RiverDogs Close Out Huge Homestand with 5-2 Win over Wood Ducks

The Charleston RiverDogs knocked off the Down East Wood Ducks by a 5-2 score on Sunday evening to close out an important nine-game homestand with a 7-2 record. A crowd of 4,050 took in the contest at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. The victory improved the RiverDogs home record to 42-12 this season.

The RiverDogs (17-12, 63-32) opened the scoring in the second inning against Down East starting pitcher Ryan Garcia. Willy Vasquez sparked the inning with a bunt single and raced to second on a throwing error. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on Kenny Piper's sacrifice fly. Jelfry Marte doubled the lead by blasting a solo home run later in the frame, his second of the season.

In the third, Down East (14-15, 47-48) cut the lead in half, but missed out on a larger opportunity for damage. Two infield hits and a line drive single into center allowed the Wood Ducks to put a run on the board and an ensuing walk loaded the bases against Antonio Jimenez with no outs. However, a 5-2 double play and a fly ball helped the southpaw escape with the lead intact.

The RiverDogs lead grew to 4-1 in the bottom of the inning when Vasquez drove in Shane Sasaki with a single. On the same play, Vasquez rounded first too far and was caught in a rundown that resulted in an error and allowed a second run to score. The four runs scored by the RiverDogs against Garcia were the most he had allowed all season.

Down East scored their final run when Juan Rivera walked Ian Moller with the bases loaded in the seventh. Once again, they left more runs on the table, when Cameron Cauley rolled into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Carson Williams added some insurance with an RBI double in the bottom of the inning and Sandy Gaston struck out the side in the ninth to earn his second save.

Jimenez collected the win, despite recording a season-low one strikeout over 4.0 innings of work out of the bullpen. Neraldo Catalina opened the game with 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out four in the process. Antonio Menendez induced the double play that helped the RiverDogs escape in the seventh and tossed 1.2 scoreless frames.

Charleston's eight-hit attack was paced by Vasquez and Daiwer Castellanos, who each registered two hits. Zion Bannister provided two of the Down East's five hits on the night.

Ballpark Fun
The RiverDogs hosted their third and final Perros Santos Night, wearing special uniforms and celebrating Charleston’s Latin culture as part of Minor League Baseball’s Copa de la Diversión initiative. The pre-game festivities included DJ Havana Santos, who is launching his new show, Zona Tropical, on Latina 95.5 FM playing live music near the front gate to welcome fans to the ballpark. The crowd also enjoyed a folkloric dance routine from Viva México. In addition, the concession stand served Latin hot dogs that are popular in the home countries of several of the team’s players.

Following an off day on Monday, the RiverDogs will make their first trip to Segra Park in Columbia for an important six-game series against the Columbia Fireflies. First pitch for the opening game on Tuesday is set for 7:05 p.m. The RiverDogs have not yet announced a starter for game one, while Columbia will hand the ball to RHP Shane Panzini (0-2, 4.08).

Single-game tickets are available for all RiverDogs home games at riverdogs.com. RiverDogs season tickets, flexible ticket plans, and group tickets, including options to the Segra Club at Riley Park, are available at riverdogs.com/tickets or by contacting the RiverDogs front office at 843-577-3647 (DOGS).