Drive Fall to RiverDogs, 8-2
Charleston, SC - The Greenville Drive were stymied offensively for much of Monday night's series finale in the Lowcountry, as the Charleston RiverDogs came away with an 8-2 victory.
For the second consecutive night, the RiverDogs (27-30, 69-57) received a gem of an outing from their starting pitcher. On Monday night, it was Nick Green (2-0) who took control, as he held the Drive (29-28, 66-60) to five hits over six scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
The RiverDogs scored four times against Logan Boyd (13-7) in his five innings of work. Alexander Palma delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the first, and Chris Gittens smacked a three-run homer to right field in the third to make the score 4-0.
Gittens struck again in the seventh by crushing an Adam Lau offering for a solo homer to center, his 21st long ball of the year, and three bases-loaded walks by the Drive in the eighth extended the RiverDogs lead to 8-0.
The Drive avoided the shutout in the ninth thanks to Jeremy Rivera, who ripped a two-out double to center to score a pair. Rivera led the offense with three hits and two RBI on the night, and Tate Matheny contributed two hits of his own.
The road trip continues on Tuesday when the Drive begin a three-game series with the Augusta GreenJackets, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, at 7:05 PM. Right-hander Roniel Raudes (11-5, 3.73) takes the ball for the Drive, and he will be opposed by GreenJackets right-hander Matt Solter (4-4, 5.66).