SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Comeback Falls Just Short in 10-8

Published on May 18, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Just as on Friday night, the Greenville Drive (13-29) had a big ninth-inning comeback on Saturday night. Unlike on Friday, however, Saturday night's comeback fell just short, as the Drive took a 10-8 loss to Charleston RiverDogs (23-16) in front of a season-high attendance of 6,206 for Armed Forces Day at Fluor Field.

For a second consecutive night the RiverDogs put up a four-spot in the first inning. Despite a slow offensive start, the Drive battled back from an 8-1 deficit to get back in the contest late in the game.

Cody Kukuk (2-5) started on the mound for the Drive, but made an early exit after giving up four runs on five walks in just two-thirds of an inning. Jason Garcia came on in relief but left the game in the fourth inning with an injury. The tough night for the pitching staff continued, as the five Greenville pitchers combined to walk 14 batters. Drive infielder Kevin Mager was summoned to pitch the top half of the ninth, and he threw a scoreless frame.

Down 8-1 in the fifth, Aneury Tavarez doubled with one out for the Drive and scored on an RBI single by David Chester. Tim Roberson followed with an RBI double to the wall in right field.

The sixth inning saw a Greenville power surge, as Bryan Johns knocked his first professional home run over the Green Monster in left, and was followed two batters later by Betts driving a solo homer to left-center for his seventh long ball of the year.

Madison Younginer entered the game in the sixth inning and provided the Drive with two and a third innings of shutout ball. Younginer struck out a pair and has allowed zero runs over his last three appearances.

Things got interesting in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Tavarez smoked a double to right-center field and was driven in on center fielder Cody Koback's single. Roberson added an RBI single to cut the score to 10-7. Drew Turocy would follow that up with his eighth double of the year to score another run, but a strikeout ended the ballgame.

Betts picked up two hits to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Greenville also got two hits apiece from Chester, Johns, Roberson and Tavarez. The RiverDogs would get offensive contributions from several players, including Reymond Nunez and Claudio Custodio. Nunez went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Custodio went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Greenville will try and split the four-game series on Sunday at Fluor Field, with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 PM. RHP Austin Maddox (0-4, 8.51 ERA) gets the ball for the Drive, while LHP Daniel Camarena (0-2, 6.75 ERA) takes the mound for the RiverDogs.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 18, 2013


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