After a successful first homestand in which Hub City split a 6-game set with the Bowling Green Hot Rods and took the inaugural I-85 Rivalry Series with the Greenville Drive 4 games to 2, the Spartanburgers hit the road down to Rome, Georgia for a 6-game set with the Emperors, the High A affiliate of the Braves.
The 2 teams entered the series looking to claim sole possession of the top spot in the South Atlantic League South Division Standings, starting the week knotted at 12-9 on the season. With so much on the line, winning the opener would have been the most ideal scenario for the Burgers. However, they would not have an easy road. In fact, the tone for the series was set Tuesday night for both teams.
Hub City would have one of their toughest opponents on the mound of the season to date in Braves #8-ranked prospect JR Ritchie, and he absolutely mowed down the Hub City bats for just their second shutout loss of the season. He tossed a career-high 7 shutout innings, striking out 6 and walking just 1 with 4 singles given up to earn the victory. Leandro Lopez got the start for the Spartanburgers, working out of a couple of jams in 4 innings of work, also notching 6 strikeouts while walking three and surrendering just one unearned run on 3 hits. Unfortunately for the Burgers, an uncharacteristically tough outing for Josh Mollerus ended up being the nail in the coffin as he gave up 4 earned runs with 2 out in the bottom of the 6th, including a 2-run homer to the 9 hole hitter Jace Grady as Hub City fell 5-0.
The Spartanburgers bounced back and evened the standings in game 2 with the first of consecutive 1-0 victories – going without saying that the struggles at the plate continued. The 11 AM start was the polar opposite of Thursday night’s game, which was delayed by a little over an hour from its scheduled 7:00 start by a thunderstorm that rolled through. Aidan Curry got the start and tossed a season-high 5 innings, amassing 7 strikeouts to just 1 walk and 1 hit in a no-decision. Larson Kindreich ended up getting the win in relief – his third of the season, which was rewarded with his promotion to Double A Round Rock on Friday afternoon.
All the offense in game 2 of the series came in the top of the 9th when #17 prospect Anthony Gutierrez took a hit by pitch to start the frame and stole 2nd. After Arturo Disla grounded into a double play to move Gutierrez to third, Casey Cook delivered a clutch 2 out single to right to set the stage for Willian Bormie to get his second save of the season, which he did, giving up a hit and striking out 1 in a scoreless inning.
Thursday night, 28th-ranked Rangers prospect Kolton Curtis got his 2nd start of the season for Hub City and managed to squeeze his way out of trouble like ketchup from a bottle through 4 innings. He scattered 5 strikeouts around 2 walks and three hits, giving way to Adonis Villavicenzio, who earned the win in 1 inning of relief, later handing the reins to Josh Trentadue, who easily wrote the story of the night. Josh turned in a 4-inning save, retiring 4 hitters on strikes and surrendering just 1 base runner on a single in the bottom of the 7th. The lone run of support was provided in the top of the 6th when Julian Brock doubled off the 2nd baseman’s glove and took third on a deep line out to center from Quincy Scott. Theo Hardy followed with a fielder’s choice ground ball to 2nd, and Brock got in ahead of the tag at the plate.
Game four of the set saw Hub City’s offense come to life a little bit more as well as the return of infielder Danyer Cueva from the 7-day injured list. The Burgers took an early 1-0 lead when Anthony Gutierrez doubled with 1 out and stole third, coming home on an errant throw down from the catcher on the play. The Emperors answered with their first run in 21 innings when Rome designated hitter EJ Exposito doubled off Hub City ace David Davalillo with 2 out, scoring center fielder Patrick Clohisy who reached earlier in the inning on a 1 out single. The Spartanburgers reclaimed the lead in the third on a sac fly from Keith Jones II, never looking back from there. Hub City added 2 more on a pair of bases-loaded walks in the top of the 5th – one to Jones and the other to Casey Cook. After rain pushed the remainder of the game to Saturday afternoon, Anthony Gutierrez later scored on a passed ball to add a third run in the frame as Hub City went on to secure at least a split in the series with a 5-1 victory.
The series concluded on Sunday with a double header featuring two 7-inning games. Dj McCarty got the start for the Spartanburgers in the first one, unfortunately struggling through just a third of an inning, having given up 5 earned runs on 6 hits, one of which was a 2-run homer from Rome Center Fielder Patrick Clohisy. Mailon Felix surrendered three more earned runs on 4 hits in his 2 and a third innings of work. The deficit proved to be too much for the Burger bats, who had to face Rome ace JR Ritchie for the 2nd time this series. The offense mustered just one unearned run on a Cal Stark single in the top of the third, falling 8-1 in the end.
The series finale featured a matchup of Jose Gonzalez vs the Rome bullpen. The Emperors gave an “open” to left hander Samuel Strickland, who worked around a leadoff single by Dylan Dreiling followed by a walk to Keith Jones II in his lone inning of work. Righty Cory Wall took over to start the 2nd, and worked out of consecutive 2 on, 1 out jams. That helped keep his team in position to take the lead in the bottom of the 3rd when Rome Left Fielder Titus Dumitru tripled to cash in a 1 out single by Clohisy. First baseman Will Verdung added on with a 2 out RBI double to make it 2-0 heading to the 4th, which held as the final score as three more Rome relievers combined to shut out Hub City over the last 4 innings, securing the series split and a re-tie atop the South Atlantic League South division standings.
The Spartanburgers (15-12) will have a day off on Monday and will return to Fifth Third Park for the first of a 6-game homestand with the Greensboro Grasshoppers from the SAL North. First pitch is set for 6:05 PM.
