Bleis delivers two-RBI double in the ninth to lift Drive to 6-5 victory over Rome

Miguel Bleis made the most of his two-out, top of the ninth opportunity, barreling up a double to left field to plate the go-ahead runs as the Greenville Drive (9-7, 35-47) took the series opener with the Rome Emperors (5-11, 41-39) at AdventHealth Stadium, 6-5.

Bleis’ heroics came as the Drive stared down their final strike in yet another close contest with the Emperors. So far this season, the two teams have played eight games decided by two runs or less.

The Drive entered the final frame trailing 4-3 but picked up a leadoff single from Allan Castro and a walk from Luis Ravelo. Ahrbam Liendo put runners on the corners as his grounder resulted in Ravelo being forced out at second. Bryan Gonzalez delivered a double to center field to plate Castro, knotting the game at 4-4.

Mikey Romero flew out to left field before Bleis delivered his two-out, two-strike knock to left field that plated Linedo and Gonzalez without a play at the plate to put the Drive in front 6-4.

Reliever Isaac Stebens made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. After picking up two quick outs, he allowed a Stephen Paolini double and a Justin Janas single before walking the next two batters to cut the lead to 6-5.

Stebens would get Sabin Ceballos to fly out to right field to secure the Drive victory and his third save of the season.

Greenville opened the scoring in the first frame on Wednesday, as Romero and Ronald Rosario doubled, the latter scoring Romero, to make it 1-0. They’d boost the lead to 2-0 in the third as Rosario and Bleis executed a double steal with Bleis stealing home.

Starter David Sandlin tossed three one-hit innings for the Greenville Drive including striking out seven of the first nine batters he faced. The Emperors did crack him in the fourth as Ethan Workinger knocked a two-run, game-tying homer.

Workinger ultimately drove in four of Rome’s five runs on the night including a sac-fly in the sixth and an RBI-single in the eighth which put the Emperors up 4-3.
Gonzalez, who plated the tying run in the ninth, also plated the tying run in the seventh, knocking a single to left field to score Ravelo and knot the game at 3-3.

Bryce Bonnin worked two relief innings for the Drive, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Gabriel Jackson earned his sixth win of the season, working the seventh and eighth innings for the Drive allowing one run on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts.

The Drive return to action on Thursday, July 11th for a doubleheader, which includes a make-up game for Tuesday’s postponed contest. Game one is slated for 5:00 p.m with game two following the conclusion of game one. The Drive hold a 1-0 series lead.