Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Hitters Provide Support for Mejia in Win

August 17, 2012

Charleston, SC - The Augusta GreenJackets took advantage of a first-inning Charleston RiverDogs error that opened the door to a three-run inning and never looked back, defeating the RiverDogs 6-3 on Friday night for their fifth win in their last seven games.

Brett Krill's RBI single with two outs in the first inning gave Augusta the game's first lead for the second straight night, but the inning appeared to be over on Jose Cuevas's bouncer to first. When Charleston pitcher Bryan Mitchell couldn't handle the toss from first baseman Saxon Butler, the GreenJackets picked up a second run to go up 2-0. Garrett Buechele followed with an RBI single to cap the three-run frame.

Augusta got another run in the fourth on an RBI double from Jose Flores to go up 4-1 before the RiverDogs could answer. In the fourth inning, Charleston got back-to-back doubles from Butler and Rob Refsnyder to make it a 4-1 game. The GreenJackets expanded their lead to five runs in the fifth on a two-run double by Jeff Arnold to go up 6-1.

Adalberto Mejia ran into trouble in the sixth for the GreenJackets and nearly coughed up Augusta's five-run lead. Dante Bichette Jr. led off with a solo homer against Mejia - the first of four straight Charleston hits in the inning. The last was Casey Stevenson's RBI single that made it a 6-3 game and brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the sixth. Mejia buckled down to get a liner for the first out and back-to-back strikeouts - the only hitters Mejia struck out all night - to get out of the inning.

Steven Neff got out of the seventh for the GreenJackets with a double play ball to kill a potential Charleston rally and then retired three of the four he faced in the eighth to hand the game to Kyle Vazquez. In the ninth, Vazquez survived a one-out double to earn his eighth save of the season.

Mejia (9-7), now the staff leader in wins with nine, battled in his six innings to get the victory. He scattered three runs on eight hits while striking out two. Mitchell (7-11) allowed three runs - one earned due to his own error - in his only inning of work on three hits and a walk while striking out a pair.

The GreenJackets send newcomer Danny Sandbrink to the mound on Saturday in search of their second straight win. First pitch from Charleston comes at 7:05 p.m. with radio coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1340 AM and www.greenjacketsbaseball.com.

The GreenJackets return home for the season's final Thirsty Thursday on Thursday August 23rd as they open a four-game series with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Single-game tickets for any GreenJackets home game are currently available by calling the GreenJackets front office at 706-922-WINS and online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com.