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Greenville Drive

Drive Top Tourists 2-1 in Extra Inning Affair

June 30, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - Fluor Field was home to a couple innings of free baseball on Thursday night, and the fans who stuck it out to the end saw the Greenville Drive (43-35, 5-3) pull out an 11-inning, 2-1 victory over the Asheville Tourists (36-41, 5-3). It was the Drive's first extra-inning game at Fluor Field since August of 2010, which ironically enough was a victory over Asheville.

The winning rally began when Brandon Jacobs lined a one-out single into right field off Asheville reliever Juan Perez (4-3). During Michael Almanzar's at-bat, Jacobs easily stole second base. A couple of pitches later, Jacobs took off for third and slid in just before Bryce Massanari's throw to notch his second stolen base of the inning. With a full count, Almanzar hit a slow roller toward Tourist second baseman Helder Velazquez, whose off-balance throw was accurate but too late to catch the speeding Jacobs.

Garrett Rau (3-3) picked up the win for Greenville with two scoreless innings of relief, including four strikeouts. He extended his scoreless innings streak to 8.2 innings, spanning his last six outings.

Both starting pitchers received tough luck no-decisions on the evening. Drive starter Miguel Celestino went 6.2 innings, giving up just three hits and one unearned run while striking out four. Peter Tago was just as effective for Asheville, also 6.2 innings. He allowed four hits and one run, with two strikeouts.

The Tourists scored their only run of the night in the second inning. Massanari singled up the middle to begin the frame and advanced to second on a passed ball by Drive catcher Christian Vazquez. After a Corey Dickerson groundout and a walk, Mark Tracy plated Massanari with a groundout to third.

The Drive thought they had the game tied in the bottom of the fifth. Henry Ramos doubled to left-center to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a wild pitch. David Renfroe then lofted a high fly ball to center field. Tourist center fielder Rafael Ortega made the catch and unleashed a bullet to gun down Ramos at the plate for the double play.

Beginning with Tracy's groundout in the third, Celestino retired eleven consecutive Tourist batters. That streak ended in the top of the sixth when Brett Tanos smoked a grounder that drew chalk on the third-base line for a leadoff double. With two outs in the inning, Vazquez made a snap throw to second and picked off Tanos to end the frame.

The Drive finally got on the board in the seventh inning. Almanzar sent a liner over first base with one out for a single. Two batters later, Ramos singled to left to put runners on first and second to chase Tago. Bruce Kern came in for Asheville and promptly walked Renfroe to load the bases. Lucas LeBlanc then hit a slow dribbler about fifty feet for an RBI infield single.

In addition to his two stolen bases, Jacobs had two hits and collected his third consecutive multi-hit game. Ramos also had two hits and a stolen base. Ortega had two hits for Asheville.

Fresh off consecutive wins over the Tourists to earn a series split, the Drive will now welcome the Hickory Crawdads to Fluor Field for a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is set for 7:05 PM as southpaw Manuel Rivera (5-3, 3.40 ERA) toes the slab for Greenville, while Hickory counters with right-hander Cody Buckel (3-3, 2.57 ERA).

Following tomorrow evening's contest, fans will be treated to a spectacular fireworks display set to your favorite TV theme songs. For more information regarding single-game tickets, luxury accommodations, group outings, and ticket plan packages call (864) 240-4500 or visit www.GreenvilleDrive.com.

GAME NOTES: Attendance was 5,821...tonight was the Drive's 3rd walk-off win of the season, and 15th come-from-behind win...the 18 wins in the month tied Hickory for most in the South Atlantic League...the Drive's 18-8 record was the best record for a single month in the franchise's 6-year history...June is the only month in franchise history in which the Drive have never finished below .500, going 95-59 (.617) lifetime

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