SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Greenville Pitching Is Clutch as Drive Park RiverDogs, 3-2, in 11 Innings

Published on May 13, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


Greenville pitching struck out 16 Charleston batters and Yamaico Navarro scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the 11th inning as the Drive topped the RiverDogs, 3-2, in South Atlantic League action Tuesday night in front of 3,124 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

With the victory, Greenville evens the series at one game apiece and improves to 21-18 on the season, while Charleston slips to 26-12. The RiverDogs, who remain ½ a game behind first-place Asheville in the Southern Division standings, were shut out by the Drive after the second inning as they recorded only two hits over the final nine frames.

Three Greenville pitchers combined on the six-hitter, with Eammon Portice the starter throwing the first six innings, Daniel Bard the seventh and eighth and Chad Povich (5-0) the final three frames. The three combined to retire 21 consecutive Charleston batters between the 3rd and 10th innings.

Navarro began the winning rally with one out in the 11th by lacing a single to right against reliever Chace Vacek (2-1), his third hit of the night. After Mike Jones' single to the same spot in right, Luis Exposito grounded into a fielder's choice, placing Navarro on third with two out.

Charleston manager Torre Tyson vehemently argued that Exposito should have been called out at first base after Carmen Angelini's relay throw, a call that would have ended the inning on a double play. Instead, the base umpire Mario Seneca ruled Exposito to have just beaten the throw, and the inning continued.

Then with David Mailman at the plate, Navarro scored on Vacek's wild pitch to plate the winning run, handing the Drive a 3-2 lead.

With one out in the bottom of the 11th, Jesus Montero lined a single down the left field line and was replaced by pinch-runner Dan Cox. Povich then got Brian Baisley to fly out to left field and fanned Taylor Holiday for the victory.

Walter Ibarra's 10th-inning single and Montero's knock in the 11th gave the RiverDogs their only two runners after Baisley reached on a third-strike wild pitch in the third inning. Portice retired the final 11 he faced, six of them on strikeouts, while Bard fanned three of the six he faced, at times reaching 99 miles per hour on the Riley Park radar gun.

Greenville scored a run in the first inning when Che-Hsuan Lin opened the game with a single, moved to second on a stolen base and scored on Mike Jones' RBI single to left to hand the Drive a quick 1-0 lead against Charleston starter Noel Castillo.

Charleston retaliated with a run of its own in the first when Justin Snyder singled and scored all the way from first base on an RBI double by Montero to knot the score at 1-1.

The RiverDogs took a brief 2-1 lead in the second with two outs. Ibarra, who reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second on an attempted pickoff error by Portice and then scored when Austin Krum singled him home.

But the Drive tied the score at 2-2 in the third, as Kristopher Negron opened the inning with a double down the left field line against Castillo. After Lin fanned, Negron stole third base and scored on Ryan Kalish's groundout to shortstop. Neither team would score again until the winning tally in the 11th.

Snyder and Montero each recorded a pair of hits to pace the Charleston attack, while Navarro led the way for Greenville with three of the team's eight hits. Jones added a pair of singles as well.

Castillo allowed two runs in five innings for the RiverDogs, while relievers Craig Heyer (three scoreless innings) and Jonathan Ortiz (two scoreless frames) kept the game tied until the 11th.

Game 3 of this four-game block is set for Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. with Charleston sending right-hander Jason Stephens (1-0, 1.42 ERA) to the mound while Greenville goes with righty Terumasa Matsuo (0-0, 6.49 ERA).

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 13, 2008


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