SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Fall to BlueClaws, 5-1, in Series Opener

Published on August 2, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - The Drive (57-50, 21-16) had to be hoping that a return home would help them snap out of their losing streak.

Unfortunately, the Lakewood BlueClaws (66-41, 24-13) had other ideas, as they handed the Drive their sixth straight loss, 5-1, Monday night at Fluor Field.

BlueClaws starter Trevor May (4-1) earned the win with six shutout innings. The most trouble he faced all night was in the first inning, when he walked three batters. After working out of that jam, he settled down, issuing no more walks for the remainder of his outing. He finished with nine strikeouts while yielding just three hits and the aforementioned three walks.

Lakewood opened the scoring in the top of the first thanks to a couple of miscues by the Drive. Leadoff man Jiwan James struck out but still reached first because the ball at which he swung and missed was a wild pitch by Drive starter Pete Ruiz (7-8). Greenville then missed an opportunity for a double play when Michael Dabbs hit a grounder to Vladimir Frias.

Frias flipped it to Derrik Gibson at second but Gibson dropped the ball, making everyone safe on the play. Eventually, Sebastian Valle hit an RBI-double down the left-field line to give the BlueClaws an early 1-0 lead.

The score remained that way for awhile until the BlueClaws erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth. With runners on second and third, Jonathan Singleton hit an RBI-groundout to second to make the score 2-0. Valle then victimized Ruiz again by delivering the big blow of the game - a two-run homer to left center that put Lakewood ahead 4-0. Valle finished the night with three RBI.

Stephen Batts then singled, spelling the end of Ruiz's evening, and the BlueClaws tacked on one more run in the frame via Jeremy Barnes' RBI-single off Drive reliever Pedro Perez.

That one inning marred an otherwise strong game for Ruiz, who had given up just two hits and one run (unearned) while fanning seven batters over the first five innings. After unraveling in the sixth, Ruiz finished with a line of 5.2 innings, five hits, five runs (four earned), no walks, and an impressive eight strikeouts.

Greenville finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth when Ronald Bermudez hit a bloop single to right that drove in Jeremy Hazelbaker. Hazelbaker had led off the inning with a double off the wall in left-center before advancing to third on a wild pitch.

The Drive then threatened to do more damage, as they loaded the bases as a result of Reynaldo Rodriguez and Frias each being hit by a pitch against Lakewood's Justin Beal. However, BlueClaws reliever Ebelin Lugo, who came in to replace Beal, retired Reymond Fuentes and Michael Almanzar without giving up any more runs.

The Drive and BlueClaws continue this four-game set at Fluor Field on with an early affair on Tuesday, as Ryan Pressly (4-6, 3.89 ERA) will get the start for Greenville opposite Lakewood All-Star Josh Zeid (5-4, 3.23 ERA).

Tomorrow is the final Businessperson Special of the season from Fluor Field, with first pitch is scheduled for 11:00 AM. For more information regarding single-game tickets, luxury accommodations, and group outings, call (864) 240-4500 or log onto www.GreenvilleDrive.com.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from August 2, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central