SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Defeat GreenJackets 7-3 in Opener

Published on June 4, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - Following a 5-1 road trip, the one question that Greenville Drive (33-27) had to ask themselves was, "can they win at Fluor Field?" They quickly dispelled any doubters, pounding out 11 hits on their way to a 7-3 victory over the visiting Augusta GreenJackets (34-25).

Coming hard out of the gate, the Drive scored a run in their first at bat as South Atlantic League All-Star shortstop Yamaico Navarro hit a solo homer over the Green Monster.

After beginning the game with three scoreless innings, Terumasa Matsuo (3-1) allowed the 'Jackets to tie the score in the top of the fourth. Thomas Neal led off with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and later scored on another wild pitch.

Matsuo turned in another quality start, as the Japanese product allowed just the lone run on three hits and two walks in 5.0 innings of work. The right-hander also fanned six.

The Drive quickly broke the tie game in the home half of the fourth as they plated three runs, led by Luis Exposito doubling home Mike Jones. David Mailman added an RBI-groundout and Oscar Tejeda hit a sacrifice fly in the inning.

Navarro extended the Drive's lead in the bottom of the fifth as he belted his second homer of the game off Oliver Odle (4-4).

Manny Arambarris gave Greenville a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, as he produced a two-out, two-run single.

Relievers Kyle Fernandes and Ryne Miller combined on the final four innings of the game, allowing a pair of runs on four hits with three strikeouts.

The GreenJackets scored their final two runs of the game by plating single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Neal hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth and Charlie Culberson added an RBI-groundout an inning later.

The Drive and GreenJackets conclude their brief two-game series at Fluor Field tomorrow evening with first pitch set for 7:05 PM. Left-hander Jose Capellan, who was received on Tuesday, will make his first start of 2008 as he toes the rubber for Greenville. Augusta will counter with southpaw Madison Bumgarner.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 4, 2008


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