Drive walk-in three runs in bottom of the seventh to fall 4-3 to Rome
After a pitching master class in game one which saw the Greenville Drive (10-8, 36-48) no-hit the Rome Emperors (6-12, 42-40), game two was the opposite in the final frame for the Drive as Reidis Sena walked in three runs on four walks to give the Emperors a 4-3 victory.
After a pitching master class in game one which saw the Greenville Drive (10-8, 36-48) no-hit the Rome Emperors (6-12, 42-40), game two was the opposite in the final frame for the Drive as Reidis Sena walked in three runs on four walks to give the Emperors a 4-3 victory.
The Drive entered the bottom of the seventh up 3-1 looking to sweep the day’s doubleheader. Sena gave up a leadoff double to Justin Janas, walked Carloa Arroyo, and gave up a single to Nick Ward to load the bases. He issued a walk to Dawson Dimon cutting the lead to 3-2 before picking up a flyout.
But he couldn’t capitalize on the one out momentum, issuing back-to-back walks to give Rome the walk-off walk win, 4-3.
The Drive picked up where they left off offensively in game two, as Allan Castro struck for a solo home run in the first, his 10th of the year to give Greenville the 1-0 lead. The homer marked Castro’s third homer in two games and sixth in the last eight games.
Jedixson Paez, making his second start of the season, spun five innings for the Drive. He allowed one run on a Drew Compton homer in the third, giving up two hits total on the day while issuing one walk and striking out eight batters in yet another dominating performance.
The righty was recently named the Red Sox Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month for June, though he primarily made piggyback starts out of the bullpen. In the month of June he picked up two wins with a 3.38 ERA, allowing just eight earned runs in five outings while striking out 32 of 82 batters he faced.
Before issuing the Compton homer, Paez had tossed 10 ⅔ scoreless innings across his previous two previous starts and the early going on Thursday.
Cutter Coffey broke the 1-1 deadlock in the sixth, knocking a double to left field to score Mikey Romero. Miguel Ugueto added a sac-fly later in the inning to give Greenville the 3-1 lead.
Sena’s rough seventh inning marked the second straight outing for the righty in which he’s been charged with a blown save and his third overall this season.
The Drive return to action on Friday, July 12th at 7:00 p.m. at AdventHealth Stadium for game four of the six-game series with Rome. The Drive hold a 2-1 series lead.