Kukuk Pitches Drive to 5-1 Win Over Legends
Greenville, SC - The outstanding start to the season for Greenville Drive (12-8) left-hander Cody Kukuk continued on Saturday, as he hurled six shutout innings in a 5-1 victory over the Lexington Legends (11-12).
Kukuk allowed just two hits and worked around four walks with five strikeouts to push his record to 3-0 and lower his ERA to 1.88.
The Drive took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second against Lexington starter Andrew Edwards after an RBI groundout by Jake Romanski.
A four-run fourth inning against Edwards extended the Drive lead even further. After a leadoff walk to Jantzen Witte and a Kevin Mager single, Carlos Asuaje lined an RBI double off the wall to score Witte. Manuel Margot followed with an infield single, and a throwing error by Legends third baseman Carlos Garcia allowed two runs to score. Two batters later, Wendell Rijo laced a single to center to plate another run.
Lexington scored their only run of the game against Drive reliever Jonathan Aro on a seventh-inning homer by Frank Schwindel. Aro finished the game with three innings, allowing just the homer while striking out three to pick up his second save.
Margot led the way offensively for Greenville by going 3-4. Asuaje added two hits and two runs.
Luis Rico was a bright spot for Lexington, throwing four and two-third innings of shutout relief, allowing only one hit and punching out six.
The series finale between the two teams begins at 4:05 on Sunday afternoon, and the pitching matchup features a pair of highly regarded hurlers making their debuts with their respective teams. LH Trey Ball, Boston's first round pick (7th overall) in the 2013 draft, will start for the Drive, and the Legends will send LH Cody Reed, Kansas City's second round pick in last year's draft, to the mound.