Drive come-from-behind again as Rosario knocks two homers in 14-9 victory over Blue Rocks

After falling behind 6-2 in the third inning, the Greenville Drive (22-14, 48-54) exploded for 12 runs, five of those coming off the bat of Ronald Rosario who chipped in a pair two-run homers and an RBI-single enroute to a 14-9 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks (17-18) Sunday at Fluor Field.

The win marked the Drive’s fifth consecutive series victory. They’ve now won five of six series since the start of the South Atlantic League second half.

Rosario’s five-RBI and two-homer day marked a career-high for the catcher out of Palo Negro, VZ, in both categories. The offensive outburst comes on the heels of his walk-off hit in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday night.

The 14 runs masked a rather rough day on the mound for the Drive pitching staff as a quartet of Drive pitchers combined to issue nine walks and a collective seven two-RBI.

Hayden Mullins, one of the more dominant pitchers for the Drive as of late, gave up six runs on six hits in three innings along with issuing three walks and picking up three strikeouts.

After Mikey Romero’s solo blast (his 10th of the season) and Jhostynxon Garcia’s RBI-triple in the opening frame, Mullins relinquished a solo homer in the second to Matt Suggs and before allowing five runs in the third with two outs, walking in a run and allowing a three-run double and an RBI-single to put the Drive in a 6-2 hole.

But as with the previous night, the never-say-die Drive matched the Blue Rocks, run-for-run in their half of the third as Allan Castro knocked his 14 th homer of the year with Justine Riemer on base and Rosario chipped in his first homer, a two-run shot to knot the game back up at 6-6.

Drive reliever Adam Smith allowed a first pitch homer in the top of the fifth to TJ White and loaded the bases with two-outs. One of those runners would come- via a hit batter as Smith’s pitch hit Suggs in the helmet. After lying on the ground for a couple minutes, Suggs was able to walk off under his own power but was replaced by Maxwell Romero, Jr.

Smith picked up a crucial strikeout to keep the game at 7-6.

Garcia knocked a single in the Drive-half of the fourth before Rosario notched his second two-run shot to put the Drive back in front, 8-7. Rosario chipped in his fifth and final RBI in the seventh to extend the lead to 9-7 on a single to right field.

With Rosario on second and Garcia at third and two away, Juan Montero delivered a key double into the right field gap to boost the lead to 11-7. Romero rewarded Montero with a single down the right field line to lift the lead to 12-7.

But the five-run lead would be put in doubt in the eighth as Gabriel Jackson struggled on the mound. He walked Phillip Glasser, and hit Gavin Dugas with a pitch before picking up two outs. He’d be pulled for Isaac Stebens after the second out.

The change didn’t help the Drive however, as Stebens walked TJ White and gave up a two-RBI single to Murphy Stehly that cut the lead to 12-9.

After Castro, Garcia, and Gonzalez walked in the eighth, Andy Lugo delivered a single off the mitt of Marcus Brown, allowing Castro and Gracia to score to put the Drive back up five.

The ninth would be shaky for Stebens however as he gave up a leadoff double and a walk before a wild pitch moved both runners to scoring position. Dugas popped out and Steben induced a double play off Jared McKenzie’s bat to secure the victory.

The Drive return to action on Tuesday, August 6th for the start of a 12-game road trip which will see them face off with the Winston-Salem Dash (Chicago White Sox) August 6-11 and Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore Orioles) August 13-18. Game one in Winston-Salem is slated for 7:00 p.m.