Augusta Charges to First With Tenth Straight Win
July 18, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Augusta GreenJackets News Release
Augusta, GA - For the first time in any half of the 2011 season, the Augusta GreenJackets have reached the top of the standings in the South Atlantic League's Southern Division. Mike Kickham got his first win in nearly two months, getting three big runs in the fifth inning of a 5-3 GreenJackets win over the Savannah Sand Gnats - Augusta's tenth in a row and 12th in the last 13 games.
Kickham (2-5) allowed three runs on six hits and a walk while striking out four in six innings of work, benefitting from a three-run Augusta fifth inning. Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Augusta got a leadoff double in the inning from Eliezer Zambrano. He scored with one out on Carlos Willoughby's RBI single - one of his three hits in the game - to bring the GreenJackets to within one. Adam Duvall tied the game with a sacrifice fly, but the throw home was cut off by first baseman Juan Torres and thrown away at third to allow Chris Lofton to score the go-ahead run and give Augusta a 4-3 lead.
Duvall scored from third on a passed ball in the eighth to give the GreenJackets a 5-3 lead and to provide a little wiggle room for Stephen Harrold in the ninth. Harrold retired three of the four hitters he faced to record his 15th save of the year, moving into third place in the category.
Savannah scored twice off Kickham in the first. Rafael Fernandez's RBI double followed Wilfredo Tovar's one-out triple and gave the Sand Gnats an early 1-0 edge. Fernandez stole third and then scored on Aderlin Rodriguez's RBI groundout to put the Gnats up by two.
Ryan Lollis's RBI single in the bottom of the first cut the Savannah lead to one. The GreenJackets left the tying run at third twice before they took the lead with the three-run fifth.
Guillaume Leduc (2-3) took the loss for the Sand Gnats, allowing three runs - two earned - on four hits and a walk while striking out one.
The GreenJackets travel overnight to Hagerstown and have Tuesday off before beginning a four-game series in three games with the Suns, thanks to a makeup doubleheader the teams will play on Thursday. Ryan Bradley (1-1, 5.28) gets the ball on Tuesday night in the series opener for the GreenJackets. First pitch from Hagerstown comes at 7:05 p.m. with radio pregame coverage beginning at 6:50, airing on WRDW-AM 1630 and online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com .
Single-game tickets are currently available by calling the GreenJackets front office at 706-922-WINS while further information can be found online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com .
South Atlantic League Stories from July 18, 2011
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- Crawdads Shutout Shorebirds In Finale, 5-0 - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Crawdads Sweep Shorebirds with 5-0 Shutout - Hickory Crawdads
- Drive Homestand Ends with 7-3 Loss to Braves - Greenville Drive
- Augusta Charges to First With Tenth Straight Win - Augusta GreenJackets
- Power Prep for Road Trip on Winning Note - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Maggi's Walk off Hit Claims Pitcher's Duel for Power - Charleston RiverDogs
- Former RiverDog Brandon Laird Promoted to New York Yankees - Charleston RiverDogs
- Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Crawdads 1B Andrew Clark Named SAL Player of Week - Hickory Crawdads
- Time Is Running out on Voting for the Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame - Charleston RiverDogs
- Lakewood Drops Series Finale 7-3 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Thompon, Black Break out Bats to Beat BlueClaws - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Brownsten Placed on Disabled List - Rome Emperors
- Join the BlueClaws & NJNJ at Sunday's Nine Innings for Nature - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
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