Drive outlast Emperors 4-3 in series-opening victory

Yordanny Monegro tossed five scoreless innings, Ronald Rosario and Bryan Gonzalez knocked homers, and Mikey Romero chipped in the go-ahead RBI-double to boost the Greenville Drive (29-20, 55-60) to a 4-3 win over the Rome Emperors (20-26, 56-55) Tuesday on Green Day at Fluor Field.

Monegro struck out eight in his five innings of work, and issued two walks, including striking out the side in the fifth. In his last seven starts - totaling 34 innings - he has issued just one run.

After going 0-for-19 in his last five games, Ronald Rosario shook off the slump on the first pitch he saw, slicing a homer into the Greenville Monster that traveled 389 feet and 108 mph off the bat for a 2-0 Drive lead.

With Monegro dominating, Greenville opened up a 3-0 lead on a towering fly ball over the Greenville Monster, a 111 mph blast that traveled 417 feet. It marked Gonzalez’s 18th homer of the season in 77 games.

Adam Smith did not continue Monegro’s shutout, giving up back-to-back singles, the latter moving leadoff hitter Drew Compton to third. Smith induced a double-play that scored Compton and faced more trouble issuing a single and a walk before striking out Nick Ward to preserve the 3-1 lead.

Smith ran into trouble again in the sixth, loading the bases with one away before allowing a sac-fly and a single to knot the game at 3-3. He was replaced by Isaac Stebens out of the bullpen.

Romero made sure the game stayed in Greenville’s favor in the bottom of the seventh. After Justin Reimer doubled with two-away, Romero slashed a belt-high breaking ball into the right field gap to score Riemer and put the Drive back in front 4-3.

Stebens managed dutifully out of the bullpen for the Drive, holding the Emperors hitless over the final 2 ⅓ innings. He issued a walk and struck out three.

The Drive return to action tomorrow for game two of the six-game series with Rome. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. The Drive hold a 1-0 series lead.