Braves drop series to Rays, fall to .500

PRINCETON, WV- The Danville Braves dropped two out of three on the road against the Princeton Rays, but manage to return home for a six game homestand with a record of 11-11. The Braves begin a three game series with the Bluefield Blue Jays on Saturday, before a three game set at home with the Greeneville Astros begins on Tuesday.

The Rays and Braves began their series on Wednesday, following Tuesday's off day. The Rays held a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the 6th, but scored in every inning the rest of the way to win in dominating fashion, 17-6. 13 of the Rays' 17 runs were earned. Despite the rough outing by Braves' pitchers, the lone bright spot for Danville was Bradley Keller, who went 4-4 with two RBI at the plate.
In the second game, the Braves were three outs away from a 5-2 victory, thanks to a three run 8th inning. With Kelvin Rodriguez on the mound, Princeton began the bottom of the 9th with Trey Hair being hit by a pitch. Braves manager Nestor Perez lifted Rodriguez for Cutter Dyals. Dyals promptly gave up a single and hit another batter to load the bases. With no men out, the Danville defense collapsed behind Dyals, committing three straight errors that allowed Princeton to tie the game. Devin Davis came up to bat and grounded into a force out, while the winning run came home from third, giving the Rays a come from behind 6-5 win.
In Friday's series finale, the Rays held a 3-1 lead going into the 5th inning, but the Danville offense broke out for four runs to take a 4-3 lead. The Braves would pad their lead in the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings, and the Rays could never mount much of a challenge against the stellar relief work of Walter Borkovich (1-0), and John Curtis. Raysheandall Michel and Derian Cruz were the sparkplugs of the Danville offense, batting a combined 5-11 with four runs scored at the top of the lineup.
WHAT'S NEXT:
The Braves begin a three game series with the Bluefield Blue Jays on Saturday, July 15th. The gates open at 5:45pm for a pregame concert by Spencer Key as part of the Danville Braves Community Concert Series presented by Danville Toyota. It's also Mystery Ball Sale night where fans can purchase mystery autographed baseballs with proceeds going to charitable foundations. Sunday is National Ice Cream Day and the first 250 fans in attendance to the 4pm game will receive a coupon for a free ice cream from Chick-Fil-A. Monday's 7pm series finale is a carpet square giveaway, courtesy of Newcomb Carpet, and it's also Dollar Monday. For tickets, call 434-797-3792 or order online at dbraves.com