SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

RiverDogs Stop Intimidators in the Ninth, 5-4, For 7th Straight Home Win

Published on August 12, 2006 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - Pinch-runner Tony Roth scampered home with the winning run with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning when Kannapolis second baseman Brandon Johnson bobbled a ball to hand the Charleston RiverDogs a 5-4 victory in South Atlantic League action Saturday night at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

The start of the game was delayed 52 minutes due to rain.

With the victory, Charleston has now won seven consecutive home games and improves to a season-best 11 games over the .500 mark. Additionally, the RiverDogs have now won 14 of their last 18 games and have taken 10 of the 11 games against Kannapolis this season.

Charleston improves to 65-54 on the season and 27-22 in the second half while the Intimidators fall to 38-79 overall and 18-29 in the second half.

With the game tied at 4-4, Irwil Rojas began the game-winning rally with a single to left with one out. Kevin Nelson followed with a double, pushing Rojas to third. Charleston manager Pat Roessler inserted Roth to run for Rojas prior to Eduardo Nunez drawing an intentional base on balls from losing pitcher John Wesley (1-3).

With the bases loaded, Wesley fanned Marcos Vechionacci which brought up James Cooper, the RiverDogs' No. 9 batter. Cooper hit a roller to Johnson at second base, who bobbled the ball which led to Roth scoring the winning run.

R.J. Swindle, who pitched the last 2/3 of the ninth inning, earned the victory, improving his record to 3-1.

Charleston ended Kannapolis' scoring threat in the top of the ninth when right fielder Tim Battle threw out Paulo Orlando at the plate as he attempted to score from second on a single by Javier Castillo.

For the first time in three nights, the RiverDogs scored first, this time touching home three times in the bottom of the second. Nunez brought home two runs with a triple to right and Cooper doubled home the third run off starter Jason Rice.

Kannapolis pushed one run across in the fourth when Francisco Hernandez reached on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded.

The Intimidators took the lead in the fifth frame as they scored three times with two outs against Zach Kroenke. The first came when Anderson Gomes singled down the left field line for a RBI, and two batters later Fernando Valenzuela, Jr. doubled home two more, making the score 4-3.

Charleston quickly came back in the bottom of the fifth when Nunez drew a bases loaded walk to knot the game at 4-4.

The RiverDogs left 14 runners on base compared to 10 for Kannapolis.

Intimidators' starter Rice pitched five complete innings and allowed four runs on three hits as he struck out four and walked seven batters.

Charleston goes for the series sweep on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. as righty Christian Garcia (1-1, 2.38 ERA) makes his mound debut in Charleston while righty Rafael Flores (3-5, 7.18 ERA) gets the call for Kannapolis.

Check out the Charleston RiverDogs Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 12, 2006


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