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SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Almonte's Two Jacks Swat Sand Gnats, 8-4

September 3, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - Abraham Almonte went 3-for-5 with two home runs helping Wilton Rodriguez win in his South Atlantic League starting debut, as the Charleston RiverDogs bested the Savannah Sand Gnats, 8-4, in front of 4,003 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park Thursday evening.

With the victory, the RiverDogs have won four straight and improve to 32-33 in the season's second half and 71-64 overall, while Savannah has now dropped four in a row to drop to 29-34 in the second half and 64-69 overall.

Almonte, the 30th best prospect in the Yankees farm system according to Baseball America, hit two home runs in a game for the first time since April 20, 2008, and finished with three RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base. In the process, he upped his hitting streak to 25 games, the longest in the SAL this year, and his on-base streak to 28 games, tied for the second-longest streak in the circuit in 2009.

Savannah took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Nick Giarraputo off Rodriguez (1-0), who was making his SAL debut. The run halted a 33-inning scoreless streak that the RiverDogs had accrued over the final three games in Rome.

Charleston tied the affair at 1-1 in the bottom half on Melky Mesa's RBI single off starter Eduardo Aldama (0-1), also making his SAL debut, to bring home Jose Pirela, who doubled on the first pitch of the inning.

The Sand Gnats retook a 2-1 lead in the second on a broken-bat RBI single to right field by Joey August.

Giarraputo increased the Sand Gnats' margin to 3-1 in the third inning by clocking his first SAL home run over the left field wall that came on a 1-2 pitch with one out.

Almonte started a four-run rally for Charleston in the bottom half of the inning to nab a 5-3 lead, leading off the frame by crushing his fourth home run to right-centerfield on a 3-2 pitch. After Corban Joseph drew a walk, Mesa singled to center, an Addison Maruszak walk loaded the bases for Garrison Lassiter's two-run single, advancing the score to 4-3

With Ray Kruml batting and two outs in the inning, the RiverDogs pulled off a double steal with Lassiter swiping second and Maruszak stealing home to increase the lead to 5-3.

Pirela began the fourth inning by tripling into the right-field corner, and then scored on Almonte's bloop RBI single to center for a 6-3 advantage. Joseph then walked, Mesa reached on an infield single to load the sacks, and Taylor Grote hit a sacrifice fly to deep center for a 7-3 lead.

Aldama lasted only 3.1 innings and surrendered seven runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

In the fifth inning, Almonte clobbered his second home run of the evening - and fifth of the season - a solo shot on an 0-1 pitch in the fifth off reliever Phillips Orta to give Charleston the 8-3 lead.

The Sand Gnats closed the gap to 8-4 against reliever Paul Heidler, also in his SAL debut, which snapped a 31-inning scoreless streak by the RiverDogs bullpen. With Raul Reyes on first after a leadoff single, Michael Moras hit a ground ball to third which was thrown into right field by Garrison Lassiter for an error, and the throw to the infield was mishandled by Pirela for another error. Juan Lagares followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Reyes.

Rodriguez notched the victory, permitting three runs on five hits over five innings with three strikeouts. Heidler gave up the unearned run in two innings of work, while Dickson Marquez threw the final two innings, also in his first SAL appearance.

Mesa and Lassiter had two hits each for Charleston to join Almonte's three, while Jose Pirela contributed a pair as the club collected 13 knocks. For Savannah, Giarraputo went 3-for-4 with his first home run, while Lagares also had two base hits. The Sand Gnats recorded eight hits on the night.

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