Baker, a fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates out of the University of Mississippi in 2009, was 6-5 with a 2.99 ERA for the Power. He pitched eight no-hit innings at Hagerstown on July 6. In his last 20 innings with the Power, Baker allowed just six hits and two earned runs while striking out 19 and issuing two walks.

To fill Baker's spot on the Power roster, right-handed pitcher Melkin Laureano will return to West Virginia after playing the last six weeks with Bradenton.

Laureano opened the season with the Power, posting a 2-3 record and 2.82 ERA in 10 appearances, including five starts. At Bradenton, he was 3-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 games, including starts in his last three games.

Benji Gonzalez is one of the reasons for the West Virginia Power's recent offensive surge.

Gonzalez, a 19-year-old shortstop from Puerto Rico, has hit .353 in his last 10 games from the ninth spot in the batting order.

"The bottom of our lineup had really struggled throughout the first half," Power manager Gary Green said. "We just couldn't get any hits outside the one-through-five guys. Now we're really getting some offensive depth and the seven, eight and nine hitters are doing much better, and we're able to put up six to eight runs a night now. Our hitting coaches have done a great job with the guys."

The Power enjoyed a rare day off Tuesday because of the Major League All-Star Game.

"We spent most of it on the road to Delmarva," Green said. "It's about an eight-hour bus ride, we all hurried up into the hotel when we got there to get food and watch the All-Star Game.

"You know I'm not sure if it's a close-knit group off the field, but they all get along on the field. Chemistry is a great thing to have, but the reality is I am not sure if it's a necessity to have it. If you look at the great Yankee and Oakland A's teams of the 1970s, those guys seemed to hate each other on and off the field and still won together."

The team's bond was challenged during a difficult five-game series with Lexington. The Power and Legends split four consecutive one-run games, then West Virginia lost a three-run lead going into the ninth inning of Monday's 12-8 loss to end the series on a sour note.

"We all went through the highs and lows of baseball in that series," Green said. "We rally back from down 8-1 to win one night, we lose a three-run lead the other. It's good for these guys to get some adversity, it'll build good character down the road, but we were all pretty upset to lose that game Monday. We have our great closer in there, [Marc] Baca, if I were a betting man, I wouldn't have expected us to lose that one.

"Someone in baseball said a long time ago, you're always going to win 50 and lose 50, and then it's the other 50 that determine how you'll do. The problem is you never know which one of those 50 you're in each night, so you try to win as many as possible."

The Power (7-12) is in a three-way tie for last place in the South Atlantic League's Northern Division, but just 51/2 games behind first-place Lakewood. Next up for the Power is a five-game road series at Delmarva that started Wednesday night. The Power went 5-4 in its games with the Shorebirds in the first half of the season.

"We've just had some mound problems over the last three or four weeks," Green said. "Pitching hasn't been coming through. When you score six to eight runs a night you expect to win by a couple of runs and not have to sweat out these nail-biters. We've got to get a little better there."

Reach Michael Polak mpola...@gmail.com