Charleston Erases Deficit, But Falls in Wild 12-10 Final
April 11, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Charleston came back from 7-1 down to take a 9-8 lead in the eighth, but Greenville posted a four-run bottom half of the frame in a dramatic 12-10 win over the RiverDogs in South Atlantic League action at Fluor Field Monday evening.
In a game that featured 22 runs, 33 hits, 27 strikeouts and 19 men left on base, it was Greenville that laughed last in the first of 23 meeting between the Palmetto State rivals in 2011. Over the last 22 meetings between the two, 16 have been decided by two runs or less.
Greenville (4-1) got out to a 2-0 lead in the first against Charleston starter Zach Nuding, courtesy of a two-run home run from Miles Head, his first of the campaign.
J.R. Murphy barked right back for the RiverDogs (2-3), hitting his third home run in five games off Miguel Celestino, cutting the margin to 2-1 Greenville.
Felix Sanchez and Head contributed RBI singles in Greenville's half of the fourth to extend the lead to 4-1.
Nuding pitched 3.2 innings in his first SAL start for Charleston, giving up four runs - three earned - on six hits, while walking a pair and fanning six in the no-decision.
Greenville pushed four more runs across in the fifth inning, increasing the advantage to 7-1. Christian Vazquez hit a RBI single, while Drew Hedman stroked a two-run single.
Celestino hummed 5.0 innings and only gave up the one run on seven hits in what became a no-decision, while not walking a batter and striking out six.
The RiverDogs finally got the offensive ball rolling in the sixth with three runs on three hits off Greenville reliever Garrett Rau in trimming the game to 7-4. Kyle Roller hit a RBI double; Kelvin Castro delivered a RBI single, while Slade Heathcott contributed a RBI groundout, driving in a run for the fourth straight game for the first time in his career.
Head clobbered his second home run of the game to straight-away centerfield to widen the lead to 8-4 Greenville in the bottom half.
Charleston continued its comeback with four more hits and three more runs in the seventh, moving the ledger to a one-run game at 8-7. Roller grounded a RBI single to right field, while Eduardo Sosa lasered a two-run triple into the right-field corner to further close the deficit.
The RiverDogs continued their evisceration of the Greenville bullpen with two runs in the eighth to nab a 9-8 lead. Heathcott cracked a leadoff triple and scored on Anderson Feliz's RBI single to tie the game at 8-8. After a Ramon Flores single, Murphy gave Charleston its first lead with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Greenville added to the theatrics by scoring four two-out runs in the bottom half to take the lead back at 12-9. Head walked, Vazquez singled, and Brandon Jacobs tied the game at 9-9 with a RBI single to centerfield. Drew Hedman then advanced to the plate with two men on and hit a three-run home run over the Green Monster in left field off Charleston's Danny Burawa (0-1) for the 12-9 lead.
In the ninth, the RiverDogs were able to push one more run across on a RBI groundout by Feliz, but Tyler Lockwood (1-0), who allowed the go-ahead run to score in the eighth, struck out Flores to end the game and get the win.
For Charleston, Roller registered his first career four-hit game with two RBI, while Murphy and Flores had three hits each. Castro, Sosa and Heathcott pitched in two hits apiece, which for Heathcott was his fourth consecutive multi-hit game. He leads the SAL with 11 hits through five games.
Head went 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI, while Hedman had a career-best five RBI.
Game two of this four-game tilt is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m., with Charleston firing right-hander and Opening Night starter Shane Greene (1-0, 0.00 ERA) against Greenville southpaw Manny Rivera (1-0, 1.80 ERA).
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