From the Charleston RiverDogs:
Greg Bird scored the go-ahead run on an Angelo Gumbs double in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Charleston RiverDogs beat the Rome Braves 4-2 Tuesday night in South Atlantic League play at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in front of a season high 8,255 fans.
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The RiverDogs reach the .500 mark at 6-6 in the second half and 45-35 on the season. They are now in fourth place in the Southern Division for the second half of the season. The Braves now move to 40-42 on the season and 4-9 in the second half. They are in last place in the Southern Division for the second half of the season.
Both Alex Rodriguez and Eduardo Nunez made rehab starts with the RiverDogs. Rodriguez, who is recovering from a hip injury, played three innings Tuesday night in his first rehab game with the RiverDogs. He was hitless in his two plate appearances including a looking strikeout in the third inning. Nunez played six innings at shortstop, went 2-3 at the plate, and made a couple nice plays defensively.
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Rome struck first in the top of the third inning. Chris Edmondson led off the inning with a single to right field, stole second, and later gave the Braves an early 1-0 lead as he scored on a fielder’s choice.
Charleston starting pitcher Vicente Campos was relieved in the top of the fifth inning by Brett Gerritse. In four innings of work, Campos allowed one run on six hits and recorded one strikeout but was not a factor in the decision.
The RiverDogs evened the score in the bottom of the fifth inning as Kelvin DeLeon smashed his fifth home run of the season over the left field wall.
The lead shifted back in favor of the Braves in the top of the seventh. After leading off the inning with a triple down the right field line, Tyler Tewell scored on a fielder’s choice.
Rome’s lead did not last long as Angelo Gumbs tied the game at two in the bottom of the seventh with his first home run of the year as a RiverDog.
Rome starting pitcher Williams Perez was relieved in the eighth inning by Robert Fish (0-3). Perez pitched seven innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, and recorded five strike outs but was not a factor in the decision.
The RiverDogs took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the eighth. With one out and a runner on first, Greg Bird grounded into a fielder’s choice but beat the throw to first on the attempted 5-4-3 double play to extend the inning. Bird then advanced to third on a Dante Bichette, Jr. single to right field. Up next stepped Gumbs who plated Bird with a double down the right field line to give Charleston a 3-2 lead. Bichette later made the score 4-2 as he scored from third on a passed ball.
Fish was tagged with the loss for the Braves. In 0.2 innings of work, he allowed one run on two hits and struck out two batters.
James Pazos (1-0) and Ben Paullus shut the door on Rome. Pazos allowed no base runners and struck out one batter in his one inning of work as he earned his first win of the season. Paullus picked up his fourth save of the season as he allowed no runs on one hit and recorded one strike out in the ninth inning.
BALLPARK FUN: New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and infielder Eduardo Nunez made rehab starts with the RiverDogs. Rodriguez signed autographs on the field for over half an hour after leaving the game.
COMING UP: The final game of this three-game series against the Rome Braves is Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. Both Rodriguez and Nunez are expected to rehab again with Charleston. RHP Luis Niebla (3-4, 6.49 ERA) will be on the mound for Charleston and the Braves will start RHP Mauricio Cabrera (1-4, 4.30 ERA). We will be celebrating Independence Day here at The Joe presented by Wells Fargo and AAA Carolinas. Show your AAA card at the box office and get one free ticket with the purchase of a ticket. Following the game there will be a Independence Day holiday fireworks display over the Ashley River.
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