SAL1 Greenville Drive

Drive Sweep Twinbill Over Legends

Published on June 26, 2007 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Greenville Drive News Release


Greenville, SC - For the second straight year, MLB superstar and future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens paid a visit to West End Field to watch his son Koby play. And once again it yielded the same results as the younger Clemens and his Legends (33-43, 2-4) fell by the score of 3-2 to the Drive (33-42, 4-2) in both games of a doubleheader Tuesday night.

The early indications in game one did not bode well for the Drive as the Legends took an early 1-0 lead in their first at bat. Fielding errors by both third baseman Manny Arambarris and first baseman Lars Anderson on separate plays allowed leadoff man Brandon Caipen to advance all the way to third. That set up an RBI-triple off the bat of Jordan Parraz.

Errors proved once again costly to the Drive as the Legends plated another unearned run off starter Dustin Richardson in the top of the fourth. Koby Clemens reached base on a fielding error by shortstop Argenis Diaz, and eventually when Jhon Florentino roped a two-out double.

However, the Drive bore down and plated runs in the seventh and eighth innings for the victory. With the sacks full and two outs, Kristopher Negron delivered a two-out, two-run double, scoring Jon Still and Jason Place. Josh Reddick, who would have scored the game-winning run, was gunned down at the plate to send the game into extra innings.

The Drive would only need one more at bat to collect the game-winner. Argenis Diaz, who extended his hitting streak to nine games, singled to leadoff the inning. Anderson and Still were both issued walks before Chih-Hsien Chiang provided the heroics with a two-out single.

Reliever Joshua Papelbon (3-4) earned the victory in game one, tossing a scoreless eighth inning.

Game two offered just as much excitement but with the same end result, a 3-2 Drive victory. This time it was Drive who got on the board first, as they scored twice in the bottom of the third to break a scoreless tie.

Paul Smyth and Matt Sheely led off the frame with back-to-back doubles, with Smyth scoring on Sheely's two-bagger. After advancing to third on a Negron fly out, Sheely scored on Reid Engel's sac fly.

The Legends tied the game in dramatic fashion in the top of the fifth. With two outs Nick Moresi smacked an offering from Travis Beazley for a two-run homer.

However, Josh Reddick answered the call in the bottom of the sixth, launching his sixth long ball of season off Polin Trinidad for the eventual game-winner.

Both Beazley and Trinidad tossed complete games for the Drive and Legends, respectively, in the nightcap. Beazley proved too much for the Lexington bats, though, giving up five hits while fanning eight in seven innings of work. With the victory, the right-hander improved his record to 6-6 on the season.

The Drive and Legends will meet again Wednesday for a matinee game with first pitch set for 12:05 PM. Right-hander Chris Jones will take to the mound for Greenville and duel it out with fellow righty Bud Norris of Lexington.

Tickets to all Drive home games can be purchased by visiting www.GreenvilleDrive.com, or by calling (864) 240-4500.

NOTES: SS Argenis Diaz and LF Reid Engel each had two hits in game one...RF Josh Reddick had two hits in game two...Beazley's complete game was the first by a Drive pitcher in 2007...The Drive's come from behind victory in game one, was just their second win in 39 games when trailing heading into their final at-bat...Attendance was 5,457.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 26, 2007


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