The Lexington Legends set new season highs in runs and hits in a 13-6 victory over the West Virginia Power Monday night in Charleston. Every Legends batter had at least one hit in the game, and eight hitters had at least two hits, as the Legends collected 14 hits in the first five innings and 18 for the game. The Legends took command of the game when they sent 12 batters to the plate in a seven-run fourth inning.
Brandon Dulin had three runs batted in for Lexington, and D.J. Burt, Anderson Miller and Xavier Fernandez each drove in two runs.
The Power scored two runs in the first inning. With one out, Mitchell Tolman homered. Carlos Munoz drew a two-out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Daniel Arribas.
The Legends took the lead with three runs in the third. Travis Maezes led off with a walk and moved to third on a one-out double by Roman Collins. Burt followed with a two-run single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Burt stole second, Miller walked and both moved up on a wild pitch. Amalani Fukofuka, who had three hits in the game, singled off the glove of pitcher Mitch Keller, scoring Burt with the go-ahead run.
Marten Gasparini started the Lexington fourth with a single. He stole second base, moved to third on a single by Maezes, and scored on a base hit by Jecksson Flores. An infield hit by Collins loaded the bases. After Burt grounded into a force play at the plate, Miller’s ground out to first base brought Flores home. Dulin doubled home two more runs. Dulin stole third base as Fukofuka drew a walk, and Dulin scored on a single by Fernandez. Gasparini’s second single of the inning scored Fukofuka, and a hit by Maezes brought Fernandez home, giving the Legends a 10-2 lead.
A two-run single by Christian Kelley in the bottom of the fourth made the score 10-4, and after the Legends added a run in the fifth on a double by Miller and a single by Dulin, the Power scored two more in the bottom of the fifth, leaving the Legends with a 11-6 lead.
Miller singled home a run for Lexington in the seventh, and a double by Fukofuka and a single by Fernandez produced the game’s final run in the top of the eighth.
Legends’ starter Yunior Marte (4-3) worked the first five innings and got the win. Keller (5-5), the starting pitcher for the Northern Division in the South Atlantic League All-Star game last Tuesday night in Lexington, lasted two and two-thirds innings, his shortest outing of the year, and took the loss.
Game two of the three-game series will be played Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m.
Attendance 2,475