SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Edged By BlueClaws, 2-1

Published on July 28, 2006 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Lakewood, NJ - In a match-up between two of the Sally League's best pitching staffs, the top rated Lakewood BlueClaws were more efficient and held on for a 2-1 victory over the Greenville Drive Friday night at FirstEnergy Park. With the loss the Drive dropped to 22-13 in the second, and are now six games behind first place Augusta who defeated Delmarva.

The BlueClaws got on the board in the bottom of the first versus knuckleballer John Barnes. Matt Thayer led off the inning with a triple to right-center and scored as Avelino Asprilla, the very next batter, singled to right. Barnes would settle down, however, and get out of the inning without allowing another run.

Lakewood would plate another run in the fourth, this time due to a Greenville error. Clay Harris singled to leadoff the inning and advanced to second when John Urick reached on a fielding error by Dominic Ramos. Barnes then walked Welinson Baez to load the bases. With one out, Fidel Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly, knocking in Harris.

After being held scoreless for the first five innings, the Drive scored their only run in the sixth against starter Matt Maloney, despite being held hitless in the inning. Mark Wagner led off with a walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A Luis Soto groundout would allow the All-Star catcher to advance to third before scoring on a groundout from Tony Granadillo.

Maloney, who is the league leader in ERA and wins, improved on both numbers as he ran his record to 13-5 in 2006 with a 1.55 earned run average. With 3.0 perfect innings in relief, Brett Harker picked up his 13th save of the season.

Equally impressive was the Drive bullpen, as Ismael Casillas and Hunter Jones combined to toss 3.0 innings of one-hit ball, while striking out six.

The Drive and BlueClaws continue their four-game series Saturday night at FirstEnergy Park with first pitch set for 7:05 PM. Right-hander Clay Buchholz will take the mound for Greenville as Lakewood counters with right-hander Carlos Carrasco.

The Greenville Drive return home on Wednesday, August 2nd when they begin an eight-game home stand, starting with the Lake County Captains. Game time is set for 5:05 PM

Tickets to all Drive home games can be purchased by calling the Drive Ticket Office at 864-240-4528 or online at www.GreenvilleDrive.com.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 28, 2006


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