Augusta Jumps on Kannapolis Bullpen for Lopsided Win

GreenJackets Win Series Over Cannon Ballers

Augusta Jumps on Kannapolis Bullpen for Lopsided Win

*KANNAPOLIS, NC: *The Augusta GreenJackets (33-31) defeated the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (31-34) on Saturday night by a score of 9-1 to earn their fourth consecutive series win on the road.

Kannapolis scored the first run of the game in the third inning as Victor Torres started the frame with a home run to left to give the Cannon Ballers a 1-0 advantage.

Kannapolis starting pitcher, Jose Jimenez held the Augusta offense in check on Saturday night by allowing no runs on just one hit in his five innings on the mound.

But when he departed in the sixth, the GreenJackets made their move. With two outs in the top of the sixth, Ethan Workinger tripled to the wall in right-center to score Ignacio Alvarez to tie the game at one. Workinger would then find his way home as E.J. Exposito singled back up the middle to score him and give Augusta their first lead at 2-1.

They'd add-on in the seventh with three more runs as Antonio Barranca got it started with an RBI double to score Francisco Floyd to up the lead to 3-1. Two more runs came in on a throwing error by Kannapolis pitcher Bowen Plagge to extend the advantage to 5-1.

In the eighth, Stephen Paolini doubled to the corner in right field to score E.J. Exposito with ease, making it a 6-1 game.

The GreenJackets would put the game away in the ninth by scoring three more times on RBI singles by Drake Baldwin and Ethan Workinger with Antonio Barranca drawing a bases-loaded walk to push Augusta's lead to 9-1.

James Acuña got the final three outs in the ninth in order to put a bow on a 9-1 victory over the Cannon Ballers.

Estarlin Rodriguez (2-2) earned his second winning decision in relief this week with James Acuña (1) picking up his first save of the season. Bowen Plagge (3-5) was the losing pitcher for Kannapolis.

Every member of the GreenJackets starting nine reached base at least once on Saturday with seven of them recording hits, led by Ethan Workinger who had two hits and two RBIs. Ignacio Alvarez also had two hits and scored three runs in the game. Antonio Barranca had a multi-RBI game with an RBI double in the seventh and a bases-loaded walk in the ninth. It was also another excellent night for the Augusta pitching staff as they gave up just one run and struck out 14 Cannon Ballers, highlighted by JR Ritchie who dealt four innings on the mound with a young, career-high of six strikeouts.

The 2022 season concludes on Sunday afternoon with Blake Burkhalter set to get the start for the GreenJackets versus Jonathan Cannon for Kannapolis with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. from Atrium Health Ballpark.

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