Garcia Strikes Out a Dozen in RiverDogs Victory

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Nineteen-year-old Deivi Garcia set a career-high with his dozen strikeouts in six shutout innings as the Charleston RiverDogs defeated the Augusta GreenJackets, 4-1, in front of 3,440 at Joe Riley Park on Wednesday night.
Garcia (2-3) allowed two Augusta (50-51, 13-20) hits and did not walk a batter in his scoreless outing. The Dominican hurler struck out the final six GreenJackets he faced, matching Nick Nelson's season-high 12 punchouts in five innings against Kannapolis on April 13.
Garcia's previous career-high for strikeouts in a single game was 10, which he recorded in his RiverDogs (49-50, 16-15) debut against Asheville on June 11. The teenager has at least six strikeouts in all seven of his starts with Charleston, all of which have been at The Joe. Garcia's impressive outing marked Charleston's third straight quality start to begin the seven-game homestand. He is averaging 14.5 punch outs per nine innings with 56 total in 34 2/3.

Lefty Anderson Severino and right-hander Kyle Zurak followed Garcia by combining for four strikeouts in three innings of relief, tying a RiverDogs' campaign-best 16, set in the same game as Nelson's 12-strikeout night. The three Charleston pitchers did not walk a batter in Wednesday's victory.
Offensively, the Dogs chased GreenJackets starter John Gavin (5-4) in the third inning. The Augusta southpaw came in with a 1.83 ERA and a league-best 0.86 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) but walked four RiverDogs and was hampered by two of Augusta's three errors in his 2 2/3 innings.
Charleston got on the board in the first inning on a two-run single from first baseman Dermis Garcia, plating right fielder Carlos Vidal and second baseman Oswaldo Cabrera. Garcia has hit safely in 14 of 17 contests going back to July 2, including five home runs and 14 RBI.
The Dogs added a pair in the third, the first of which came on a botched baserunning mistake by Leonardo Molina. The center fielder tried to advance on a juggled ball with catcher Jason Lopez in front of him, and after Molina escaped from a rundown because of an error, Lopez scored from second.
The Dogs got their fourth run of the night on a run-scoring double from third baseman Ricky Surum, his first RBI as a RiverDog.
With the victory, the RiverDogs won their second consecutive game for the first time since July 7-8 in Columbia, the final two games of a season-best four-game winning streak. Since, the Holy City has dropped 11 of 15, getting outscored 69-42.
Ballpark Fun
The RiverDogs brought fans back in time with $4 ticket options on a "Way Back Wednesday" presented by Kirkman Broadcasting. It was also "Military Appreciation Night" presented by Bank of America, meaning all current or retired military members could receive up to four complementary tickets.
Upcoming
Thursday's series finale begins at 7:05 on a Budweiser Thirsty Thursday presented by 95SX with dollar beers available in the Budweiser Ashley View Pub. RiverDogs right-hander Miguel Yajure (2-2, 4.31) matches up with Augusta righty Aaron Phillips (3-5, 4.50). Thursday's contest can be tuned into on "The Big Talker" 1250 WTMA with audio streaming live at riverdogs.com and the RiverDogs' TuneIn radio station.
RiverDogs single-game tickets, including options to the Riley Park Club, are now available for the 2018 campaign, the club's 25^th season as the RiverDogs and their "175^th season in dog years." Ticket information can be secured by contacting the box office at (843) 577-DOGS (3647) or online at www.riverdogs.com/tickets.
--RIVERDOGS--