SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Dogs Chase Down Drive in 6-5 Comeback Triumph

Published on July 30, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - Charleston trailed 3-0 after three innings, but rallied for the next runs and held off a furious Greenville charge in a 6-5 win over the Drive in front of 5,393 fans in South Atlantic League action at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park on Friday night.

With the victory, Charleston wins its fourth straight game and climbs to 18-17, 49-55 overall. The RiverDogs inch over .500 in a half for the first time since April 8, while Greenville drops its fourth in a row for the first time since April 9-12 in falling to 21-14, 57-48 overall.

In 12 meetings between the teams in 2010, seven of the affairs have been decided by one run.

Greenville wasted little time getting on the board, scoring on Shannon Wilkerson's two-out RBI double to left allowed Jeremy Hazelbaker to score from third for a 1-0 lead. RiverDogs starter Jose Ramirez walked Hazelbaker to open the frame, who then stole second to move into scoring position and advanced to third on Derrik Gibson's sacrifice bunt.

Raymond Fuentes opened the second inning, sending a 1-2 pitch from Ramirez deep over the wall in right-centerfield for his fourth home run of the season, giving Greenville a 2-0 advantage going into the bottom of the second.

The Drive pushed the lead to 3-0, when a throwing error to first on a Wilkerson grounder that allowed Gibson to come home from second. Gibson singled to reach base and moved into scoring position on Ronald Bermudez's groundout.

Ramirez took a no-decision after giving up three hits and two earned runs, with five fans, in 5.0 innings of work.

Charleston bit into the Drive lead in the bottom half, when J.R. Murphy cracked a two-run shot off the left-field foul pole on the first pitch from Drake Britton for his fourth home run of the year. Murphy's long ball plated Francisco Santana from first, cutting the lead to 3-2 Greenville going into the fourth.

Luke Murton used the bottom of the fourth to showcase his offensive prowess that earned him SAL Hitter of the Week honors earlier in the season.

The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket ripped his 26th double of the year to left to open the frame, tagged up and went to third on Neil Medchill's flyout to left field, and with DeAngelo Mack at the plate, a wild pitch from Britton allowed Murton to race home to knot the game up at 3-3 going into the fifth.

The 3-3 lock up lasted until a wild bottom of the sixth, when Santana's bloop RBI single to left brought Mack home from third to give Charleston the 4-3 advantage. Mack struck out with one down, but reached first on a wild pitch from Drive reliever Jeremiah Bayer, and moved to second on Emerson Landoni's single. Both runners moved up a base on Bayer's second wild pitch.

After Santana's RBI knock, another wild pitch with Slade Heathcott batting scored Landoni for a 5-3 lead. Kelvin Castro finished the scoring with a RBI groundout to plate Santana, staking the RiverDogs to a 6-3 lead. Castro now has a RBI in five straight games for the first time in his career.

Bayer (6-2) took the loss for the first time since May 27, when the RiverDogs defeated him at Fluor Field in Greenville.

Hazelbaker hit a two-out single in the seventh off Ben Watkins, stole two bases, and then scored on Derrik Gibson's RBI triple, trimming the lead to 6-4.

Greenville led off the eighth with three straight singles against Ryan Flannery, which was followed by a one-out sacrifice fly from Vladimir Frias making the deficit 6-5. Flannery escaped the jam by getting Christian Vazquez to groundout.

In the ninth inning, Hazelbaker walked to lead off and moved to second on Gibson's second sacrifice bunt of the contest. On a swinging strikeout by Bermudez, Hazelbaker stole third for his fourth steal of the game and league-best 44th of the year. However, with two down, Wilkerson grounded out to Rob Lyerly to finish the game.

Watkins (3-2) takes the win for Charleston -- his first since April 24 -- giving up just two hits and one earned run in 1.2 innings on the mound. Flannery's 2.0 innings outing resulted in his 14th save of the year, good for fourth in the SAL.

Murphy and Santana had two hits each for the RiverDogs, who have a 7-2 record in their last nine one-run games.

The final game of this four-game series is set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday, with Charleston sending right-hander Brett Marshall (1-2, 4.50) to the hill against Greenville right-hander Tom Ebert (8-2, 3.18), who is tied for third in the league in victories.

-RIVERDOGS- BALLPARK FUN: The red shirts were out in force for Force Protection Red Shirt Friday! Also, the bat wasn't the only thing crackin' tonight at The Joe as Piggly Wiggly Fireworks lit up the Charleston skyline following the game. Fans of all things America's Pastime were in for another treat as former American League president and RiverDogs co-owner Gene Budig was at the ballpark signing copies of his new book Clearing the Bases; Nine Who Did It with Grit and Class.

UP NEXT: It's a Kia Country of Charleston Saturday at the Ballpark, with the first 1,000 fans set to receive FREE camouflage drawstring backpacks! Get to the park early so you don't miss out on this sweet deal. We'll also be honoring Women in Defense's Woman of the Year prior to the game. Get set

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 30, 2010


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