Tempers Flare As Drive Even Series With Burgers

After taking the opener 5-1 last night, Hub City looked to make it three straight wins Wednesday at Fluor Field. AJ Russell took to the hill against right hander Alex Bouchard hoping to also continue a trend of solid pitching from the Burgers dating back to Sunday’s series finale with Greensboro.

Things got off to a promising start as for the second straight game, Casey Cook led off with a single. But, that promise quickly waned as Maxton Martin grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and Gleider Figuereo struck out swinging to help Bouchard face the minimum.

In the bottom half, Russell got a quick out with a first pitch grounder to third from Enddy Azocar. But, he labored through the rest of the frame. Struggling to locate, he issued a pair of walks. Justin Gonzales drew the first followed by a double off the Green Monster from Yoeilin Cespedes. After striking out Luke Heyman, Gerardo Rodriguez drew a walk to load the bases.

First baseman Ronny Hernandez made that hurt on a two-run single up the middle paired with an error charged to Quincy Scott on the throw-in from center that put two more in scoring position. But, Russell was able to hold the damage to two with a strikeout of left fielder Yophery Rodriguez.

Hub City got their first scoring chance in the ensuing half after a leadoff walk to Luke Hanson. He advanced on a swinging bunt from Antonis Macias and later stole third with two away. But he was left on when Scott flew to center.

One inning was all for Russell as he gave way to Joe Adametz to start the second, which ended in some Déjà vu for the Drive. Once again, Greenville loaded the bases with two out, starting the rally on a leadoff single from Antonio Anderson. With two down, Gonzales doubled down the left field line and Cespedes drew a walk. Heyman then singled in a pair. Gerardo Rodriguez also picked up a base hit, this one off the monster to score Cespedes, but was gunned out trying to stretch a double to end the inning. However, the Drive took a commanding 5-0 lead to the third.

That lead ballooned even more after the Burgers wasted a two out single from Cook and Greenville loaded the bases for the third straight inning. Yophery Rodriguez kicked off the bottom of the third with a knock. Anderson and second baseman Stanley Tucker singled back to back ahead of a grand slam way over the monster from Azocar. Adametz rebounded with a couple of K’s, but the game was blown wide open with the Drive up 9-0.

The Burgers began to chip away in the top of the fourth with a little help from the Greenville infield defense. Hanson drew his second straight walk with one out followed by a single from Macias. Marcos Torres then grounded to second for a potential double play, but the throw to short trying to get Macias went way wide and ended up wedging under the padding at the berm in left. That allowed two unearned runs while Torres went all the way to third. Scott added on with a single, advancing on an errant throw by the third baseman. However he was left on when Carter Garate grounded out and Cal Stark whiffed, making it a 9-3 game heading to the bottom of the frame.

Joe Adametz turned the game’s first clean inning for either side, and once again the Burgers took a chunk out of the deficit in the top of the fifth, starting a rally with a leadoff walk to Cook. Martin followed with a single to send Cook first to third and with one out, Hanson drove an RBI sacrifice fly to center. Macias then dealt a nice blow with a two-run shot off the Pesky Pole in right. Torres kept the line moving with a bunt single and later swiped second, but he was left there as Scott was rung up to retire the side. But, the deficit was shaved to just three runs.

Greenville got some cushion in the bottom of the sixth on a one out solo shot that was blasted over the signage on top of the apartment building behind the monster from Cespedes. That was followed by a single from Heyman, who later advanced on a wild pitch. Adametz’s night ended on a groundout to short from Gerardo Rodriguez, and J’Briell Easley closed the book on him with a pop up to short on the first pitch to Hernandez. Adametz’s final line was four and two-thirds innings with eight earned runs on 11 hits, no walks, and two strikeouts.

After Hub City went quietly in the ensuing half, Greenville went.. not so quietly. Easley got the first two batters via strikeouts. After consecutive singles from Tucker and Azocar, Gonzales sent a moonshot over the monster. He stared at it and shot a glance towards the dugout afterward, which Cal Stark took exception to.

As Gonzales stepped on the plate, Stark had some words that triggered a benches-clearing brawl. In the end, Gonzales, Stark, and Easley were ejected. Cole Roland came on to pitch while Arturo De Freitas entered at catcher. After all that hullabaloo, Cespedes whiffed, sending the game to the eighth with Greenville up 13-6.

Roland would finish out the game with a clean eighth, while the Burgers could not muster a base runner for the third time in the last four innings to seal the series-evening victory for the Drive.

Game three is set for 6:45 PM on Thursday as Kamdyn Perry (0-2, 10.50 ERA) is set to face right hander Marcus Phillips (0-4, 6.26).