SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Split Doubleheader with RiverDogs

Published on June 11, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


On the second day in a row with two games at Fluor Field, the Greenville Drive (22-42) and Charleston RiverDogs (36-26) played nice and took one win apiece. The Drive received a solid all-around performance in a 6-3 victory in game one, while the RiverDogs used 12 hits to win the nightcap 8-4.

After Charleston took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one courtesy of a Greg Bird solo homer, the Drive scored two runs in the second against Cesar Vargas (2-3), as Bryan Johns lined a single to left field to score Mario Martinez and Aneury Tavarez.

A three-run fourth inning extended the Drive lead to 5-1. Johns hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run. Mookie Betts later drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home another, and a wild pitch plated a third run.

Charleston's final two runs of the afternoon game came when Cito Culver smacked a two-run homer over the Green Monster in the top of the sixth.

Boss Moanaroa answered back in the bottom half of the sixth, as he drove a solo shot to right field for his first homer of the season.

Francisco Taveras (1-3) pitched effectively in his first start of the season and earned his first win. He allowed four hits and three runs in six innings of work while walking one and striking out three. Manuel Rivera threw a scoreless seventh to record his first save of the year.

Martinez collected three hits for the Drive in the opener, while Jordan Weems had two hits of his own and Johns drove in three runs.

The RiverDogs used a 12-hit attack in the nightcap for the victory. They scored three runs in the top of the second against Drive starter Sergio Gomez (0-1), who was making his first start with the team. Kelvin De Leon lined a two-run single to left, and Jackson Valera singled back through the box later in the inning to score the third run.

Greenville got a run back in the fourth on an RBI single by David Chester that scored Cody Koback, who singled with one out.

The RiverDogs tacked on another run in the top of the fifth, as Jake Cave rudely greeted Drive reliever Yunior Ortega with a solo homer to left field.

Betts singled up the middle in the bottom of the fifth against Charleston reliever Alex Smith (3-3) to score an unearned run and cut the RiverDogs lead to 4-2. Smith received the victory in game two after throwing two innings and striking out two.

Charleston got two more runs in both the sixth and seventh innings against Ortega to pull away. De Leon smacked a two-run shot to left in the sixth, while Bird's double to right-center in the seventh brought home two more.

The Drive got RBI singles from Koback and Alex Hassan in the seventh.

Cave went 3-4 for Charleston, while De Leon had two hits and four RBIs. Koback and Keaton Briscoe had two hits apiece for Greenville in the nightcap.

The series, and the homestand, wraps up on Wednesday night at Fluor Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05. RHP Francellis Montas (1-5, 5.74) will start for the Drive, while the RiverDogs will trot RHP Rafael De Paula (6-2, 2.43) to the mound.

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 11, 2013


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