SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive End April on High Note with 6-2 Win

Published on April 30, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Rome, GA - It seemed as if no one on the Drive (15-12) missed their early wake-up call Wednesday morning, as Greenville strung together 12 hits in their 6-2 victory over the Rome Braves (10-16).

With a first pitch of 10:30 AM, southpaw Jose Alvarez (1-3) lulled the Braves bats back to sleep, allowing just two base-hits in 5.0 scoreless innings for his first win of the season. Alvarez relied heavily on his curveball, retiring 12 batters in a row after surrendering a leadoff double in the first to Carlos Lee.

The offense on the other hand, capitalized in the first inning by playing small ball. Che-Hsuan Lin led off with a single, moved to second on Ryan Kalish's groundout, stole third and then scored on Yamaico Navarro's groundout.

Although the Drive tallied a hit in each of the next three innings, they clung to a 1-0 lead until the top of the fifth. Ty Weeden and Kristopher Negron began the frame with back-to-back singles. Consecutive groundouts by Lin and Kalish accounted for Greenville's second run.

The Drive were able to add a little breathing room to their lead two innings later when Rome starter Jose Ortegano (0-1) was relieved by Michael Broadway. After Negron doubled, moving Weeden and himself into scoring position, Lin followed with a two-run single.

An inning later the Drive secured the victory with a pair of insurance runs when Manny Arambarris belted his third homer of the year with Mike Jones aboard. Jones' franchise record 20-game hitting streak appeared in doubt as the first baseman entered the eighth inning 0-for-3. However, he managed to extend it to 21-games with a leadoff single.

Reliever Daniel Bard continued his dominance of South Atlantic League batters, adding two more scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk, while fanning five. The hard-throwing right-hander has now gone 20.0 innings without allowing a run to begin the 2008 season, striking out 32 and walking four.

The Braves managed their only two runs in the bottom of the eighth off Felix Ventura as Adam Coe delivered a two-out, two-run double.

The Drive and Braves continue their four-game series tomorrow evening with first pitch set for 7:05 PM. Felix Doubront will take the mound for Greenville as the left-hander looks to run his record to a perfect 5-0 to start the season. Rome will counter with another left-hander, Jeff Locke

After their four-game series in Rome, the Drive return home to Fluor Field on Saturday, May 3rd when they begin an eight-game home stand. For more information on single-game tickets, group outings, and luxury accommodations, visit www.GreenvilleDrive.com or call (864) 240-4500.

NOTES: Mike Jones' 21-game hitting streak ranks as the 4th longest in the South Atlantic League since the 2005 season

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 30, 2008


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