SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Outslug Braves, 9-6, in Series Finale

August 17, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - The Drive (66-55, 28-23) proved Wednesday evening that real men wear pink. On "Knock Breast Cancer Out of the Park" at Fluor Field, the home team did just that, defeating the Rome Braves (48-73, 23-28) 9-6 in the series finale.

Trailing by a run heading into the bottom of the third, the Greenville offense exploded for eight runs in their next two at bats. Michael Almanzar's sacrifice fly tied the game, before Carlos Perez walked Matty Johnson with the bases loaded to give the Drive a lead they would not relinquish.

An inning later the Drive sent 10 batters to the plate, batting around for the 21st time this season, en route to six more runs. Braves reliever Tyler Stovall labored, recording just one out as Greenville pummeled him for four hits, the first of which was a leadoff homer by Sean Coyle.

Following a two-run single by Almanzar and a walk to Drew Hedman, Stovall's brief outing came to a merciful end. He was charged with two more runs on Johnson's two-run single off of former Easley High School standout, Jarrett Miller.

Miller, along with Chase Shreve who tossed a scoreless eighth, combined to shutout the Drive over their final four trips to the plate, but the nine runs would be enough to capture the victory - barely.

Keith Couch (6-4) picked up the win, despite a less than stellar outing, surrendering three runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings. The right-hander did only walk one batter while fanning five before turning the game over to the bullpen.

After 2.0 scoreless innings from Michael Gleason, right-hander Justin Erasmus struggled during his second inning of work in the top of the ninth. The Aussie gave up a leadoff homer to Tommy La Stella - who finished 5-for-5 - as well as an RBI-single to Chris Garcia and a sacrifice fly to Robert Hefflinger.

With two runners aboard, Kyle Rose represented the tying run, but Erasmus was able to bear down and record his only strikeout to preserve the victory.

The South Atlantic League's second best hitter, Drive outfielder Brandon Jacobs, paced his team with a three-hit performance while scoring a pair of runs. Nine of Greenville's 10 batters recorded a hit in the victory.

The Drive now turn their attention to the Southern Division-leading Savannah Sand Gnats, who visit Fluor Field for five games, including a doubleheader on Thursday. Game one will begin at 5:05 PM, and will be the continuation of the August 13th game at Historic Grayson Stadium in the bottom of the fifth. Right-hander Andrew Jones (0-0, 1.29 ERA) will toe the rubber for Greenville when play resumes, and right-hander Scott Swinson (3-3, 3.07 ERA) will head to the hill in game two, which will be a 7-inning contest.

Due to tomorrow's early start time, fans can enjoy Happy Hour specials at the ballpark. Fans can enjoy $1 Pepsi products at all of the concession stands, and draft specials in The 500 Club, throughout the entirety of both game, as well as $1 hot dogs from 4 PM to 7 PM! For more information regarding single-game tickets, luxury accommodations, group outings, and ticket plan packages call (864) 240-4500 or visit www.GreenvilleDrive.com.

GAME NOTES: Attendance was 3,274...the 6 runs the Drive scored in the bottom of the 4th inning was more than they scored in 15 of the 18 games vs. the Rome Braves this season...the 9 total runs was the most the Drive scored against Rome this season...catcher Christian Vazquez left the game in the top of the 4th after being hit in the leg with a pitch...Sean Coyle now has 43 extra-base hits this season (25 doubles, 6 triples, 12 homers), which is tied for 10th in the league

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from August 17, 2011


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