*North Augusta, SC* – The Augusta GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves) fell 8-4 to the Charleston RiverDogs (Tampa Bay Rays) on Saturday evening in front of a sold out SRP Park. Augusta (14-17) brought the tying run up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, but could not extend the ballgame
Braves #27 overall prospect Adam Shoemaker got the start and retired the side in order in the first inning. However, the RiverDogs would strike for three in the second, including a two-run blast for Angel Galarraga. In the bottom of the second, a Francisco Floyd sacrifice fly scored Jair Casanova brought the GreenJackets back to within two, but Charleston brought the lead back to three with a Ryan Spikes single.
In the bottom of the third, Ethan Workinger doubled to extend his hit streak to a Carolina League season high 15 games. David McCabe followed him with a two-run homer, his fourth of the year, to make it a 4-3 ballgame. An error scored Jair Casanova in the bottom of the sixth, and the game was tied at four.
Landon Harper (L, 3-1) relieved Shoemaker in the fifth inning and held the RiverDogs without a hit through his first 3.1 innings of action, but two singles and a three-run home run from Kamren James put Charleston up 7-4 in the top of the eighth. Elison Joseph came in to work the ninth and gave up a solo home run to Victor Meza to extend the lead to 8-4. Augusta loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, but could not bring any runs home. Duncan Davitt picked up the win for the RiverDogs, who have won three straight games for the first time this year.
The series with Charleston concludes tomorrow at 1:35 at SRP Park. A starter for Augusta has not been announced. For tickets, information on promotions, and more, visit greenjacketsbaseball.com!
