ZEBULON, N.C. – A solid bullpen performance kept the GreenJackets in the game late, and the bottom of the order flashed solid production, but a late strikeout left the tying and winning runs on base in a Thursday night affair with the Mudcats.
For the second night in a row, the Mudcat bats came out firing early, attacking starter Rayven Antonio time and again to put up an early lead. After Antonio stranded a man at third in the first, Carolina would not be denied a second time. Daniel Guilarte began the second with a single, and scored from first on an RBI double from David Garcia. Garcia began a run of five straight batters reaching, and RBI knocks from Miguel Briceño and Juan Baez gave Carolina a 4-0 lead. Garcia tacked on another RBI double the next inning, chasing Antonio after three innings, five runs and seven hits.
Josh Knoth, the 19-year-old starter, took the ball for Carolina and dazzled early, stymieing Augusta’s offense in his first four innings. The bottom of the order finally broke through in the fifth, with Mason Guerra reaching on a single and coming home on Harry Owen’s first triple of the year. Owen scored one batter later on a groundout from Austin Machado, bringing Augusta within three.
The Jackets’ bullpen was phenomenal in relief of Antonio, holding the Mudcats at bay despite the home side putting at least one runner on in every inning. Jacob Kroeger worked 2.1 scoreless and struck out a career-high five men, giving way to Hayder Ortiz who stranded a man at third to end the 6th. Hayder came out and stranded two more in the seventh, as he continues to be an interesting reliever to watch in the early aughts of his GreenJacket career.
Ortiz was supplanted by Jacob Gomez for the eighth, who had been untouchable in his first three pro outings. Gomez finally cracked against Carolina, allowing three straight one-out hits including a run-scoring single from Marco Dinges to push the lead back up to four. Augusta had no luck in three relief innings against Harrison Durow, setting themselves up for an uphill challenge in the ninth.
In a non-save situation, Carolina entrusted the ninth to Jesus Broca in his third game since being called up from the Arizona Complex League. Broca’s welcome was less than warm, as again the back half of the lineup stepped up. Titus Dumitru led off with a single, followed by a similar swing from Will Verdung. Colby Jones delivered a key strike next, an RBI double down the left field line to score Dumitru. Guerra dug back in and cracked a single up the middle that scored two and put the tying run on base. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended, as three of the next four batters were retired by Broca including a strikeout of Pat Clohisy to end the game with men at first and third.
Owen Hackman takes the ball tomorrow, as the GreenJackets look to end their four-game skid entering the weekend in Zebulon. Carolina will put Bryan Rivera on the mound in his third start as a Mudcat, with neither starter having experience against the opposite team. When Augusta returns home next week, the GreenJackets will play their final home series of the season, with seven games in six days against the Columbia Fireflies beginning on Tuesday, Aug. 27. Tickets for the week’s slate of games can be found at greenjacketsbaseball.com or by calling (803 349-9467.
