Braves grab lead early, lean on pitching
The Rome Braves scored two early runs, added some insurance later and relied on strong pitching from starter Roddery Munoz and the bullpen to defeat the Greenville Drive 5-3 for their third straight win Thursday night.
The Braves (58-41, 22-11 in second half) grabbed the lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning before adding two more in the fourth and one in the eighth at AdventHealth Stadium. Greenville (36-61, 10-21) scored a run in the fourth and two in the sixth, but Rome’s bullpen was lights out from there as they tossed a combined four shutout innings to seal the victory.
Munoz (8-4) earned the win thanks to his five-inning effort in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out five and walking one.
Issrael De La Cruz, Alex Segal and Jake McSteen each picked up holds out of the bullpen as they each pitched a scoreless inning, and Alec Barger slammed the door shut for his fourth save thanks to a 1-2-3 ninth inning that included two strikeouts.
Offensively, Tyler Tolve and Drew Campbell each had solo homers, which came in back-toback fashion in the fourth. Cal Conley added a hit and an RBI, Jacob Pearson added a double and scored a run and Bryson Horne also had a hit.
In Wednesday’s game: Rome 6, Greenville 5
Rome fell behind early, but it put together a clutch seventhinning rally to overcome a fourrun deficit and hold on for a 6-5 victory over Greenville at AdventHealth Stadium.
The Braves (57-41, 21-11 in second half) saw the visiting Drive (36-60, 10-20) build a 5-0 lead over the first three innings as they scored one in the first, three in the second and one in the third. But Rome scratched across a run in the fourth and then got a big three-run homer from Cal Conley to complete the five-run seventh and turn the game around.
Along with Conley’s timely long ball, Javier Valdes went 3-for-4 with a solo homer in the victory. Jacob Pearson added two hits, including a double and a stolen base, and Caleb Durbin drove in a run on a hit and scored a run. Cade Bunnell contributed a hit and scored a run as well.
Jose Montilla (2-0) earned the win in relief as he pitched two innings of scoreless, hitless baseball and struck out one. Austin Smith recorded his eighth save with two more innings of hitless baseball while striking out two.
Luis De Avila started and got a no-decision after the lefty pitched five innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits while striking out three and walking three.