*Charleston, SC* – The Augusta GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves) fell to the Charleston RiverDogs (Tampa Bay Rays) for the second straight day, suffering an 8-0 loss. Augusta (26-24) dropped their sixth straight Saturday contest, while the RiverDogs (20-30) hit a pair of homers in the early stages of the game and never looked back.
Augusta sent out young arm Didier Fuentes to start the game, fresh off a career-high six strikeouts in his previous outing. A solo home run in the bottom of the second put Augusta down 1-0, and the GreenJackets recorded just one hit over the course of the first seven innings. In the bottom of the third, three singles and a walk scored two more for the RiverDogs, even as Jair Casanova and E.J. Exposito combined to throw out a runner at home plate to finish up the inning.
Fuentes was replaced after the third inning by Landon Harper, who gave up a solo home run to Ryan Spikes in the bottom of the fourth to put the home side up 4-0. In the seventh, Charleston added another run – albeit unearned – off of Ronaldo Alesandro, who made his first Augusta appearance of the season. In the eighth, Darling Florentino surrendered three more runs on three hits and two walks to make it 8-0.
Augusta finished the game with only two hits, their second fewest total on the year. As a result of two double plays, the GreenJackets only sent 30 batters to the plate in the game, just three more than the minimum.
The GreenJackets return home on Tuesday for a 12-game homestand where they will take on Myrtle Beach (Chicago Cubs) and Carolina (Milwaukee Brewers), featuring a Vaughn Grissom bobblehead giveaway, a meet and greet with former UGA quarterback David Greene, and more! For tickets, information on the meet and greet, and a full promotional schedule for the upcoming series with Myrtle Beach, click here: https://www.milb.com/augusta/fans/gj-homestand-preview!
