Drive Defeat RiverDogs in Tuesday's Series Finale
July 3, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release
Greenville, SC - From in-game to postgame, there were plenty of fireworks to go around on Tuesday night at Fluor Field, and the Greenville Drive used a three-run third inning to defeat the Charleston RiverDogs 5-3 in front of 5,570 fans.
Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the third, the Drive (5-8, 30-52) made their move with one out on a double to left by Isaias Lucena. After a hit-by-pitch and a Tanner Nishioka single loaded the bases, Ryan Fitzgerald lined an RBI single to left field to put the Drive on the board. A RiverDogs (8-3, 41-38) throwing error and a wild pitch brought in the tying and go-ahead runs in the frame against Reiver Sanmartin (0-1).
Jhonathan Diaz (4-5) bounced back after allowing two first-inning runs to get the win. He retired 14 of the last 15 hitters he faced, and he allowed just three hits with six strikeouts in six innings of work.
RiverDogs catcher Jason Lopez was responsible for all three of the team's runs on Tuesday, as he cracked a two-run homer in the first inning and added a solo shot in the seventh.
Garrett Benge gave the Drive an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer to right-center, his first since joining the Drive on Monday.
The ninth inning provided some drama, as Charleston put the tying run on base with one out, but Lukas Young recorded a pair of strikeouts to notch his seventh save, and the game ended with words exchanged between the two teams.
Fitzgerald and Lucena picked up two hits apiece for Greenville in the series finale.
The Drive will hit the road on Wednesday for a 4th of July contest against the Columbia Firelies, an affiliate of the New York Mets. First pitch in game one of the three-game series is at 7:05 PM. Drive right-hander Denyi Reyes (6-3, 1.91) starts for the Drive against Fireflies right-hander Nicolas Debora (1-1, 2.95).
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