Courtesy of the Augusta GreenJackets:
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC: The Augusta GreenJackets (26-23) defeated the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (19-30) for the second consecutive night at SRP Park, 5-2 thanks to some timely swings and another masterful night of pitching.
The Cannon Ballers jumped ahead against starter J.J. Niekro early by scoring in the second inning on a double-play ball, and a solo home run in the third inning from Wes Kath to make it 2-0 Kannapolis after three innings.
But that would be the last time you’d hear from the Cannon Ballers’ offense as they were shut down for the remainder of the night.
MORE: GreenJackets shutout Cannon Ballers
Their 2-0 lead would vanish in the fourth as the GreenJackets score four runs on a pair of swings. The first one came off the bat of Rusber Estrada who tied the game on a no-doubt, two-run blast to even the score. The next run-scoring knock was delivered from Cal Conley who bounced one to Kannapolis shortstop Wilber Sanchez who missed the target on his throw to home, leading to two additional runs scoring to give Augusta their first lead at 4-2.
Niekro settled in after that point on the mound as the reliable Augusta arm would proceed to toss the longest outing by a GreenJackets’ starter in 2022 by dealing seven innings on the mound, reaching that point by retiring the final 12 Kannapolis batters he faced to hold Augusta’s 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Their offense would collect one more insurance run on another home run by Rusber Estrada as the GreenJacket catcher knocked a solo homer out of the park to up the GreenJackets’ advantage to 5-2.
They’d hold steady the rest of the way as Miguel Peña dealt a scoreless eighth inning, with Juan Mateo coming in for the save in the ninth. Three straight walks put Kannapolis in business but Mateo would work himself out of trouble with an infield pop-up and a strike out to end the game with the GreenJackets finishing on top once again, 5-2.
J.J. Niekro improved to 4-0 on the season with his seven-inning gem where he struck out six, giving up nothing to the Cannon Ballers after the third inning. Brian Carrion was the losing pitcher in relief for Kannapolis.
MORE: GreenJackets Defeat Cannon Ballers for Third Straight Win
Rusber Estrada’s two-homer game was the third time a GreenJacket had gone deep twice in a single night joining Cal Conley and Mahki Backstrom as Estrada finished the game with three RBIs in total.
Game five of the series is live from SRP Park on Saturday night with Jordano Perez set to duel against Noah Owen for the Cannon Ballers with first pitch set for 6:05 pm.
The fifth homestand at SRP Park continues Saturday with the White-Claw Pregame Concert Series as MacKenzie Blake performs from 4:30-5:30 pm. In addition, the GreenJackets celebrate Cancer Survivor/Awareness night along with another Fireworks Extravaganza following the game presented by Augusta University Health. The homestand finishes on Sunday with Bark in the Park sponsored by Hollywood Feed along with Sunday Funday!
About SRP Park/Augusta GreenJackets
The Augusta GreenJackets are the Carolina League Single-A Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves playing in the state of the art SRP Park located in North Augusta, SC. The GreenJackets 2022 Game and promotional schedule is out and available online at www.Green-JacketsBaseball.com. 2022 Augusta GreenJackets season seat memberships are on sale now. To learn more about the benefits and to get in on the action, visit www.gjmembers.comor call (803) 349-WINS (9467).
SRP Park is the anchor piece of Riverside Village, a live, work, “playball” development which includes apartment living, retail, restaurants, class “A” office space, and a Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. To learn more about SRP Park and hosting events and availability, visit www.thesrppark.com.
