Bats go quiet as Drive blanked 5-0 by Dash in series finale

The Greenville Drive (24-18, 50-58) picked up just three hits on the afternoon at Truist Stadium, as the Winston-Salem Dash (21-21, 52-56) pitching trio of Tommy Vail, Jose Ramirez, and Peyton Pallette combined to blank the Drive, 5-0.

The Drive’s loss marks their first series loss of the second half as they make a push for the South Atlantic League playoffs. The Bowling Green Hot Rods dropped a 7-6 decision to Asheville earlier in the afternoon, a loss that would have benefitted the Drive’s playoff push if the Drive had picked up a series finale win. As it stands, the Drive are three games back of the final playoff spot.

Bryan Gonzalez, Justin Riemer, and Hudson White chipped in the Drive’s only hits of the day, aal singles.The Drive did have their chances in the effort, however.

After the Gonzalez single to lead off the third, Andy Lugo reached on a force out that forced out Gonzalez at second. Lugo stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Fraymi De Leon sent a chopping grounder to third which Lugo tried to race home on and would be caught in a pickle, being tagged out by third baseman Wes Kath during the rundown.

De Leon made it to third on Riemer’s single to put runners on the corners for Juan Chacon who lined out to right fielder Casey Saucke to end the inning and the scoring threat.

In the fourth with two away, Will Turner, White, and Gonzalez walked to load the bases before Lugo flew out to center field to quell any thoughts of a comeback.

The Dash had opened up a 2-0 lead by that point thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles in the first inning via Kath and Ryan Galanie. Sunday starter Dalton Rogers recovered to finish out the frame and held the Dash to one hit over the next two innings of work before three consecutive singles, the last by Weston Eberly, boosted the lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Eberly’s knock was soft, landing just beyond Gonzalez in the shallow right field allowing Jacob Burke to race home.

Rogers finished the night tossing three innings allowing seven hits and three runs with three walks and a lone strikeout.

The Drive struggled against reliever Jose Ramirez in his three innings of work, failing to pick up a hit or a walk, though Gonzalez reached after being hit with a pitch. Eberly struck again in the sixth, barreling up a two-run homer off reliever Cooper Adams to round out the scoring for the Dash.

Adams worked 2 ⅔ innings for the Drive allowing the homer with a walk and two strikeouts before turning the ball over to left Zach Fogell. Fogell tossed 1 ⅓ innings for the Drive allowing a walk. Reidis Sena finished the day on the mound for the Drive picking up two strikeouts in a hitless one-inning outing.

White picked up the Drive’s final hit with one away in the ninth, moving Will Turner to second, but pinch hitter Zach Ehrhard struck out and Lugo grounded out to give the Dash the victory.

The Drive return to action on Tuesday, August 13th for the start of a six-game series with the Aberdeen IronBirds, affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, which is the back leg of the Drive’s 12-game road trip. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.