Greenville's Rivera rebounds with gem
Manuel Rivera rebounded from a poor start in his season debut to pitch an outstanding game Thursday in Greenville's 4-0 victory over Rome.
Rivera (1-1) gave up one hit and struck out nine over five scoreless innings. He didn't walk a batter and lowered his ERA to 3.60.
Rivera allowed four earned runs on six hits and a walk over five innings in April 10's loss to Delmarva. He struck out two and allowed a home run in that game.
The Red Sox named Rivera their Latin Program Pitcher of the Year in 2008, and he garnered a 1.19 ERA in 12 games for the Gulf Coast League Red Sox last year. He did not allow a home run in 53 innings and held opponents to a .209 batting average in 2009.
Rome starter Brett Oberholtzer matched Rivera for the first three innings, but Greenville broke through in the fourth on Michael Almanzar's RBI single. Almanzar and Christopher McGuiness hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning.
Jeremiah Bayer pitched four scoreless innings for the save.