Drive score late, but Blue Rocks hang on for 5-3 victory

It was a case of too little, too late for the Greenville Drive (4-9) on Friday night in Wilmington as a three-run eighth inning wouldn’t be enough to mount a comeback as the Blue Rocks (9-4) outlasted the Drive 5-3, marking the Drive’s third loss of the six-game series.

Blue Rocks starter Luke Young was sharp from the get-go on Friday, eventually working six innings. He’d hold the Drive static for much of the game, allowing just three hits on the night, issuing just one walk, and ringing up eight batters.

While Young held the Drive at-bay the Blue Rocks were able to feed off the momentum, opening up a 5-0 lead. Wilmington struck first in the bottom of the first as Daylen Lile smacked a triple to center field before a balk called against Drive starter Connelly Early during the next at-bat allowed Lile to cross the plate.

Early would hold steady from there until the fourth inning as with two outs and a man in scoring position for the Blue Rocks, Marcus Brown singled to right, driving in a run for a 2-0 lead. Early would exit in favor of reliever Nathan Landry following the RBI base knock. Early finished the night working 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five.

Landry would give up the next three runs, one in the fifth and two in the sixth. Branden Boissiere notched the sac-fly in the fifth and Viandel Pena’s double to left field would bring two runners home in the sixth for a 5-0 lead.

Though in a 5-0 hole, the Drive found some life in the eighth as Tyler Miller led off with a double before Enderso Lira reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed Miller to make it third. Ahbram Liendo followed that up with a sac-fly to score Miller and Juan Chacon two at-bats later to score Lira to cut the lead to 5-2. Bryan Gonzalez singled during the ensuing at-bat, scoring Chacon and marking Gonzalez’s 10th, and team-leading, RBI of the season.

Though the Drive cut the lead to 5-3 in the top half of the eighth and Cade Feeney shut the door in relief in the bottom half of the eighth, the Drive were unable to finish the comeback. In the ninth, Miller and Miguel Ugueto walked to lead off the inning, putting the tying runs on base. But Caden Rose and Lira would go down on strikes before Liendo would ground out to short. Liendo nearly prolonged the inning, diving for first base but he’d be out by mere inches giving the Blue Rocks the 5-3 victory.

The Greenville Drive return to action tomorrow, April 20 at 6:05 p.m. for game five of the six-game series with Wilmington. The Blue Rocks clinched at least a tie of the series and currently lead it 3-1.