CHARLESTON, S.C.- The GreenJackets were held scoreless for the final eight innings of the ball game, with an early RBI from Colby Jones the lone source of offense in a 5-1 dismantling courtesy of the Charleston RiverDogs.
Augusta hopped out to a lead immediately against Andres Galan, providing hope of an offensive outpouring against an unbeaten starter. John Gil and Owen Carey each began with base hits, and advanced 90 feet apiece on a grounder from Isaiah Drake. Charleston opted to keep the infield back, and Colby Jones rolled one past the mound to bring home Gil.
The GreenJackets rolled with Rayven Antonio on the mound, putting his 4-0 record on the line against a team that gave him trouble at home last month. After a 1-2-3 first, Antonio showed a rare lapse in command, walking two of the first three hitters in the second. Angel Mateo took third on an error, and came home on a soft chopper from Larry Martinez that tied the game. With a man at second and two out, Yirer Garcia poked a soft grounder to the right side and through the hole for a lead the RiverDogs would never relinquish.
While Galan went into shutdown mode after the first, the RiverDogs continued to tack on. Charleston scored one in the third on a Brailer Guerrero single, and put two on with one out to chase Antonio. Trent Buchanan would allow an infield single to load the bases, and would plunk Mateo for another run.
Charleston would manufacture another run off of Buchanan, but the lead was already more than enough. Augusta was hitless for 22 consecutive batters from the second to the eighth innings, and could not close the gap against a trio of RiverDog relievers. The Jackets did use a series of walks and hit by pitches to load the bases with one out in both the sixth and eighth innings, but hit into double plays both times to leave the situations scorelessly.
Slightly adrift, and losers of eight out of the last ten games, the GreenJackets hope that first round pick Cam Caminiti can set the team back on the right path over the weekend. Saturday’s game will begin at 6:05 p.m. at Joseph P. Riley Park, the fifth of sixth this week and No. 11 of 24 this year between the two teams.
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