SAL Greenville Drive

Drive Split Thursday Doubleheader with Cyclones

Published on August 31, 2023 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Greenville Drive News Release


The Greenville Drive (25-32, 61-62) split Thursday's doubleheader with the Brooklyn Cyclones (33-24, 61-61) but hold a 2-1 series lead heading into the weekend.

Game 1: Penrod shuts down Cyclones, Anthony homers in 1-0 win

Zach Penrod delivered six scoreless innings and Roman Anthony notched his 12th homer of the year to boost the Drive to a 1-0 victory over the Brooklyn Cyclones in game one of Thursday's doubleheader.

The Drive and Cyclones completed game one in just one hour and twenty minutes, helped by the fact that doubleheaders only consist of seven innings. But comparatively, the Drive and Cyclones waited out a one-hour-and-fourteen-minute rain delay during Tuesday night's game.

Thursday's pitcher's duel in game one featured 17 strikeouts between the two teams and only six hits combined as starting pitching from both sides stole the show. The only offensive explosion in the game would come thanks to Roman Anthony.

Roman Anthony snapped a 23-day and 15-game homerless streak in the bottom of the first, knocking the fourth pitch to a Drive batter over the left field wall giving Greenville the 1-0 lead.

Penrod cruised through the first two innings without relinquishing a hit while picking up three strikeouts. His only base runner would come via one walk and two errors. But a record night wasn't in the cards as with two outs in the fifth, a broken-bat single ended the no hit bid.

The Cyclones threatened a two-out rally in the sixth as Stanley Consuegra walked and William Lugo singled to put two on. But Karson Simas stabbed a sharp groundball and whipped the ensuing throw in time to snag the runner and snuff the danger.

Brock Bell rounded out the seventh for the Drive, spinning two strikeouts to earn his third save of the season and give the Drive their third-straight win. The win moved the Greenville Drive back to .500 on the year.

Cyclones' bats come to life, down Drive 7-4

Brooklyn Cyclones' bats came to life for the first time tin this series as they poured on eight runs on 11 hits to down the Greenville Drive, 7-4, split Thursday's doubleheader and pick up their first win in the series.

Just as with the first game the Drive struck first this time thanks to a Bryan Gonzalez RBI-single into left field that brought home Allan Castro for the 1-0 lead. The Drive loaded the bases after Gonzalez's hit, driving starter Jawlime Rodriguez out of the game. Kristian Campbell nearly opened up the lead on a hard-hit grounder, but shortstop Jett Williams stabbed the grounder on a diving play and threw out Campbell.

Brooklyn knotted the game in the second thanks to a Stanley Consuegra triple and a William Lugo groundout that brought him making it 1-1. Dalton Rogers commanded the game from there until the fifth inning, as he'd be pulled after walking home a run with no outs to give Brooklyn the lead, 2-1. He finished the night allowing five hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

But the Cyclones took out some frustrations on reliever Casey Cobb, picking up another walked-home run before Stanley Consuegra's double to clear the bases and put the Cyclones up 6-1. Cobb's night came to a close with one out in the sixth after he loaded the bases. Caleb Bolden shut the door on the Cyclones following Cobb's exit, getting the final two outs on strikes.

Eddinson Paulino slashed a double down into the left field corner to cut the lead to 6-2 in bottom of the sixth, but Bolden would not finish the night unscathed, giving up a sacrifice-fly to boost the Cyclones lead to 7-2 in the seventh.

The Drive found a little bit of life in the bottom of the seventh as Castro knocked a double off the centerfield wall bringing in Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel to cut the lead to 7-4. After a Gonzalez walk, the Drive brought the tying run to the plate but both Paulino and Kristian Campbell would go down giving Brooklyn the win.

The Greenville Drive (Boston Red Sox) return to action Friday, August 31 for game four of the six-game series with the Brooklyn Cyclones (New York Mets). The Drive lead the series, 2-1

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 31, 2023


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