Sports stats



SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Roll over Braves, 9-3

September 1, 2015 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Rome, GA - The Greenville Drive rode a strong offensive performance to snap a two-game losing skid on Tuesday night, as all nine starters collected at least one hit in a 9-3 win over the Rome Braves in the penultimate road game of the 2015 regular season.

The win, coupled with a loss by the Asheville Tourists, puts the Drive a half-game ahead of Asheville in the Southern Division wild card standings with six games remaining. The Savannah Sand Gnats clinched the second half Southern Division title with a victory on Tuesday.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the second, the Drive (31-33, 69-65) received three consecutive one-out singles by Javier Guerra, J.T. Watkins and Joseph Monge to load the bases. Two batters later, Yoan Moncada, fresh off his selection to the South Atlantic League All-Star team, smacked a ground-rule double to score a pair. Zach Quintana (5-6) then uncorked a wild pitch to make the score 3-1.

In the third, Monge lined a two-run double to left to score Andrew Benintendi, who singled, and Nick Longhi, who reached on a fielder's choice.

Another three-run inning, this time in the fifth, tacked on even more to the Drive's lead. Watkins and Bryan Hudson collected RBI singles in the inning, and a Rome wild pitch brought home another run.

The offense wasn't the only positive out of Tuesday night for Greenville, as Dedgar Jimenez (9-9) was strong in picking up his ninth win, tying him for the team lead. Jimenez tied a career high with seven innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Kuehl McEachern closed the game with two scoreless frames.

Rome (25-39, 56-78) received RBI hits from Bryan De la Rosa, Luke Dykstra and Omar Obregon over the first four innings.

Guerra's RBI single in the ninth put the Drive's final run on the board.

Watkins powered the Greenville offense with a 4-5 night and two runs. Guerra, Monge and Rafael Devers added two hits apiece.

The series finale is on Wednesday night in Rome at 7:00, with the winner of Wednesday's contest winning the five-game set. LH Jalen Beeks (9-5, 4.15) takes the mound for the Drive, while the scheduled starter for the Braves is LH Oriel Caicedo (4-7, 3.57).

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

• Discuss this story on the South Atlantic League message board...

South Atlantic League Stories from September 1, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central