Burgers Win Series Over Asheville; Inch Closer to Playoffs

After claiming the overall season series 13 games to 11 over the Greenville Drive to claim the inaugural I-85 rivalry series, Hub City didn’t have time to rest on their laurels. With a 2 game cushion over the Drive for the 2nd playoff spot in the SAL South division, the Burgers made the short trek up I-26 to McCormick Field for a 6 game set with the Asheville Tourists.

The last time these 2 teams met at Fifth Third Park about a month ago, things proved difficult for the Burgers, having to win each of the last 2 games to take the series. With a notoriously offense-friendly ballpark like McCormick, which has extremely short dimensions and 20 foot tall fences, this one might have proven to be even more challenging.

The Burgers proved themselves up to the challenge in the opener on Tuesday night. Dylan MacLean got the start and came out matching Asheville right hander Dylan Howard blow for blow. MacLean carried a perfect game through three innings before some tough luck struck. The leadoff batter in the 4th reached on an infield single that was followed by a no-doubt 2 run shot from Walker Janek.

In the end, Dylan rebounded to go 5 complete, striking out 6 with 4 hits and 3 earned runs. Hub City responded perfectly, cracking the scoreboard with the first inside-the-park home run in franchise history. Rafe Perich lined over the head of the left fielder, who slipped and allowed the ball to roll all the way to the warning track, and Chad Comer did not hesitate to send Perich around third rather than playing it safe with an easy triple.

The difference in the contest came in a 6-run top of the 8th. Dylan Dreiling started things off with a double and took third on a wild pitch. After consecutive 1 out walks loaded the bases, Maxton Martin drew a walk to force home Dreiling. John Taylor singled home another and then Luke Hanson’s first High-A hit cleared the bases in the form of a bloop single.

The bullpen was effective as well, combining to give up just 1 unearned run between Case Matter (1 inning, walk, 2 K, 1 hit), Mailon Felix (1 IP, 2 hits, unearned run), Jesus Gamez (1 IP, 2 K), and Kai Wynyard (1 inning, 2 K, 1 BB) as Hub City went on to cruise to a 10-4 win.

Game 2 was the polar opposite for the Burgers. Aidan Curry could not make it out of the first inning, surrendering a 5 spot in two-thirds of an inning of work. That first frame ended up being the difference in the game. Hub City responded perfectly to pull back within a run with a grand slam from Antonis Macias, but that was all the offense they could muster the rest of the game.. Until the ninth inning. In the interim, the Tourists built up a 13-4 advantage before the Spartanburgers mounted a 4-run rally, but fell short 13-8 to even the series.

Hub City once again flipped the script Thursday night in game three, giving Rangers #8 prospect Caden Scarborough some early run support in his 2nd high A start. Arturo Disla got the scoring started with an RBI single in the 2nd that plated Casey Cook. Cook added an RBI on a sacrifice fly in the third to make it 2-0. That lead held for most of the remainder of the game.

Scarborough pitched 4 scoreless with 2 hits, 6 strikeouts, and a walk. Brooks Fowler followed him with 4 more shutout frames, notching 5 K’s with no walks and 3 hits. Hub City’s offense struck for a 3 spot in the top of the 9th, getting the bases loaded on 3 straight walks with 1 out and Malcolm Moore kept the line moving with a 2-run base hit. After re-loading the sacks, Casey Cook made a productive 2nd out, plating a third run with a sac fly. That three run inning ended up the difference in the game in the end.

Jesus Gamez came on to start the ninth and after getting the first out, walked the next 4 to break the shutout. A wild pitch brought home a 2nd run in the frame, leading to the decision to pull Gamez for Victor Simeon, who earned his third save of the season, striking out 1 and getting a ground ball to secure the 5-2 victory.

Friday could not have gone any better for the Spartanburgers, absolutely dominating the Tourists to the tune of an 8-0 shutout. Dalton Pence tossed 4 innings with 5 strikeouts, 3 walks, and 3 hits. Mailon Felix earned the win in relief with 3 innings, 2 K’s, and a hit. Kai Wynyard finished out the game with one retired on strikes and a walk in an inning of work.

Dylan Dreiling and Rafe Perich had 2 RBIs each while Malcolm Moore, John Taylor, and Ben Hartl each drove in 1.

Game 5 got off to a good start for the Burgers, taking the lead 2 pitches in on a solo homer from Dreiling. Hub City added on with Maxton Martin’s first high A homer in the top of the 2nd and a Figuereo RBI 2 bagger in the 3rd.

Starter DJ McCarty tossed 4 frames, striking out 5, walking 2, and giving up just 2 earned on a home run in the bottom of the 4th. He gave way to Adrian Rodriguez, who tossed 3 more scoreless innings with 5 K’s, a walk, and a hit. In the interim, the bats got one back in the top of the 5th on a single from Malcolm Moore that cashed in a leadoff single from Rafe Perich and a passed ball.

Their 4-2 lead held until the 8th inning when Case Matter came on and struggled through a third of an inning, walking 2 and giving up 4 straight hits— the third of which was a grand slam that gave Asheville the lead. The Tourists hung a 7-spot in the frame, taking a 9-4 advantage that held the rest of the way.

The Burgers rebounded in Sunday night’s finale, once again taking an early lead on an RBI groundout from John Taylor that played Dylan Dreiling.

Kolton Curtis got the start and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the first. The 2nd started with a solo shot to tie it at 1 a piece, but he settled down from there, using an effective changeup/slider combo to accumulate 9 strikeouts over 5 innings.

Hub City went on to score the next 2 runs, cashing in a leadoff single from Antonis Macias paired with a 2-base error on a 1 out Paxton Kling single in the 5th and adding another on a solo homer from Casey Cook in the 6th.

Asheville added a 2nd run when Aidan Curry, who had a tough go of things Wednesday, gave up a leadoff solo bomb. However, he calmed down and pitched 2 innings with a K and just the lone run on 2 hits.

That was it the rest of the way as Josh Sanders and Victor Simeon finished the tour for a 4-2 win. Sanders struck out 1 with 1 hit while Simeon earned his team-leading 4th save of the season with 2 K’s.

The burgers took the series 4-2, claimed the season series 8-4, and dropped the magic number to clinch a postseason berth to 4 — meaning any combination of four Hub City wins or Greenville losses would get the job done.

The Spartanburgers (32-28, 63-62 overall) return home to Fifth Third Park for the final regular season homestand of their inaugural campaign — a six game set with the Rome Emperors. That series will begin Tuesday night at 6:35 after a day off tomorrow. Pitching matchups are yet to be announced.