Gourley raised his average to .325 on the season with a two hit game. He also stole his ninth base of the season.
**Thomas Harlan finished off the game with 1.1 shutout innings.
** Dilson Herrera was out of the lineup after getting hit by a pitch that he swung at last night.
** West Virginia has off tomorrow, returning home for a six game homestand. They have 13 games left before the All-Star break.
