Charleston erupted for a five-run first inning and snapped a seven-game losing streak in beating the Savannah Sand Gnats, 9-6, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,751 fans in South Atlantic League action at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park Friday night.
Charleston ends its longest losing streak since May 2006 and climbs to 18-24, while Savannah has lost five of six games in falling to 25-17. The nine runs scored by the RiverDogs marks the largest total this season and most since August 2009.
Savannah took a 1-0 lead against Sean Black in the first, as Jefry Marte’s line drive to right was misplayed by DeAngelo Mack.
In the bottom half, Charleston plated five runs against Armando Rodriguez (2-4) to take a 5-1 lead, highlighted by Luke Murton’s two-run single and Rob Lyerly’s two-run double. Lyerly scored the last run of the frame when he stole third and came home on a throwing error by catcher Dock Doyle.
Rodriguez lasted just 2.0 innings allowing five runs on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
Wilmer Flores inched Savannah closer with a RBI groundout in the third for a 5-2 score, but the Sand Gnats left two men on base.
A 5-2 lead became an 8-2 lead, as the RiverDogs scored three times in the fourth courtesy of Jimmy Paredes’ two-run triple and J.R. Murphy’s RBI groundout.
Two Savannah runs scored in the fifth – both unearned – versus Black on two Charleston errors, cutting the score to 8-4. However, Charleston tallied one run in the sixth via Zoilo Almonte’s ground-rule RBI double.
The eighth inning saw Savannah make a last-ditch effort against Charleston’s bullpen bringing the score to 9-6 on a RBI double by Pedro Zapata and a sacrifice fly from Juan Lagares, but Ryan Flannery was brought onto the scene and pitched the final 1.2 innings to record his sixth save of the year.
Black (3-3) earned his first win as a starter since April 25 surrendering just one earned run – four total – in 5.2 innings while tying a season high with four strikeouts.
Justin Milo paced Charleston with three hits, while Paredes, Almonte, Murton and Lyerly had two hits each in the 13-hit arsenal. For Savannah, Zapata went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs, while Alonzo Harris added two hits.
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