Dash Battle Past Greenville 6-4

­­­WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (June 8, 2021) — The Winston-Salem Dash welcomed the Greenville Drive, High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, to Truist Stadium on Tuesday with a series-opening 6-4 victory.

Dash starter Jeremiah Burke got his first taste of the mighty Greenville offense in the second inning as Devlin Granberg drove a two-run homer—his seventh of the year—into left field to put the Drive ahead 2-0.

The Drive plated two more in the third as Tyler Esplin bounced a two-bagger off the center field wall to score Cam Cannon and Elih Marrero to extend the lead to 4-0.

Winston-Salem answered in the home half of the third beginning with three consecutive singles, with Tyler Osik touching home on a hit by Ian Dawkins. With one out, Luis Curbelo grounding into an unassisted play at first base that plated Johan Cruz on the fielder’s choice.

After the Drive put up a scoreless fourth inning, Xavier Fernandez hit the reset button, tying the game at 4-4 on a two-run blast to left-center field.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Johan Cruz smacked his second homer of the year, a two-run round-tripper into left-center, charging the Dash ahead to a 6-4 lead.

The Dash sustained their edge all the way through the top of the ninth, thanks to a stellar bullpen. Edgar Navarro (1-0) relieved Burke to begin the sixth inning and collected his first win of the season after two frames of hitless baseball. Luke Shilling impressed in his first save, striking out five Greenville hitters and allowing one walk in two hitless innings. Drive reliever Dylan Spacke (2-1) took his first loss of the season.

With the 6-4 victory, the Dash take an early one-game lead to begin the six-game homestand. Southpaw Taylor Varnell opens on the mound for the Dash Wednesday evening, as the Drive will call upon Jay Groome, Boston’s first-round draft pick in 2016. First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. ET with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 on https://www.milb.com/winston-salem/team/broadcast-corner.