Drive Blank Braves In Series Opener
ROME, GA – The Rome Braves returned to the friendly confines of AdventHealth Stadium on Tuesday night, welcoming the Greenville Drive into town. Rome would enter the series with Greenville just three and a half games behind the first-place Winston Salem Dash. Angel Flores would give the ball to Knoxville,
ROME, GA – The Rome Braves returned to the friendly confines of AdventHealth Stadium on Tuesday night, welcoming the Greenville Drive into town. Rome would enter the series with Greenville just three and a half games behind the first-place Winston Salem Dash.
Angel Flores would give the ball to Knoxville, TN, native Hunter Riggins. In his first start in Rome since hurling five perfect innings against the Asheville Tourists on May 10th. Riggins would retire the first two batters before Marcello Mayer would tuck his sixth home run of the season just over the left field wall.
Greenville would plate another run in the second inning in the form of an Eduardo Lopez double. That would be all Greenville could muster up for the next four frames, as Hunter Riggins would go on to retire thirteen straight Greenville hitters.
Tuesday night’s start would be the longest outing of the season for Riggins, as he would finish with three hits, two runs, two walks, and five punchouts over six full innings.
Riggins would make way for Ryder Jones, who would run into trouble in the top of the seventh as Greenville would double their run total with singles from Miguel Ugueto and Alex Erro.
Ben Dum would relieve Jones of his duties on Tuesday night, and the first man to greet Dum would be Marcello Mayer. Boston’s No.1 overall prospect would lead off the top half of the eighth with his second home run of the night, and his seventh of the 2023 campaign.
Greenville’s offense would finish the night with a total of nine runs scored, and the Drive’s pitching staff would shut out the Braves for just the second time this season.
In 2022, Rome was not shut out until September 3rd by the same Greenville Drive team they faced on Tuesday. Subsequently, Tuesday night’s nine to zero loss was Greenville’s first win over Rome since September 3rd, 2022.
Hunter Riggins was tagged for his first loss of the season on Tuesday night, giving him a record of 2-1. Tuesday’s loss was the Braves’ nineteenth of the season. Greenville and Rome will tee it back up tomorrow for a doubleheader with first pitch in game one coming at 5:00pm.