RiverDogs fall by double digits to Augusta

NORTH AUGUSTA, SC – After hurling a shutout on Tuesday, the RiverDogs pitching staff struggled in a 14-2 defeat to the Augusta GreenJackets on Wednesday night at SRP Park.

The loss is Charleston’s fifth in their last six games, dropping the team’s second-half record to 20-16

The game pitted Single-A ERA leader Jose Urbina against Braves No. 1 prospect Cam Caminiti on the mound. After Urbina earned the win in the first matchup between the high-octane arms, it was Caminiti that earned the victory.

The southpaw fired eight strikeouts in five innings of one-run ball for his first career win.

Augusta claimed the only run in the first three innings, as Luis Guanipa popped a second-inning solo homer.

The GreenJackets cracked Urbina and the ‘Dogs defense in the bottom of the fourth. After a throwing error on third baseman Jose Perez set up runners on the corners, Nick Montgomery laced an RBI single. After a strikeout, another Perez error scored a run to extend the deficit to 3-0. Eric Hartman capped the three-run inning with an RBI single to left.

Urbina returned for the fifth inning, but more defensive miscues made the frame arduous. Augusta leadoff man Cody Miller dropped down a bunt to third base, which Perez misfired to first, allowing Miller to dash to third. He scored on an Owen Carey single before Urbina was removed with one out. Moises Palma relieved Urbina and allowed Carey to score on a wild pitch, making it 6-0 through five innings.

Urbina was charged for six runs, three of them earned – marking the first time since May 31 he allowed more than two in a start.

Charleston got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning.

After a leadoff single from Theo Gillen, Jose Contreras reached on a fielding error and Narciso Polanco singled to load the bases. Ryan McCoy then worked a walk to push across Gillen for the first RiverDogs run, and Yirer Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 6-2.

The GreenJackets got those runs back and more in the bottom of the inning, scoring three times via RBI knocks from Hartman, John Gil and Miller, extending the deficit up to 9-2.

The hole got deeper in the seventh, as Cesar Rojas issued three hit by pitches, two walks and a single without recording an out, which pushed Augusta’s lead to 12-2.

Bryce Shaffer entered for Rojas in a bases-loaded, no-out situation. The lefty induced two force outs at second base that scored two more GreenJacket runs and a flyout, closing the book on a five-run inning that ballooned the score to 14-2

Dylan Lesko had his best performance as a RiverDog since joining the team and put together a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth.

The series continues Thursday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm. Ryan Andrade, who is tied for first in the Carolina League with eight wins, is scheduled to start for the RiverDogs. Charleston returns to Riley Park on Tuesday, August 12 to open a six-game series with the Hickory Crawdads.